Booking, Cancellation and Refund Policy

1. Purpose of This Policy

This policy explains how Youthful Minds manages bookings, staged payments, cancellations and refunds for autism assessments.

Please read this policy before booking. By booking an appointment and making payment, you confirm that you have read and accepted these terms.

2. Booking an Assessment

We confirm each appointment after:

We agree on an appointment date and time
You receive the relevant booking information
You make any payment due for that stage

Youthful Minds uses a staged assessment process. Therefore, payments may become due before different parts of the assessment.

These stages may include:

The initial consultation
The child or young person’s observation, which may include the ADOS-2
The developmental history appointment
Any clinically necessary additional sessions
The multidisciplinary clinical discussion
The feedback appointment and written report

We will explain the payment schedule before the assessment begins.

3. Initial Consultation Fee

The initial consultation allows us to discuss the child or young person’s needs. It also helps us decide whether Youthful Minds is a suitable service.

Once the initial consultation has taken place, the fee is non-refundable. This applies even if you later decide not to continue with the autism assessment.

However, if you proceed with the full assessment, we will include the initial consultation fee within the total assessment price. It is not an additional charge.

4. Payments for Assessment Stages

Each payment covers a specific stage of the assessment and the professional work linked to that stage.

This work may include:

Preparing for an appointment
Reviewing referral information
Completing a clinical appointment or observation
Scoring and analysing assessment information
Reviewing records or information from other professionals
Clinical discussion and decision-making
Preparing feedback or written reports

We will tell you when each payment is due.

5. Refunds for Completed Work

Youthful Minds does not provide refunds for assessment stages or professional work that clinicians have already completed.

For example, if the ADOS-2 observation has taken place and you have paid for that stage, the payment is non-refundable. This applies even if you later decide not to continue with the remaining assessment.

Similarly, we cannot refund fees for other completed appointments, clinical analysis, scoring, record reviews or report preparation.

6. Choosing Not to Continue

You may choose to stop the assessment at any stage.

If you stop after Youthful Minds has completed a paid stage:

We will not refund the payment for that completed stage
We will not require payment for future stages that have not started
We will cancel any remaining appointments
We may provide information already completed where clinically appropriate

You must still pay for any work that began at your request before you told us that you wished to stop.

Stopping before the assessment is complete may mean that our team cannot reach a diagnostic conclusion or provide a full diagnostic report.

7. Diagnostic Outcomes and Refunds

Payment covers the clinical assessment process. It does not purchase or guarantee an autism diagnosis.

Our clinicians make diagnostic decisions colaborativly. They base each decision on the assessment evidence, recognised clinical practice and professional judgement.

Therefore, Youthful Minds will not provide a refund because:

The child or young person does not receive an autism diagnosis
The diagnostic outcome differs from the outcome expected by the family
The family disagrees with a clinically reached outcome

A non-diagnosis does not mean that the assessment service was incomplete. Where appropriate, the report may still describe the child’s strengths, needs and recommended next steps.

8. Cancelling or Rearranging an Appointment

Please give us at least 48 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment.

When you provide at least 48 hours’ notice, we will normally transfer the appointment payment to a rearranged date.

You can contact us by telephone, text, WhatsApp or email.

9. Late Cancellations

A late cancellation takes place when you cancel less than 48 hours before the appointment.

In these circumstances:

We may retain the appointment fee
We may charge an additional fee before rebooking
We may ask you to make the next payment before arranging another appointment

We understand that unexpected situations can arise. Therefore, we will consider exceptional circumstances individually.

10. Missed Appointments

We treat an appointment as a “did not attend” when you do not attend and have not contacted us in advance.

If you miss an appointment:

The appointment fee will normally remain non-refundable
We may charge a rebooking fee of £100
We may require payment before arranging another appointment

11. Late Arrival

Please contact us if you expect to arrive late.

If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, we may need to cancel the appointment. This ensures that every family receives their full appointment time.

In this situation, we may treat the booking as a late cancellation.

12. Additional Sessions

Some children and young people need additional time or another assessment session.

If the clinical team recommends an additional session, we will:

Explain why it may be helpful
Tell you the cost before booking
Ask for your agreement before proceeding

We will not complete or charge for an additional session without discussing it with you first.

13. Cancellation by Youthful Minds

Occasionally, Youthful Minds may need to cancel or rearrange an appointment because of illness or another unexpected event.

If this happens, we will offer another appointment as soon as reasonably possible.

If we cancel a paid appointment and cannot provide a suitable alternative, we will refund the payment for the service we did not provide. We will not refund work that clinicians have already completed.

14. When a Refund May Be Available

Subject to this policy and your legal rights, a refund may be available when:

You paid for a future assessment stage that has not started
Youthful Minds cannot provide a paid service
We accepted a payment in error
A refund is required by law

We will assess each eligible request against the work already completed and the stage reached.

15. Statutory Rights

Nothing in this policy removes or limits your statutory consumer rights.

Youthful Minds will provide its services with reasonable care and skill. If you believe we have not met this standard, please contact us so that we can review your concerns.

Where a statutory cancellation right applies, Youthful Minds will honour that right. However, you may need to pay for services or work already supplied at your request, where the law allows this.

16. Requesting a Cancellation or Refund

To cancel an appointment, stop an assessment or request a refund, please contact:

Youthful Minds
Email: referrals@youthfulminds.co.uk
Telephone, text or WhatsApp: 07307 086018

Please include:

The child or young person’s name
The appointment date
The service or assessment stage
The reason for your request

We will review the request and confirm whether any refund or outstanding payment applies.

17. Changes to This Policy

Youthful Minds may update this policy when its services, procedures or legal responsibilities change.

The policy that applies will normally be the version provided or available when you make your booking.

Last updated: September 2026