My Position on Fees

Just to make this clear: I am a freelance interpreter that sets their own fees. My practice is to track the NUBSLI fees guidance.

Currently this means that I charge £160 per half day, not inclusive of travel.

Travel is charged on a per-city basis based approximately on 45ppm. I will be clear upon both the fee and the travel when agreeing the booking. I’m not calculating travel every time I bid for a job so I have a set amount per city. It isn’t mileage; it is travel.

There is no short booking fee because travel time, late starts and over-runs at the service always make it not short. I will not be the sort of interpreter who leaves before the end of an appointment because I have crammed too much in. My half day fee is my minimum charge and accounts for this level of professionalism. If your job is short it has cost you a bit more. If it is long, you got me cheap. If it runs from 11am to 2pm and effectively ruins my chance of finding a second job that day, I still charge half a day. You win.

I will not accept agency requests that expect lower fees.

There are not enough interpreters for the needs of the Deaf Community. Underpaying will result in fewer interpreters. Sufficiently paying for a skilled profession that takes years to train for and a lifetime to finesse will encourage more people to become interpreters.

If you are an agency I will not use your portal if it explicitly ties me in to your terms and your fees. I will email you my offer and you can take or leave it.

I hope we can work together like this.

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