Cancelled school trip

silvercar

PGL insurance won't pay out if they are still open for business and happy to accept trips.

This is the school deciding not to run with the trip. The school won't have been able to get insurance for this. It is like individuals deciding that they don't want to travel. OP is stuck in the middle, because the Foreign Office haven't advised against travel, insurers are not obliged to pay out, just because the school is calling the trip off.

nwc389

Martok wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies, some of you are obviously very interested in having an update and some seem to have gone slightly off thread hence the reason for quoting myself in this reply. So to answer some of your questions, ask others and clear up a few points in no particular order:

This is a consumer site and I asked a consumer question.

At no point have I used the words cowardly teacher.

At no point have I said the school were wrong to cancel.

The trip was in term time.

If PGL are so experienced in this field why didn’t they provide insurance for this eventuality and if they did why didn’t the school take it up? That’s a rhetorical question I know you can’t answer it.

With regard to non-refundable deposits I have booked a holiday to the Algarve next year with a non-refundable deposit if I cancel, not if they cancel.

It is an academy and is part of the Schools Partnership Trust – who are now involved.

So to a summary of the last two weeks:

Very little contact on the schools part despite many parents contacting them.

No meetings arranged with parents.

A letter from the school 27 November asking for the final payment for the trip to France (not the alternative one).

A letter on the 30 November stating the trip was cancelled as it was no longer viable because of the teachers views and some parents withdrawing. This came with a slip with two choices, cancel and lose the deposit or transfer to the cold wet trip in the UK. I deleted these options and politely informed them I would be seeking a full refund including deposit.

A text message today saying refunds less the deposit would be available to collect from reception from 08:45 tomorrow. I didn’t ask for a refund!!

A phone call today from the School Partnership Trust saying a meeting had been held (it was with the head but they wouldn’t confirm that) and they would hope that the school will be arranging a meeting with parents next week. They did ask me if I minded them informing the head that I had been in contact with them, I said that was OK by me.

So in a nutshell that’s it apart from me to reiterate that I asked a question from a consumers point of view, this isn’t a personal dig at anyone.

Thank you for your update , I do think that the school have acted badly by not discussing things with the parents - after all they are basically offering a completely different holiday now !
I hope you do manage to resolve this , please come back and let us know how things turn out.

Johno100

So we are not talking about a local authority school, but one run by School Partnership Trust Academies (company number: 07386086). Suggest the OP starts drafting up a Letter Before Claim and see what response that elicits from the school/the academy chain if the promised meeting doesn't bear fruit.

Poppie68

The op has mentioned in her latest post that some parents pulled their children out so maybe this had a bearing on the decision and due to the reduced numbers they had to cancel the Paris trip and if as most insurance doesn't cover terrorist threats or just that PGL won't return deposits the school thought they were doing the correct thing by offering an alternative?
Just a thought not an opinion before someone attempts to lynch me!

Johno100

Poppie68 wrote: »

The op has mentioned in her latest post that some parents pulled their children out so maybe this had a bearing on the decision and due to the reduced numbers they had to cancel the Paris trip and if as most insurance doesn't cover terrorist threats or just that PGL won't return deposits the school thought they were doing the correct thing by offering an alternative?
Just a thought not an opinion before someone attempts to lynch me!

So the school should make the refund then.

leylandsunaddict

Poppie68 wrote: »

The op has mentioned in her latest post that some parents pulled their children out so maybe this had a bearing on the decision and due to the reduced numbers they had to cancel the Paris trip and if as most insurance doesn't cover terrorist threats or just that PGL won't return deposits the school thought they were doing the correct thing by offering an alternative?
Just a thought not an opinion before someone attempts to lynch me!

The attacks were Friday 13th. By Tuesday 17th the parents had a letter from the school. It's obvious there was no time for proper logical thought to be put into the decision, and if parents cancelled they'd done it very quickly. A complete knee jerk over reaction by all parties.

IMO the school have behaved very badly thinking they can just throw parents money away, without having the basic decency of at least consulting them first. Insurance wouldn't cover it. Nothing to do with terrorist attacks not being covered. Insurance doesn't cover for people changing their mind. It's excluded as disinclination to travel.

If a tour operator cancelled a holiday and offered an alternative which bore no resemblance to the one booked, and then said you can cancel but we're keeping your deposit, this forum would be full of people ranting and calling them every name under the sun!

silvercar

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

The attacks were Friday 13th. By Tuesday 17th the parents had a letter from the school. It's obvious there was no time for proper logical thought to be put into the decision, and if parents cancelled they'd done it very quickly. A complete knee jerk over reaction by all parties.

IMO the school have behaved very badly thinking they can just throw parents money away, without having the basic decency of at least consulting them first. Insurance wouldn't cover it. Nothing to do with terrorist attacks not being covered. Insurance doesn't cover for people changing their mind. It's excluded as disinclination to travel.

If a tour operator cancelled a holiday and offered an alternative which bore no resemblance to the one booked, and then said you can cancel but we're keeping your deposit, this forum would be full of people ranting and calling them every name under the sun!

I agree with you entirely. But the school are in the middle. In a way, by paying the deposit to the school, OP was entrusting them with the money and to run the trip.

I suppose one solution would be to see if pupils from this school could join up with pupils from another school and the trip go ahead.

silvercar

Johno100 wrote: »

So we are not talking about a local authority school, but one run by School Partnership Trust Academies (company number: 07386086). Suggest the OP starts drafting up a Letter Before Claim and see what response that elicits from the school/the academy chain if the promised meeting doesn't bear fruit.

Someone somewhere is paying for this. Whereas I can see the obligation to refund OP, that leaves the school out of pocket. I can accept that. What would be wrong IMHO is to cause the school to face an expensive legal bill. Whether LA control or academy, their budget should be spent on education not lining the pocket of the legal profession.

nwc389

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

The attacks were Friday 13th. By Tuesday 17th the parents had a letter from the school. It's obvious there was no time for proper logical thought to be put into the decision, and if parents cancelled they'd done it very quickly. A complete knee jerk over reaction by all parties.

IMO the school have behaved very badly thinking they can just throw parents money away, without having the basic decency of at least consulting them first. Insurance wouldn't cover it. Nothing to do with terrorist attacks not being covered. Insurance doesn't cover for people changing their mind. It's excluded as disinclination to travel.

If a tour operator cancelled a holiday and offered an alternative which bore no resemblance to the one booked, and then said you can cancel but we're keeping your deposit, this forum would be full of people ranting and calling them every name under the sun!

Spot on ! Someone panicked and made decisions far too quickly . To be honest if the teachers didn't feel that they wanted to go to Paris with other people's children in their care I wouldn't blame them .

sheramber

Ignoring the terrorist attack, parents or teachers could have dropped out for any reason.

Does that make the trip non viable and everybody loses their deposit?