CIPD humongous course cancellation fee

Danno81

Hi all,

My partner has been attending a course with the CIPD (chartered institute of personnel development) which she paid a little over £4k for the course fees. Due to circumstances she can't progress with the course and has notified them of this. They have come back and said, as per their terms and conditions, they have a standard cancellation fee of 100% of the course fee. This means we'd have to pay a further £4k+ just for her to pull out.

This leaves us with a choice a struggling to continue or pay an extraordinary amount of money just to stop.

This seems extremely unfair and I was wondering if such a condition would be legally enforceable or if there is a way to argue against this. It's a very difficult position to be in as either option is difficult to impossible.

Thanks in advance for any help. Kind regards, Dan.

halibut2209

I think you may be misunderstanding. They appear to be saying that you won't get a refund, not that you have to pay extra. That would, of course, be nonsensical and completely unlawful

hcb42

It is the same with the OU, once you start a course you are liable for the year's fees, whether you finish it or not (subject to certain break points)

However CIPD is modular, so surely she can just not sign up for and complete the next year(s)??

frugal_mike

They can't charge a penalty if you breach contract, they can only recover their losses. Are you sure they plan to charge you double the original fee, rather than just insist you pay the full amount you were contracted to pay?

Danno81

Thanks Halibut. That was what is asked, but I was told that is not the case and they stated in an email that it was a cancellation fee and we'd have to pay them an extra £4345.

I will ask her to email back and ask explicitly if this is an extra charge on top.

I read the email and it appears that they are asking for an extra payment of 100%. It may be badly worded on their part though so we've emailed back to ask explicitly if we pay a further £4345 on top.

It would make sense if there's a no refund policy but insane if there's a flat 100% overpayment for cancelling and course. I'll let you know the result of their reply but I guess it'll be tomorrow when they reply back!

Danno81

Just to add, we paid upfront so it's already fully covered.

hcb42

http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-training/media/cms/pdf/trainingbookingformichrmm.pdf

its 100%, so if she has paid some of the year's fees then it will be the balance..

Is there no way she can continue, I had same conversation with OU 4 months ago, didnt think I could get to the end of the year, all fees were still due (or I colud defer until next year, but still had to finish paying this year) I plodded on, last essay due tomorrow, submitted Monday

I am also a CIPD member but not on their member site at the moment, but easy enough to get the cost clarified and whether it can be deferred so it's not a waste.

Edit : I see she has paid, so it is confirmation of cancellation in that case, not a request for more money

Danno81

Thanks for the help all. I hope most comments are correct and they basically mean the full course fees are payable, so we'd have nothing to pay further. We'll find out for sure tomorrow though.

Maybe a misunderstanding from their wording as you say...

shaun_from_Africa

Their terms and conditions make no mention of an extra cancellation fee on top of the actual course costs. It looks like their advisor simply got it wrong.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-training/media/cms/pdf/trainingbookingformichrmm.pdf

[FONT=Arial,Arial] [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]2.2 Cancellations [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• There is no charge for cancellations received 61 or more days before the [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]start of the programme. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]• Cancellations received 29-60 days before the start of the programme are [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]subject to a cancellation fee of 25 per cent of the fees. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]• Cancellations received 15-28 days before the start of the programme are [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]subject to a cancellation fee of 50 per cent of the fees. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]• Cancellations received 0-14 days before the start of the qualification [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]programme, are subject to a cancellation fee of 100 per cent of the fees. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]• If the student fails to attend/ commence the programme,100 per cent of the [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]fees are payable. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]• If a student wishes to cancel from the programme once the programme [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]has begun, the full fees are payable.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Arial]If you are entering the UK on a student visa from a country outside the EEA [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial](European Economic Area) and fail to attend your programme, unless you have [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]advised us of the reasons for this, we may be required to notify the immigration [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial]authorities.[/FONT]


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