Cancelling Gym Subscriptions - HELP PLEASE

the_pipster

Hi my son is travelling abroad for some months. Before he went he cancelled his direct debit with a gym, but they have not received a letter confirming this from him, so have continued his membership. They have now put the matter with solicitors who say he now owes mucho £££'s. I thought that he was within his consumer rights to cancel the dd without having to let the gym know. Is this true ??
Also they say that he will have a ccj against him, which will result in him losing all his credit rating for up to 6 years !! can a ccj be overruled or something. We are obviously worried as we dont want him to be in debt as soon as he steps off the plane.
Can anyone please help wth some advice:eek:

somethingcorporate

the_pipster wrote: »

Hi my son is travelling abroad for some months. Before he went he cancelled his direct debit with a gym, but they have not received a letter confirming this from him, so have continued his membership. They have now put the matter with solicitors who say he now owes mucho £££'s. I thought that he was within his consumer rights to cancel the dd without having to let the gym know. Is this true ??
Also they say that he will have a ccj against him, which will result in him losing all his credit rating for up to 6 years !! can a ccj be overruled or something. We are obviously worried as we dont want him to be in debt as soon as he steps off the plane.
Can anyone please help wth some advice:eek:

No, all the information above is false. Direct Debit is only the payment method and has almost nothing to do with the contract. The contract with the gym will be subject to the cancellation terms that your son signed up to in the contract. If he hasn't given the correct notice etc then he is liable to pay.

Yes, they can get a ccj and yes it can screw your sons credit score. It can only be struck off if you have a legitimate reason, not sticking to the contract your son signed is not one of those!

heretolearn_2

He didn't cancel the contract, he just stopped paying for it. How is that the same thing?

Best he just pays up.

maninthestreet

He broke his contract when he just stopped paying unilaterally.

the_pipster

somethingcorporate wrote: »

No, all the information above is false. Direct Debit is only the payment method and has almost nothing to do with the contract. The contract with the gym will be subject to the cancellation terms that your son signed up to in the contract. If he hasn't given the correct notice etc then he is liable to pay.

Yes, they can get a ccj and yes it can screw your sons credit score. It can only be struck off if you have a legitimate reason, not sticking to the contract your son signed is not one of those!

Oh well we live and learn - i agree he didnt cancel the contract he did indeed just stop paying so he will have to sort it when he returns - that'll make him happy

Thank you for your very quick response:T

garth549

It might be a good idea to sort it out for him, pay the debt off and cancel properly with the gym explaining what has happened.

If he gets a CCJ on his credit report, it will be impossible for him to get a loan or mortgage for 7 years (i think its 7 years anyway). Has the county court entered a judgement? If so you have 30 days to pay the debt it in full before the CCJ cannot be removed from the credit report