09-04-2025
Martin Lewis shares important update for parents on school lunch payments
Martin Lewis has shared an update for parents who had lost money from cashless payments for school meals, trips and other expenses.
Squid, one of the big providers of school payment systems has agreed to stop charging parents £10 fees to get their own money back after it decided to withdraw its services from the UK.
Squid offered a prepaid account and card that parents could top up online and that children could use to pay for school lunch, after school clubs or trips. But when it closed on March 14 2025, parents were told they'd have to pay £10 to get any balance back.
An update on Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert website says: " has been investigating the firm's exit from the UK market for the past week, after we received several reports from concerned parents who had been told that they'd be charged a £10 admin fee to have their balances refunded, and that balances under £10 wouldn't be refunded at all."
Following the investigation, Squid has now agreed to give the money back, without charging the £10 refund fee.
As first reported by the BBC's Money Box on Saturday March 29, Squid has now agreed a solution - albeit not a perfect one.
Squid will work with schools to reimburse parents without any charge. Your child's school should contact you directly to arrange this. In these cases, you won't need to apply for a refund through Squid's website.
School payment provider Squid agrees to drop £10 refund fees. Here's what you need to know...
— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) March 31, 2025
If schools can't manage the refund, the £10 charge will be reduced to a maximum of £2.50, through Squid's online portal. The fee will be between 20p and £2.50 depending on the amount being refunded (the exact fee will be shown as part of the process).
f you already paid the higher £10 fee, this will be refunded automatically "by the start of next term".
If you don't hear anything over the coming weeks, you can contact Squid using its online form or by email at customerservice@
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They said it can charge a £10 'administration fee' for refunds where a parent decides to cancel their account.
Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert website says: "However, given that it was Squid's own decision to withdraw the service (not parents' decision to cancel), the firm's insistence on charging the fees was understandably seen as deeply unfair by many parents.
"It was possibly also unenforceable under the 'unfair contract terms' provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
"As a result, we had been pushing Squid to explain itself, which it has so far failed to do. We've approached the firm for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
