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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect a refund?

81 replies

PotterBot · 14/04/2016 16:27

Dd was unable to go on a school residential trip due to illness. She was taken ill the morning of the trip and the school called me to collect her and told me I had to take her home. I was told there and then I could expect a full refund.

I have been chasing this refund for a month. Today I've been contacted about an insurance claim they are putting in asking the details of her illness.

I've told the school they should give me the refund regardless of the claim. I was told I was going to get one, now they are saying they aren't sure if they would get the money back from the insurance.

Surely that bit isn't my problem? The school insisted she couldn't go on the trip.
Aibu?

OP posts:
Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 06:33

When she left the house in the morning she wasn't unwell, she may have been feeling it but she didn't say anything to me which is why I was so shocked when I got the call to say collect her.

If she had a temperature at home, crying with a sore throat of course I wouldn't have sent her.

And to say again, I didn't even think about the money when I went to collect her, she was devastated so I was more keen to get her out of there before all her friends started getting on the coach.

The headmaster said to me 'don't wore about it will get you a full refund' I never even asked. So this is why I'm expecting a refund.

She wasn't that ill that she had to go to the doctors, I didn't even think about insurance because it didn't cross my mind.

If i have to wait for him to make a claim fair enough then.

OP posts:
Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 06:36

Also if later on in the trip I had had a call saying please take Dd to the doctors it would help us claim your money back of course I would have done!

OP posts:
Penfold007 · 15/04/2016 07:11

So you sent your child into school believing her to be well enough to travel. The HT decided she was ill and refused to take her. He said you would get a refund but didn't ask you to get a medical opinion ( might have had to pay for that). DD wasn't actually ill just had cold.
HT realises an insurance claim is unlikely to be successful. I think the school owe you the promised full refund.

newmumwithquestions · 15/04/2016 07:24

HT said you'd get a refund. You should get a refund. I think it's fair enough to wait until the insurance pay out for you to get this refund though.
Anything else is speculation - whether you should have sent your DD to school at all, whether you should have taken DD to the Drs, etc. You followed instructions from the school. If they are wrong and can't get a refund then it's a shame for the school and I know budgets are right but you should be able to trust a HTs word.

Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 07:27

She was absolutely fine the entire weekend, initially one of the receptionists phoned and said 'Dd says she isn't feeling very well' I thought she was just nervous and said so. Then twenty mins later headteacher called and says she has a temperature you will need to come and get her.

OP posts:
DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/04/2016 07:31

I can't get past sending your child to school with a temperature let alone on a school trip! She must have been looking really ropey for them to notice and say they wouldn't take her!

I'm surprised about the refund , but hope you get it.

lem73 · 15/04/2016 07:32

The head has screwed up. He should have told you to go to your gp that day to get a letter. Perhaps you should have realised to but you weren't the one organising the trip.

Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 07:39

Dame she didn't say one word to me about feeling ill, if she had have done no of course i wouldn't have sent her I'm not that bloody cruel.

OP posts:
Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 07:41

She went to them and said I don't feel well, if she had said nothing they would have taken her and then I would had probably have had to go and get her as her cold came out the next day.

OP posts:
womdering · 15/04/2016 07:42

Their promise of a refund was probably not correct/ accurate. It'd be highly unlikely for them to provide one.

Brokenbiscuit · 15/04/2016 07:49

The school was right to send her back. If her illness had developed, and she had been infectious, it could have ruined the trip for everyone. In any case, it would have been miserable for her to have been sick away from home.

I wonder if the headteacher said "we will get you a refund" or if that's just what you took away from the conversation. Perhaps he said something like "we'll look into getting a refund" or "we'll try to sort out a refund" or something a bit less definite? If he promised that you would definitely get one, then I can understand your frustration.

Nevertheless, I think you're BU to expect the school to pay for the refund. They'll have had to pay for your dd's place on the residential anyway, so won't have that sort of money to spare. Why should the other children lose out on what that money would pay for otherwise, just because your dd was ill?

It's a pity the school didn't advise you to take your dd to the doctors to get proof of her illness. Perhaps they just assumed that it was common sense when you need to make an insurance claim, but they shouldn't have made that assumption.

You never know, they may get something back from the insurance company anyway. Fingers crossed! But if I were you, I wouldn't push the school to pay if the insurance claim is unsuccessful.

Sorry that your dd missed out on the trip. She must have been really disappointed. Sad

Berthatydfil · 15/04/2016 07:59

I disagree with posters saying you have to suck it up you had paid for the trip in good faith you sent her to school in good faith
The school declined to send her on trip the school indicated you would be refunded which you took in good faith and did not tell you that in order to claim on their trip insurance to get her see by the gp.
The OP has done nothing wrong here

GlitteryFluff · 15/04/2016 08:01

I think you should get a refund.

Arkwright · 15/04/2016 08:02

My friends son missed his Year 6 residential due to sickness. It was £150 and she didn't get it back. All the letters we had stated that if a child missed the trip we would not be refunded.

