Guardianship Terms & Conditions

Home from Home Guardians is the trading name for the guardianship section of Home from Home Student Services Ltd, and may also be known as ‘HFHG’ or ‘the agency’ or ‘we’. The person who is responsible for the child’s overall wellbeing is ‘the parent(s) or legal guardian’ or ‘you’. The ‘guardian’ is the person nominated by the agency to assist with the child’s wellbeing while in the UK within the period booked and paid for by the parent(s) or legal guardian. The ‘student’ means the child to whom this agreement relates. ‘The school’ means the school where the student is enrolled for study, and the ‘host’ or ‘host family’ means the person(s) who will be instructed by the agency to accommodate the student during school holidays.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. You agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts, as do we.

By paying the invoice for guardianship services from HFHG you are agreeing to HFHG providing education guardianship services for the student whilst they are attending a school in the UK for the period specified on the confirmation document. In addition you are agreeing to the terms laid out below;

Reasonable behaviour is expected at all times during the student’s stay at their school and with their host family. In the event of a student persistently misbehaving or a singular act of serious misconduct including, but not limited to: criminal behaviour, drugs, alcohol or acts of violence, the agency may terminate this agreement by notice in writing to the parents, and shall immediately be released from all its obligations to the parents or the student. In such cases the parents shall not be entitled to any refund of fees.

If the parents wish to cancel the agency’s services they must inform the agency in writing and give one full school term as notice. If one school term’s notice is not given, the agency will refund the parents the full amount paid, minus the period from the start of the agreement up to the cancellation date plus one full term and any booking fees. The expense account will be refunded in full minus any costs already incurred. Refunds will be made within 28 days of the final day the agency’s services were given.

Parental responsibility: Parent(s) agree that they have the full legal/parental responsibility for their child and that no other person’s consent is required to enter into this agreement.

Authority: Parent(s) agree that they authorise HFHG to act as the education guardian for their child for the period stated in their confirmation. The parent(s) also confirm that they authorise us to select and appoint a suitable host/host family through London Homestays and to decide any matter (including emergency medical and dental treatment and matters of a disciplinary nature) that may affect the student’s welfare.

Disclosures: You confirm that you have already provided and will continue to provide us with details of any medical condition (including allergies), health problem, disability, special educational need, or learning difficulty of the student, as well as any behavioural, emotional and / or social difficulty of the student, in a separate confidential letter. You confirm that you will inform us straight away if these details change.

Payments: Parents agree to be responsible for all fees payable in respect of the guardianship services and act in accordance with the provision set out in the fees list and invoice.

Insurance: Parents are responsible for purchasing travel insurance for their child. This should cover their child for medical costs including sickness, accident or injury, loss of their study course, loss of accommodation, transportation costs and repatriation due to personal/family illness or bereavement.

HFHG will offer assistance and support as per the guardianship package paid for by the parents. This can include assistance in finding host families during school holidays, assisting in airport transfers, meet and greets, liaising with the school and offering academic support and advice.

• A full list of the packages offered can be found here.
• Definitions on the services and assistance offered can be found here.

The parents agree to the following: HFHG have responsibility to act on their behalf in their absence “in loco parentis”, with their express authority that HFHG can act in any situation, including in the event of emergencies. The parents give permission for the agency to sign on their behalf if permission is required for school trips, school activities and medical treatment such as anaesthetic and/or surgical treatment. Whilst every effort will always be made to contact parents in the event of an emergency, this may not always be possible.

Releasing care: We will not accommodate or release care of the student within the periods set out in the guardianship confirmation without first informing the parent(s) in writing.

Informing the local authority: For students aged 15 years old and younger we are legally required to inform the local authority of any accommodation arrangements for periods of over 28 days. We confirm that, where the student is under 16 and where the stay is planned for more than 28 days, we will inform the local authority of the arrangements as soon as these arrangements have been made.

Expense fund: The parents allow the agency responsibility for the management of the expense fund. Costs of less than £100 may be deducted without parental consent. Costs such as, but not limited to: school activities, uniforms, text books, mileage for the guardian to attend the school (such as parents’ evening, sports days etc.) and minor reasonable damage (not wear and tear) caused by the child at school and/or their host accommodation will be taken from this account. Records of deductions will be kept by the agency and made available to the parent(s).

HFHG will keep accurate records of all expenses taken from the expense fund. Services costing over £100 such as host family accommodation, airport transfers etc. will be quoted to the parent(s) prior to booking. In such cases where there is no reply from the parents and the service is essential e.g. accommodation, the services will be booked with payment taken from the expense account.

The agency will assist in providing homestay accommodation for the student. Parent(s)/student(s) must not pay the host allocated by the agency directly. Hosts do not accept cash payments, and this breaks the terms and conditions set out for the host and may cause confusion at a later date.

The agency’s liability is no more than the money we have received from the parent(s).

Home from Home Student Services Ltd and Home from Home Guardians only acts as an agent between its students, travel organisations, local guardians or organisers and any accommodation or courses it offers including but not limited to homestays. Under no circumstances can they be held responsible for any injury, damage loss, misadventure, delay or accident which may happen. This includes during the student’s stay in their accommodation with the nominated guardian, as a result of activities they take part in during their stay, or whilst travelling to and from the student’s home, accommodation or school or any loss of property.

We will not be held responsible for homestay accommodation booked by the parents directly with a host or an alternative agency.

Students should also take out their own insurance policies on their personal property, i.e. laptops, jewellery and other expensive items, as these may not be covered under the host family’s insurance policies.

For Homestay accommodation, any travel information given, including nearest stations, information on buses/trains, walking times and distances are given in good faith and are approximations based on information provided by http://www.tfl.gov.uk and http://maps.google.com. Postcodes are provided in the homestay confirmation and it is the responsibility of the student or their agent to check the location before arrival. We cannot be liable for any complaint of location/distance/travel zone after arrival.