Claiming back tuition fees for snow days ?

[hpstarmum]

Hi, Has anyone else spoken to their private schools about either making up the lost days or being reimbursed tuition fees off next term's fees ?

I don't think they do this, they still have to pay the staff. Did you sign up to an insurance scheme?

No harm in asking though

I understood that insurance schemes were for when your child was sick and could not attend school. Not for when the school closed. I would have thought that the school should have an insurance policy to cover for such events. Which should mean that parents could make claims ?
I just worked out that 00's have been paid to school for no tuition

There's different insurance schemes run by different companies so it depends on the terms and conditions.
Have you had a look at the contract that you have with the school?

Anyone else any thoughts on this ?

I can't find anything in the original t&cs about what happens to fees if the school is forced to close.
I don't want to make a fuss about it, but I do begrudge paying for something kids haven't had and think parents should be offered refunds. I just wonder if people have asked, been given, or been refused ?

That's fair. Ds's school was open (sadly) so I'll never know.

You will have to ask them.

I've taken them out !!
This is just a-n-other issue with that school. I would like to write and ask for a refund of days lost but do not want to write until I have researched the matter and found others who have been successful ! And also spoken to the insurance company to get their perspective on this issue.
As it will affect a lot of people this winter, I thought it worthy of discussion here....

Ahh. I see. Did you give a terms notice? Can you ask one of the parents who have a child still there?

Given that schools only ever just make ends meet, they can't realistically give refunds for snow days. The major costs don't go away when the school is closed.

You really have to take a longer term view, and think about the cost of their education over a whole year. They will receive their full entitlement to an education.

The problem is the staff will still be paid, as will their insurance and other major outgoings.

It will have been a pain for the school too for sure, as they will have to catch up with work that was missed during that time. It didn't affect us this time as it was before DD went back after Christmas.

I am sure there would have been something in their terms and conditions that you may well have signed up to before your child started there?

The usual standard terms and conditions will say that no refunds are payable in these circumstances. SOme schools offer an extra insurance policy for refunds which kick in after say 5 days off school caused by illness, adverse weather etc but not pandemic swine flu.

I do think you are being a bit precious about this and if you could see the state of a lot of private schools' accounts you would see that if this sort of claim was successful it could bring a school to its knees at a time when they are losing income due to the recession generally and being pressured by the Charities Commission to prove "public benefit" by offering bursaries.

Yes you are annoyed but please see the bigger picture

It is a flat fee per term, even though Autumn is always longer than Spring. So a few days isn't hugely significant financially in the scheme of things. Their overheads are the same and if you do get a refunds the deficit will be loaded onto next year's increase.

wouldn't dream of asking for a refund - batty idea imo, staff still have to be paid, mortagages on buildings/council tax/electricity bills still have to be paid, text books still have to be bought - where on earth would they get the money from. Did anyone consider refunding their salary to their employer if they were closed because of the snow, or couldn't get in - i doubt it.

How many days did you lose due to the school being closed? With most insurance policies that I saw you couldn't claim for less than 5 days for almost any event.
Locally those schools which did close put up "snow work" for their pupils to complete at home. Which was marked etc when they returned to school.
You're not really paying for education by the day, otherwise I would quite happily opt out of several days for the dcs. You're paying for your children to be educated at that school, to whatever standard they are offering.