It's a 'flying school' so most of there business is in training and trial flights etc. In terms of the weather it wasn't forecasted to get that bad and was due to be VFR. It remained IMC until the airport was closed. It was a 'local' flight but had been on a navigation route that was around 2 hours flying time. The invoice I have been given isn't that detailed but states a total of 1.74 hours chargeable time. To me this seems like I've been paying for someone to have a 'Jolly' and not just the minimum cost to recover the aircraft. I don't know who collected the aircraft so can't comment on the legality of if it.
I have since paid the cost to avoid any bad terms with the owner however I will most likely fly somewhere else in future.