Is this debt now settled . . . . .?

yogibear75

Scenario: I pull onto a petrol station forecourt and proceed to fill my tank with £5.00 of fuel. I am now indebted to this company to the tune of £5.00. I hand over a perfectly legal £50.00 note as payment. The staff member refuses to accept stating it is policy not to accept £50.00 notes and in no way implies that the note is not genuine. Can I consider my debt to this company as having been waived as they have refused legal tender in settlement of my debt to them?

unholyangel

Legal tender has a very narrow and technical meaning in the settlement of debts. It means that a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender. It does not mean that any ordinary transaction has to take place in legal tender or only within the amount denominated by the legislation. Both parties are free to agree to accept any form of payment whether legal tender or otherwise according to their wishes. In order to comply with the very strict rules governing an actual legal tender it is necessary, for example, actually to offer the exact amount due because no change can be demanded.

paddyrg

No - simply return the fuel.

Of course you still owe them a fiver if you don't.

paddedjohn

In some jurisdictions legal tender can be refused as payment if no debt exists prior to the time of payment (where the obligation to pay may arise at the same time as the offer of payment). For example vending machines and transport staff do not have to accept the largest denomination of banknote. Shopkeepers can reject large banknotes — this is covered by the legal concept known as invitation to treat. However, restaurants that do not collect payment until after a meal is served would have to accept that legal tender for the debt incurred in purchasing the meal.


As stated above, shopkeepers can reject large banknote but it is hard to see how a garage could if that is all you have, i mean its not as if you can just put the petrol back on the shelf like in a shop and by offering to pay it cant be classed as theft

giraffe69

The staff member refuses to accept stating it is policy not to accept £50.00 notes

And was this "policy" on display? I think you would be in a strong position to leave your name and address and invite them to contact you to agree an alternative method of payment.

alistair.long

This could be a very expensive lesson.

What the company might do.
contact the Police,
or contact DVLA and request vehicle owner details then send you a letter including admin fee.

I would go back and pay the £5.

I do have another question tho. What if the petrol station dont like you and say they refuse to serve you after you have filled up with fuel?

bod1467

alistair.long wrote: »

I do have another question tho. What if the petrol station dont like you and say they refuse to serve you after you have filled up with fuel?

It is self-service, so surely they have ALREADY served you? Their opportunity to refuse to serve is to decline to press the button that starts the fuel delivery - once they've pressed it then they have waived any rights to refuse to serve (fuel).

Forwandert

alistair.long wrote: »

This could be a very expensive lesson.

What the company might do.
contact the Police,
or contact DVLA and request vehicle owner details then send you a letter including admin fee.

I would go back and pay the £5.

I do have another question tho. What if the petrol station dont like you and say they refuse to serve you after you have filled up with fuel?

The police will not get involved with this, as payment has been offered and not accepted they will deem it a civil matter for the petrol station to sort out themselves, I had something quite similar a couple of years back.

joeyfreak

I am assuming if you had no other means of payment at the time then they would have got you to sign an AOD (Admission of debt) Which would clearly state all the ways for you to pay and what they will do if you don't pay.
The petrol station where I worked did this and then they would give you 7 days to pay before passing details to a debt collection agency.
If you offered payment and didnt get asked to sign an AOD then all they can do is contact the DVLA with your license plate and pull your details that way for a debt collection agency. However where I worked this never happened as it was too much hassle and cost. They were simply refused service and the cashier was charged for not following correct procedures.

unholyangel

joeyfreak wrote: »

I am assuming if you had no other means of payment at the time then they would have got you to sign an AOD (Admission of debt) Which would clearly state all the ways for you to pay and what they will do if you don't pay.
The petrol station where I worked did this and then they would give you 7 days to pay before passing details to a debt collection agency.
If you offered payment and didnt get asked to sign an AOD then all they can do is contact the DVLA with your license plate and pull your details that way for a debt collection agency. However where I worked this never happened as it was too much hassle and cost. They were simply refused service and the cashier was charged for not following correct procedures.

I presume you mean the debt collector fee's and not the cost of getting the details from the DVLA?

OP as i said above, they do not have to accept "legal tender". And also as above, apparently they don't have to give you change either (which is a new one for me but it came from royal mints website).

tomwakefield

unholyangel wrote: »

And also as above, apparently they don't have to give you change either (which is a new one for me but it came from royal mints website).

I heard this while studying my Accountancy NVQ. Of course, legal right is one thing, but I can't imagine anyone convincing a customer of that particular right.