Nursery Fees - am I entitled to request a refund?

choccywoccy

we removed our son from his charity run (parent commitee run) village pre-school in Feb due to a horrific incident in which we had to contact ofsted over. They issued a welfare requirements notice as a result as they failed to meet requirments (safeguarding and welfare and organisation) They however remain open and the staff involved were never even disciplined..but thats another story.

We paid £230 at the start of the term for fees - he was also entitled to the full government funding vouchers which the setting claim back from the council for our son up until Easter. We already know we cannot have the value of the vouchers refunded and that the pre-school are entitled to keep this money if a child leaves, however we have written to the committee requesting they refund us the extra £230 and had no response at all. £65 of this was a "voluntary contribution" which was added onto the bill with no explanation as to what it was for - i did query it and was told that the nursery could not function without this - but the week after we took our son out they have dropped this anyway! :mad:

I never recieved a copy of terms & conditions or signed any contract - they were poor at keeping records - however i feel they have broken any aggreement with me to provide safe childcare for our son?? what should i do next? would small claims be good for this?

phlogeston

choccywoccy wrote: »

charity run (parent commitee run)

You need to establish whether this is a charity or a parent committee.

A charity is a recognised legal entity and if you were to sue for a refund of your fees you action would be against the charity.

If it is just a parent/committee, with no apparent rules or regulations or agreements, then you may need to sue all or any of the individuals involved in running the organisation. At the very least, there will be a bank account, which will be operated by two or more 'officers' of the organisation. If there is a management team/committee then they will probably be joint and severably liable.

You are entitled to sue for breach of contract, if you have entered into a contract for the supply of child care services, but from your description it is not clear if this is the case.

whitewing

I certainly think you should get a refund. Find out who you need to write to (maybe Ofsted can advise on this as someone surely must have responsibility for the nursery).

I think a polite letter to a named person simply requesting a refund/response within 7 days with a copy of your original letter should be sufficient.

choccywoccy

Thanks for your replies

the pre-school is definatley a charity - it has a charity number - but in order for it to qualify for its charity status it needs a committee - which has to be made up by parents or grandparents of children attending - therefore it has a high turnover and you never really know who is doing what - the chairman however has been most unhelpful because of our complaint to ofsted - i think its sour grapes that he has not responded to our letter requesting a refund.

ofsted do not get involved in monetry issues regards fees. is it still possible to "sue" a charity for the fees? and the "voluntary contribution" - is this a grey area - can you claim back what is basically a donation to a charity - ?? i feel so angry about this!

whitewing

I haven't read this, but it may point you in the right direction:

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/publications/cc47.asp

phlogeston

choccywoccy wrote: »

is it still possible to "sue" a charity for the fees? and the "voluntary contribution" - is this a grey area - can you claim back what is basically a donation to a charity - ?? i feel so angry about this!

You cannot make a 'donation' to a charity in return for services.

You have either made a donation, in which case, I doubt you have any right to sue, or you have paid for a charity to provide a service.

A quick look on the charity commission website will allow you to check all the details of the charity and its accounts. This is free to use.
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk

choccywoccy

Thankyou!! This link is VERY informative - basically the charity commission need to be made aware of the complaints and of ofsteds involvement anyway...I will persue this avenue - many thanks!!

substandard

If you don't mind me asking, what went wrong at the nursery?

choccywoccy

My son was potty training - he is 3 years old. He had soiled and was refusing to co-operate with being changed so they restrained him and cut his clothing off him with a pair of scissors!! he also recieved a nose bleed at the same time but they did not keep an accident record book - they deny restraining him and deny that he recieved the bump at the same time - but Ofsted issued a welfare requirement notice and took 3 actions against them - they have remained registered tho, and the staff who did this didnt even get a disciplinary! worse still - they issued a letter to all parents saying ofsted had "exonerated" them of all claims!!!

You can see why I am so angry? I am looking into reporting this to the charity commision - it looks like they are supposed to report any kind of incident to them anyway - but I bet they havent!!!

hollydays

How do you know this happened?

In these circumstances,what would you have expected them to do?

What do Ofsted say about them saying they have been "exonerated"?

whitewing

Presumably they had to explain to the OP why her son was being sent home with his clothes cut to shreds?