Writing a refund policy

Start from what the money has already done

The reason a full refund in week six is unreasonable is not meanness — it is that the money is spent. Venue hire was paid in advance, the uniform was ordered, the insurance was bought, the officials were booked.

Saying that plainly in the policy makes it far easier to explain. Families understand committed costs; they resent arbitrary decisions.

A structure that works

Tiering by timing is the standard approach and it is standard because it reflects reality:

When	Typical refund	Why
Before registration closes	Full, minus an admin fee	Nothing committed yet; the place can be refilled
After close, before season starts	Partial — commonly 50–75%	Uniform ordered, place held, planning done
First two weeks	Partial, minus uniform and per-session costs	Committed costs already incurred
After that	None as standard	The season is bought and paid for

Those percentages are a shape, not a prescription. Set yours from your own cost structure — a club whose main cost is venue hire paid in advance has less flexibility than one whose costs are spread.

The exceptions to write down

Three situations come up repeatedly and should be addressed explicitly rather than improvised.

Season-ending injury

The most sympathetic case, and the one where a rigid policy does most damage to your reputation. A common approach is a pro-rata refund of the unused portion, minus non-recoverable costs, on production of medical confirmation. Decide it now, not while talking to a distressed parent.

You cancel the season

If the organization cancels — a venue is lost, numbers collapse, something external intervenes — the position is different, because the family did not choose this. A pro-rata refund of unused sessions is the reasonable default, and it is worth saying so in advance because it builds confidence at the point of registration.

A family relocates

Usually treated like the injury case: pro-rata for the unused portion, minus what you cannot recover.

Write it in plain words

A policy nobody can understand does not prevent arguments. Some principles:

• Use dates, not phases. “Before 1 March” beats “before the season commences”.
• Name the deductions. If the uniform is non-refundable, say so and say roughly what it costs.
• State how to request one and who decides.
• Give a timeframe for the refund being processed.
• Put it in the registration flow, not in a document nobody opens. It should be visible at the point of paying.

Credits are often better than refunds

A credit toward next season costs your cash flow far less than a refund, and many families accept it readily — especially where the departure is temporary. Offering the choice is more generous than it looks and cheaper than it sounds.

Keep the record

Whatever you decide, record the refund against the original payment with the reason attached. Two seasons later somebody will ask why one family received a refund and another did not, and “I remember we discussed it” is not an answer.

How this works in Ligue

Refunds in payments are recorded against the original transaction with the reason attached, so a family’s history shows what was charged and what was returned. That record survives a committee handover, which is usually when the inconsistent-treatment question gets asked.

Refunds: common questions