Unable to pay

PrettyWoman

Hi - not sure if this is the right forum but hoping for some advice please?

Four years ago my business went through a lean time and I was unable to pay my eldest sons school fees for the following term. I spoke to the headmaster but the school were unable to offer any help and basically my son left at the end of term and I was billed for the following term in lieu of notice. With hindsight I should have left him for that term as I was billed for it anyway but I moved him to my local primary school where he settled.

Obviously I was unable to pay the bill in full so have just paid bits and bobs as and when. I am now separated from my husband and my priority is to keep a roof over the children's heads etc. I haven't paid anything to the school since August and they are now threatening to add interest on and charges as I signed a contract. I accept that when my children started at the school I signed a contract to pay fees in full and on time but I couldn't foresee that my income would decrease so drastically.

The current outstanding balance is £1700 and whilst I have a legal obligation to pay I feel that morally I should not have to pay for a service I did not use. My son did not move to another fee paying school.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, even if only to point me in the direction of a more suitable forum!

downsizer3

Sadly I suspect its not about the rights and wrongs - but a legal sitaution. I think they are harsh in chasing you for the funds in honesty but if you've agreed to the conditions they are within their rights to do so.
That said - its a debt like any other and you haven't got the money to pay.
Treat it like any debt and contact CCCS or citizen's advice. Maybe when they see you can't pay rather than won't pay they'll start being a bit more understanding and either write you off or come to an arrangement to pay it back slowly.

rising_from_the_ashes

PrettyWoman wrote: »

The current outstanding balance is £1700 and whilst I have a legal obligation to pay I feel that morally I should not have to pay for a service I did not use.

Unfortunately as you've said, you were billed in lieu of notice which, if clearly stated in the T&Cs they are totally entitled to claim the costs back.

You could try offering to settle the debt for less (ensuring any outstanding amount is written off & you've got this in writing).

If they won't agree to that, then I'm afraid a repayment plan or similar looks likely - at the end of the day, I'm afraid I personally feel that if they've been waiting 4 years for the sum to be repaid and have been accepting payments as & when you could make them, then they've actually been pretty reasonable.

iolanthe07

They won't want the bad publicity of taking a former parent to court, so definitely worth setting up a payment plan that you can manage - even if it will take them a while to get paid.

arthur_daley_2

I would set up a standing order for what you can afford each week even if its only £1 to £5 a month.This way you are paying something.Tell the school thats all you can afford.
Ok you signed a contract but this is not a debt secured to your house or anything.Electric bills, food bills are much more important. Tell the head if they are not happy with your offer let them take you to a small claims court.For the money you owe them they wont do it. If it did go to court the judge is not on their side he does not take sides.They will ask to see your incomings and outgoings and will make a judgement on what they think you can afford.You could get court charges on top but you would only pay back what you can afford over a period of time the judge says.

I would think if you offered the school a monthly payment they would accept it if you told them your circumstances.

McKneff

As well as paying a standing order as to what you could afford, could you sell things on ebay, carboot sales etc and throw everything you can to get this debt off your back.

Can you get more hours in your work or get another part time job.

PrettyWoman

Thank you for the advice above and sorry it's taken so long to get back on here. I've received a letter from the school today giving me 7 days to pay in full otherwise they will start recovery proceedings without further notification. Obviously I don't have the money and think they are probably just trying to scare me as they have a new bursar.

My plan is to send them a financial statement showing I have no assets, negative equity and a monthly budget that just about meets the needs of my children and myself. I'll also tell them that the same information will be supplied to the court if they choose to go down that route. I suspect they think I can pay and am choosing not to so going to court would probably work in my favour as the judge cannot ask me to pay more than I can afford.

It's all good fun and refusing to let them scare, intimidate or beat me down. If I haven't got it, they can't have it, simples!

19lottie82

as another poster has suggested, pay them SOMETHING, even if it is only a small REGULAR token payment in the form of a standing order(£10 a month for example), and inform them that you will be making these payments, and that is all that you can afford at the moment.

This will look a lot better, should the school decide to take things further. Paying nothing at all, could come back to bite you in the bum at a later date.

Max_Maxwell

PrettyWoman wrote: »

Four years ago my business went through a lean time and I was unable to pay my eldest sons school fees for the following term.

Obviously I was unable to pay the bill in full so have just paid bits and bobs as and when. I am now separated from my husband and my priority is to keep a roof over the children's heads etc. I haven't paid anything to the school since August and they are now threatening to add interest on and charges as I signed a contract.

The current outstanding balance is £1700 and whilst I have a legal obligation to pay I feel that morally I should not have to pay for a service I did not use. My son did not move to another fee paying school.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, even if only to point me in the direction of a more suitable forum!

What confuses me is that you have been 'paying bits and bobs as and when' for the last 4 years but now you 'feel that morally you should not have to pay for a service you did not use'

Why the change of heart? If that was your view from the outset and you believe you had good grounds for not paying, then why make payments over the past 4 years?

I'm not passing judgement but your stance on this doesn't hold up.

bargainbetty

PrettyWoman wrote: »

T I've received a letter from the school today giving me 7 days to pay in full otherwise they will start recovery proceedings without further notification. Obviously I don't have the money and think they are probably just trying to scare me as they have a new bursar.

My plan is to send them a financial statement showing I have no assets, negative equity and a monthly budget that just about meets the needs of my children and myself. I'll also tell them that the same information will be supplied to the court if they choose to go down that route. I suspect they think I can pay and am choosing not to so going to court would probably work in my favour as the judge cannot ask me to pay more than I can afford.

It's all good fun and refusing to let them scare, intimidate or beat me down. If I haven't got it, they can't have it, simples!

However, if you have made no efforts to agree even a token repayment schedule (and the judge will not automatically accept your figures, they are subject to some scrutiny) you may find yourself ordered to pay a sum of a few pounds a month, but with a CCJ on your record. That will trash your credit for six years, and you will still have to pay up.

All good fun? You agreed to a contract and failed to meet it's terms. They have every legal right to pursue you for the debt and take all appropriate action to ensure that you repay them. You probably do have a few pounds a month - please stop thinking that you have a moral right to avoid this payment. You don't.

LannieDuck

Presumably this was a joint bill, acquired while you and your husband were together? Why are you the only one being chased about it?