school fee redundancy insurance

mattie5

my son has been at his school since he was 4, he is now nearly 10. when he joined the school we signed the schools terms and conditions which stated we had to pay a compulsory insurance to them for redundancy sickness accident. we had no money worries at the time and thought oh well its fine just incase there's a rainy day etc.... we never got any info on the insurance or leaflets ....nothing.

when money got a bit tighter i questioned the insurance which was added to the termly invoices together with the fees which was roughly about 130 pounds a term. in 2006 my partner tried to claim but was refused by HSBC who we found out to be the insurance company because he was self employed. my sons grandfather helped out with the school fees for the next year but then found it was getting too much for him to afford. money was still tight and what with everything else last spring my partner lost his job. we could not afford the fees for the school at the beginning of the summer term - April 2008 and we were told to pay up or else my son would be taken to the headmaster and told mummy and daddy could not pay the fees so he will have to leave the school - he was 3 weeks into the school summer term and to avoid this action being taken we never went back to the school, we tried so hard to get the money but then we decided to claim on the insurance.

my partner contacted the school and they contacted HSBC we got the details and was told that my son was taken off the insurance list and could not claim. he had been there for 5 years and we had paid 50,000 to them including 1,500 in insurance.

now the school are suing us over the terms fees. i have been trawling through the internet and found that the school's terms and conditions are from a firm of solicitors called veale wasbrough who have had investigations done by the OFT on unfair contract terms. we did not do a counter claim at the time because we didnt want to upset the school as we were trying and hoping to raise the money. now all thats gone and we have issued a claim against the school for misselling of insurance etc as per their terms and conditions. we are also defending their claim on unfair terms and conditions and illegally selling insurance.

if anyone can console me with this situation i would be grateful. this is one of the many financial situations i am dealing with since the lost of employment and now he has employment but doesnt earn anywhere near what he did.

Quentin

Of all people to name (and try to shame) in this way, naming a respected firm of solicitors is just asking for trouble!

You may have nothing for them to sue you for, but MSE Martin will be next in their line of fire if they read this!

facingthefuture

Respected my Ar*se.
First of all op, sorry your situation sounds very tough. I be there are other people in a similar situation and its far easier to fight as a group. I would put an ad in the local paper with a po box no asking for people to get in contact if they had similar problems.I bet there are people and as a group you could put pressure on them through the media.

Secondly, put nothing in writing unless you can back it up. If the firm of solicitors has drawn up unfair contract has it been established in a court? If so fine you can say. If they have done anything wrong and you can prove it without doubt then you are safe to publish it - just because you are a solicitor it doesn't mean people can't expose you for acting wrongly or badly. As for the term respected - huh - just because they are lawyers does not mean they deserve respect or are "reasonable".

Also start taping your conversations with every official.....may not be submissible but the papers will love it, handy for transcription purposes.

I wish your family the best, stay calm.

mattie5

hi are you serious about the respected firm of soliitors, because if you google their name you come up with an office of fair trading investigation in their unfair terms and conditions which they give private schools to use as a template.

mattie5

thanks facing the future i have been to court today and the judgement was given on the outstanding school fees but not until our claim or claims are resolved

Alan_Cross

Private schools, eh. What would you do with 'em.... I dunno...

mattie5

my partner is associated with the work of solicitors ( i wont mention what but you will not like it) and because these respestable people dont pay their bills his firm is going downhill. they use all sorts of tricks to avoid payment for services that they have done. his brother and father are both trained solicitors and i worked as a fee earner in a firm doing debt collecting. so we really know what they are like