DeltaSunrise · 15/04/2016 08:09

Even if op had taken her dd to the doctor, what was the doctor going to do for a child with a bit of a cold? He probably would have said she was perfectly fine to travel.

The head teacher made the call that she wasn't fit to travel and said you would get a refund so I would expect the refund.

Parallel universe on here, I've been on threads were posters have banged on about how ridiculous it is to keep a child of school with a bit of a cold, how if we kept children off every time they had a bit of a sniffle no-one would ever go anywhere and here we are with posters saying she shouldn't have gone with a cold in the first place. You can't win.

Op YANBU to expect the refund you were told you could have.

purplevase · 15/04/2016 08:15

I think the insurance should cover this. But it may be that evidence was needed. The insurance company might take the school's word for it, after all they're not gaining from the claim, you are.

How bad was her cold - could she have joined the trip at a later date? Was that an option? It doesn't sound like the school were particularly helpful.

All the letters we had stated that if a child missed the trip we would not be refunded

This annoys me as I have just had to pay a deposit for a residential that I didn't want my son to go on. Last year only 3 didn't go out over 200 so it is billed as being more or less compulsory. My son having a cold at the time of the trip would be a great solution but I'd be annoyed to lose the money I feel I have no choice about paying. There is a back story to this - my son went on a trip last year and there were problems. I said at the time I didn't want him to go on this year's trip even if "everyone" went. I know it's a bit churlish when teachers are giving up their time but I wish it was a bit more voluntary. And I am really surprised if local authority insurance doesn't cover being unable to go because of illness.

origamiwarrior · 15/04/2016 08:16

I agree with previous posters that the OP has done nothing wrong here EXCEPT expect the school to give her a refund before the insurance has paid out. She needs to allow enough time for the insurers to make their decision whether or not to reimburse the school.

In the event the insurance doesn't pay out, then I still think the OP is due a refund, and yes, that will need to be from school funds. It is the school's liability if they did not get sufficient cover/did not make sure the claim could be verified (i.e. by asking the OP to get a doctor's note).

SanityClause · 15/04/2016 08:25

It's s bit unfair, kayaking, to lay that on the OP.

She has said £300 is a lot to her. She could probably set out x weeks of shopping, x days of rent/mortgage, x days of council tax, x days of transport to get to work, etc.

The school said she would get a full refund. They did not tell her they would be claiming on insurance, and she would need to prove her DD's illness in order to get the refund. The school made the decision not to take the girl on the trip. They therefore need to live with the consequences of that decision, even if that means finding £300 out of the stationery budget.

Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 08:31

I accept that perhaps I was being unreasonable about not waiting for the insurance.

OP posts:
Original poster
PotterBot · 15/04/2016 08:32

Also if I had taken her later on in the trip it would have been at a big expense to me getting her there, and I don't have the money.

OP posts:
Yourface · 15/04/2016 08:35

I think you have a strong argument for a refund. You shouldn't be expected to know the ins and outs of the insurance policy. He should make sure he has a comprehensive policy and inform you of your responsibilities under it.

I totally get where Purplevase is coming from. My son 's school starts residentials from as young as year 2. I bet most of the teachers don't want to do it and I am sure a good proportion of parents don't want their kids to go. It feels to me like a form of willy waving on behalf of the head teacher. None the less nearly all of the 120 kids per year go, because of that pressure of not wanting your child to be the only one who doesn't go. Oh and it is a state school in a very affluent area where only a tiny minority wouldn't get to do that outward bound stuff with their own families anyway.

AugustaFinkNottle · 15/04/2016 08:45

I think a lot depends on why the school are saying they may not be able to get the money back through insurance. If it's because of lack of evidence that OP's child was ill, I think the school needs to cover the costs because they should have told her she would need a doctor's note in order to get the money back. Likewise, if it's because there's something else wrong with the insurance arrangements, that's the school's fault and they need to make the refund.

thecatfromjapan · 15/04/2016 08:59

I suspect they're having problems with the insurance because there were insufficient grounds/ proof for not sending her on the trip.
I can't believe the early posters on this thread: the morning of a trip, the staff make a decision, based on a cold, that a child can't attend, and you therefore forfeit £300? Because the school's insurance (rightly) won't pay out for such a spurious reason for not going on the trip?
I'd be enormously cross.

My guess is that the insurers are refusing to pay out - probably because it was a ridiculous thing to do (no GP note; no proof of actual illness; no actual illness).

Why should OP have to pay for a decision that was wrong?

Witchend · 15/04/2016 09:52

You don't want an ill child on a residential believe me.
Dd2 had one on the 3 day trip who kindly spread it around. Of the 140 children on the trip nearly 80 (plus all bar one of the teachers) came down with it over the weekend after. Lovely!

MidniteScribbler · 15/04/2016 09:55

Seriously, where the fuck do you think school is going to pull 300 pounds out of? They don't have a pool of money laying around to call on just because a sick kid couldn't go on a school trip.