Increase in subscription?

ddelsabobs

My husband is a member at a golf club where following an independent business review an EGM was called.
His membership renewed last November 2012 and is paid over 12 installments by direct debit.
At the meeting approximately 50% of members attended and were told that the club was in financial difficulty and every member had to pay an extra fee either in cash by cheque or credit/debit card.
The motion was carried according to the minutes recently posted.
Surely every member should have been asked to vote independently and this should have been counted following all members voting according to recent member numbers last November it was not a majority?
Members who don't pay the extra fee will have their membership cancelled despite originally agreeing and commencing payment either by direct debit or in full last November!
Are they entitled to do this and can he refuse to pay,what are his options can anyone offer advice?

System

This is the point of EGM's. If they had a quorum then this is binding. He should have attended the meeting himself.

If he doesn't pay then his membership will be terminated which is fair enough as it looks like you pay on a month by month basis.

It's unfair to the other members if you husband doesn't pay the same as the others.

Hintza

I doubt his club is the only one that is suffering. One in the Borders now has sheep on it. Our local one is offering rounds for £10.

ThumbRemote

There are two seperate questions here.

First, is the EGM binding despite not having an absolute majority of the members present. I would assume so, you would need to check the constitution to be certain, but it's unlikely the secretary would not notice.

Second, is the decision they took enforceable. This is less clear. It seems your husband has agreed to a contract and begun paying. I doubt they can simply change the terms of that contract part way through - although this may depend on their terms and conditions. Could your husband have left by his choice within the 12 months, or was he bound to it? If the latter, it's unlikely they can just increase his bill.

System

ThumbRemote wrote: »

There are two seperate questions here.

First, is the EGM binding despite not having an absolute majority of the members present. I would assume so, you would need to check the constitution to be certain, but it's unlikely the secretary would not notice.

Second, is the decision they took enforceable. This is less clear. It seems your husband has agreed to a contract and begun paying. I doubt they can simply change the terms of that contract part way through - although this may depend on their terms and conditions. Could your husband have left by his choice within the 12 months, or was he bound to it? If the latter, it's unlikely they can just increase his bill.

The majority of contracts allow for price increases eg sky, mobile phones, BT etc. If the price goes up(over a certain level) and you don't want to pay it then you can leave the contract.

As this is what is happening here I don't see why a price rise would not be enforceable.

ddelsabobs

Firstly my husband did attend the meeting,he is an active committee member.The EGM was attended by 240 members however the last disclosed membership was 486.( EGM votes for 202 against 38 abstentions 2 ) This is 242 not 240 but this isn't a majority!
Secondly he has a contract which commenced November 2012 and in it it states "this is a 12 month contract and if cancelled during the membership year the balance will become due immediately"
Finally they are requesting a one off payment by cash,cheque or credit/debit card.
Is this legal?

System

ddelsabobs wrote: »

Firstly my husband did attend the meeting,he is an active committee member.The EGM was attended by 240 members however the last disclosed membership was 486.( EGM votes for 202 against 38 abstentions 2 ) This is 242 not 240 but this isn't a majority!
Secondly he has a contract which commenced November 2012 and in it it states "this is a 12 month contract and if cancelled during the membership year the balance will become due immediately"
Finally they are requesting a one off payment by cash,cheque or credit/debit card.
Is this legal?

It doesn't matter that a majority of members didn't vote. It matters that a majority that were there voted (as long as the quorum was reached).

At the end of the day he doesn't have to pay if he doesn't wish to. However if he doesn't pay then his membership will be cancelled. As you pay on a month by month basis neither of the parties are owed money so I doubt it would be worth pursuing in court to force the club to take your husband back.

I also am unsure whether you would win a court case as price rises within contracts happen all the time. The usual answer is the contract is terminated as a response.

tanith

I have no idea of the legalities of what they have done but it sounds like a last ditch effort to keep the club open , it might not be ethical or legal but if the members want the club to stay open it seems they will have to stump up or risk the club closing. I know what my golf playing OH would do in those circumstances.. it doesn't seem fair that those members who refuse to pay then benefit from the members who have paid the extra to try and stave off the closure.. so cancelling their membership would seem a fair way of dealing with it.

bris

The motion has been carried so it is legal, if you husband doesn't pay his membership will be terminated and a pro rata refund issued.

This same meeting will be held in many clubs up and down the country this year, ours was last year due to the strain on the course and the lack of visitors the weather caused.

ThumbRemote

bris wrote: »

The motion has been carried so it is legal

That doesn't follow at all. The motion carried simply means they have agreed a decision. It doesn't mean that decision is legal, nor does it mean it over-rules contract law.

On the subject of the quorum, you'd have to check the constitution of the club. Most don't require a majority of all members; they require a certain percentage to be present, and of those present a majority to be in favour. (Major decisions like winding up the organisation may require two-thirds or some other amount)

Personally, I don't think they can impose an arbitary price rise. The contract has been agreed and is in place. Unless there is a term specifically allowing them to increase prices, they don't really have the ability to break the contract.

But, as goater78 has said, what will happen if they do? They will cancel his membership, you may end up going to court to sort it out, the club aren't going to want your husband as a member after that anyway, nor is he going to be popular if he does go. Maybe in this case friendship is more important than money.

halibut2209

The simple fact is that if they don't increase prices then the club will close.

Which would you prefer?