Can you owe someone money without agreeing or realising you borrowed?

tm10abs

let say, I'm doing driving lessons, I pay the instructor in advance all the time but cannot prove it. Then one day I pay him in advance for lessons in the future, then he cancels the next two lessons when my test is due soon.

So i decided to ask for my money back, then the instructor says "yeah but remember you did some lessons on credit so i'm only going to give you what's left after clearing your debt," but i never agreed or asked for lessons on credit, we never spoke about it at all and im sure i was paying in advance all the time.

What can I do to get all my money back? Can I owe him money even if i didnt know, agreed or even asked for the lessons on credit?

boobies

You need to work out how much you have paid and how many lessons you have had, and ask him to do the same. If you paid in cash, can you work it out by when you made withdrawals?

Alternatively, if everyone pays in cash the likelihood is that he is not declaring it all to HMRC. Perhaps you could suggest that a quick phone call to HMRC would encourage better record keeping? I wouldn't be brave enough to do it, but I know others that have solved problems this way!

Peelerfart

Personally I would follow the advice of (the delightfully named) boobies and grass him up.
If he's doing that to you,how many others is he doing it to.

Then I would go to a proper driving school and put it all down to experience.

PF

Badger_Lady

In answer to your question, it's your job to recognise whether you're going into credit or not. There's no requirement for the driving instructor to say "yes you can book the next lesson but I should warn you that you haven't pre-paid for it"... there is an agreement between you that he will provide a service and you will pay, whether before or after the fact.

So the advice is right - work out how many lessons you've had and how much you've paid. It sounds like the driving instructor could be correct in what he says and, unless you are sure otherwise, you will need to accept the partial reimbursement. If you are 100% sure that you're owed more money than he says, then write it up the dates and amounts to show him and make a formal request.