"It’s a great relief. We’re very pleased for the kids," Taieri College principal David Hunter said after receiving word full refunds were on the way.
Taieri College and Dunedin’s Kavanagh College were among about 20 New Zealand schools that had pupils and parents caught up in a battle to get refunds after education trips were called off because of Covid-19.
The company behind the trips, Antipodeans Abroad, went into liquidation in New Zealand and Australia in July and had been in a dispute with its insurer.
Mr Hunter said insurance was being paid out and people were happy they now had a positive result.
About 30 Taieri College pupils were unable to travel to Nepal next year amid fallout from Covid-19.
Nineteen pupils from Kavanagh College had their planned trips to Cambodia this year cancelled.
Kavanagh College principal Kate Nicholson said many pupils had worked hard to raise the money needed for their trip.
"We are thrilled for the majority of our students and their families who have received a full refund after working through the process required and we are confident that the remaining families will receive the same," she said.
"Obviously, our students are thrilled, because of the hard work they put into raising the funds."
Mike Reeve, whose daughter Morgan (17) attends Kavanagh College, said she was overjoyed.
She and her friends had had to try to accept the money was written off, before the positive news arrived.
"It’s just a great result," Mr Reeve said.
The insurance firm, 360 Accident and Health, initially refused to pay out and this prompted complaints to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
The Otago Daily Times has seen one case in which the authority ruled against the insurer.
More parents and pupils have received positive news since that ruling.
