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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

BIBIC letter!

17 replies

benito · 05/04/2011 13:29

This gets worse.

DS saw BIBIC in 2009 and I have now had a letter which seems to suggets they want an annual contribution from all parents of 945 towards the cost of the programme! It comes with a load of bumpf about applying for help towards costs and payment programmes.

What tosh. We saw them and paid our fifty quid and that was the end of that. What a cheek to try and use letters like this to frighten people into paying for something they are not legally entitled to pay

OP posts:

Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 05/04/2011 13:51

What did the agreement/contract say? Was there any condition which could be used legally to request the payment at a later date?

Original poster

benito · 05/04/2011 13:57

We were asked, by letter, to send £50 to register.

I am a lawyer so I am confident that this is absolute nonsense but wanted to warn others.

OP posts:

Ben10isthespawnofthedevil · 05/04/2011 14:11

Ah, a lawyer. Not the right person to be messing with.

Sounds very scary to someone who hasn't got your background so it is great to hear that the legal opinion is that they can't ask for the funds retrospectively.

Original poster

benito · 05/04/2011 14:15

That's what my worry was Ben10. It doesn't explicitly say - pay us this money but is worded in such a way that some people will certainly think that they owe it.

OP posts:

bdaonion · 05/04/2011 14:15

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Original poster

benito · 05/04/2011 14:18

It doesn't make a difference between the two in the letter. It just refers to a new BIBIC annual programme which now requires a contribution of 945.

We never had any further reviews either. I think even if you did and paid a £50 registration fee (although they refer to this as a contribution to the subsidised fee), they could only introduce these charges as a change to terms and conditions from henceforth and certainly not retrospectively.
Very cheekily worded I thought. Very disappointing.

OP posts:

bdaonion · 05/04/2011 14:21

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

goingroundthebend4 · 05/04/2011 14:25

we went August 2009 and declined to go back for reviews as ds wa slanguage based it was useful at the time .But i felt needed differnt input from other specialist .And i moved so be no Bibic letters for me

justaboutWILLfinishherthesis · 05/04/2011 17:10

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blueShark · 05/04/2011 18:14

to be fair on them I think it is just an innocent mailshot to everyone on their mailing list to advice that their programme of costs have changed as thats the standard letter I received with a list of charities to apply for help and fundraising ideas and I have not visited yet.

unless they specifically say since you visited us now you have to pay x amount as our costs have changed...thats then a different story!

justaboutWILLfinishherthesis · 05/04/2011 18:21

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

benito · 05/04/2011 19:57

I'm sorry, I disagree. They should be more careful. It is written in a very vague way and it is clear that some people will think it means they have to pay. It would cost them nothing to add a line indicating that costs will only apply to those who want to use future services.

I understood this, but it will panic/upset some. I have emailed them about it.

OP posts:

StarlightMcKenzie · 05/04/2011 20:12

okay, so I'll go and open mine then.....

justaboutWILLfinishherthesis · 05/04/2011 20:16

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StarlightMcKenzie · 05/04/2011 20:19

okay, so they are justifying their cost by giving 5 days instead of 2.

2 for the assessment and then 3 single days for follow ups.

This model is extremely flawed however because we had to move heaven to get the school to agree the two days off. We also had to fund accomodation for the night before as well as the fuel to get there.

If BIBIC was free, we probably wouldn't be able to commit time-wise or financially to this model.

I wonder if they did any consultation or research? It doesn't sound like it.

Spinkle · 06/04/2011 08:09

We looked into BIBIC just after our dx. The thought of trying to get the time off work (not easy) and travelling all the way there with a not-happy-traveller and stay overnight in a different place put me off. DS would have been off the scale anxiety wise.

We decided to stay put and get separate therapists in to assess his areas of difficulty. Which was slightly more expensive than the BIBIC fee (but not now, it seems) but meant we retained our sanity and employment.

MNHQ

HelenMumsnet · 08/04/2011 14:52

Hello.

We've been contacted by bibic and they've asked us to post up this statement:

"bibic would like to encourage everyone who has posted here to contact us on 01278 684060 or email [email protected] so that we can talk through any queries or concerns on an individual basis."

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