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Standard lump sum offers are normally payable within 30 days of acceptance. However, an employer/contractor may occasionally seek additional time to pay and up to 6 months may be allowed if

• the employer/contractor needs further time to obtain the funds and it would secure a cash offer (EM6235) and
• interest has been charged to the expected date of payment (COG908170 - Calculating Interest).

Where a lump sum offer with a payment date of more than 30 days has been accepted and payments on account are held the offer will need to be set up on SAFE for ‘accounting purposes� as an instalment offer with 2 payments. This is because payments on account do not cut across to a charge until 30 days before the due date for payment. This means any payments on account would not be reflected in a ‘notice to pay� issued more than 30 days before the due date.

For example, a SAFE charge for £20,000 is raised on 10/1/09, the same date on which the letter of acceptance is issued.

£10,000 has already been paid on account.

The balance of £10,000 is due on 1/4/09.

A notice to pay in the sum of £20,000 is issued on or shortly after 10/1/09. This is because the payment on account of £10,000 does not cut across to the charge until 1/3/09.

The notice to pay is issued automatically by SAFE after a charge is raised. In order to avoid it being issued in an excessive amount payments on account should be treated as an instalment becoming due 3 days from the date of the letter of acceptance and the balance to be paid as a second instalment payable by the date specified in the letter of offer.

In this example an instalment offer would be set out on the SAFE stencil as follows

• a first instalment of £10,000 due on 13/1/09 and
• a second instalment of £10,000 due on 1/4/09.