Claim on school trip

AC66

Paid around £900 school trip to Italy. School decided to cancel due to Coronavirus risk but because Florence is not deemed an area to avoid by FCO we have lost all our money.
Is there anything we can do?

[Deleted User]

Speak to the school, see if they will refund. 

tacpot12

You can sue the school. You have paid for something and not received it, but the judge may decide that the school's decision was reasonable under the circumstances, in spite of their being no Home Office advice not to travel.  The school may argue that taking a party of school children involves extra risk, whereas that the Home Office advice was based on the risk to individuals and families travelling for leisure or business.  

I would also consider the effect if you do sue the school; it will become much more risk averse in the future, and will not plan any more trips anywhere if they are going to lose out financially if they have to take a debatable decision on whether to cancel or not. Your child's education will be the worse for such a move. That said, £900 is a lot of money.

Other schools have taken the approach that the trip is on and if parents want to withdraw their child and lose their money, they can do so, but it is the parent's decision not the school's. 

The school was probably considering the risk of any member of the party contracting this Corona virus and then infecting other teachers such that the whole school has to close until there are enough staff fit to run the school.