Paying back employer training

riptide_2

I took training which cost the employer money. Due to some nonsense at the office i have decided to leave the employer

Recently I received a letter the employer stating they want the money back, they will not send a second notice, and will report me to a collections agency. The letter was strongly worded to say the least.

While the employer can report me to a collections agency, can they actually ding my credit score or will it just be dealing with a phone call now and again?

marlot

What does your contract say about repayment of training fees?

antrobus

riptide wrote: »

...While the employer can report me to a collections agency, can they actually ding my credit score or will it just be dealing with a phone call now and again?

Well yes, if your employer gets a CCJ against you, that will "ding" your credit score. And there are a number of enforcement options available with a CCJ that involve a bit more than the odd phonecall.

makeyourdaddyproud

riptide wrote: »

Due to some nonsense at the office i have decided to leave the employer...

I presume the "nonsense" was so unbearable you had to leave your employer carrying the cost of your training?

Wasn't there an opportunity to broach the issue to management?

BigAunty

The debt free wanabee board will have posters there that know more about the debt collection process and your options. Pop over there.

TBagpuss

What does you contract say, and did you sign abnything before undetaking the training, relating to the fees?

It is common to have provisions which allow employers to claw back training costs if an employee leaves within a certain time of the training being undertaken.

If your contract included that provision, you ned to check what is says, and whether this training is caught by the terms (for instance, in our contracts, training costs can be clawed back for up to 2 years after the training is undertaken, with the amount to be paid back reducing over that time.

If there was no agreement or contractual entilment then I would write back to them (keeping a copy) stating that you do no belive that the cost of the training is repayable and askingthem to provide a copy of the signed contract or agreement in which you agreed to repay.

If you don't pay, then they would have the option of following up the debt and obviously if they sued you for it and won that would be a CCJ which would have an impact on your credit record.

If they tried to claim the money and could not prove that there had been an agreement to allow them to do this they would be unlikely to suceed - there is no automatic right to claw back training costs.

JJG

TBagpuss wrote: »

If you don't pay, then they would have the option of following up the debt and obviously if they sued you for it and won that would be a CCJ which would have an impact on your credit record.

Only if you then refused to pay the CCJ after they have won.

riptide_2

Thanks for the responses. The issue was two fold: 1) I got a grant that (contractually, by the agency that issued it) was supposed to cover 50% of my time. They only honored 1/8th of my time. 2) As a doctor I don't get annual raises. The only time i get a raise is when there are promotions - which can take 5-10 years, if not longer. Typically these promotions carry a hefty raise (50k). They decided to change the system this year, only give me a 4k raise (which would make me about 46k underpaid compared to my peers), and then they wanted to implement a bonus system for everyone. So at best, if I got a bonus, I would catch up to my coworkers base salaries...oh, and they haven't defined the criteria. and 3) Last year they didn't pay their (old system) bonuses because the department did not make enough money. Six months later they found an accounting error, and 800k that should have been attributed to the department. They refused to issue us a bonus, which would have happened if they didn't "lose" they 800k. Between that, and working 70 hours a week - it was time to go. With the exception of student loans and a mortgage I am 100% debt free and have an 800+ credit. I would prefer not to screw that credit score up for $5000

The letter they sent was plain letter (no receipt). I can call them and ask for the paperwork. If they don't have it, then I presume they have no grounds.

What is a CCJ? It sounds like the only time it would impact me is if they went with a lawsuit and won a CCJ? So if they issued papers of a lawsuit I could then opt to pay for it. The collections agency, by itself, couldn't ding me?

antrobus

riptide wrote: »

....What is a CCJ? It sounds like the only time it would impact me is if they went with a lawsuit and won a CCJ? So if they issued papers of a lawsuit I could then opt to pay for it.

CCJ= County Court Judgement.

But, basically, yes. I could write to you and claim that you owe me £5,000, but that would be neither here nor there. On the other hand, if I went to County Court and won, then you would owe me £5,000 (irrespective of what you thought about the rights and wrongs of the issue), and if you failed to pay up, it would damage your credit record, and could result in enforcement action being taken. It depends on how serious your former employers are about getting what they see as their money back.

riptide wrote: »

..The collections agency, by itself, couldn't ding me?

Probably not. But I hink it depends on your employment contract. If that includes a term that permits your employer to report any debt to a CRA, then they can.

chrisbur

riptide wrote: »

I would prefer not to screw that credit score up for $5000

Are you from the US or was this a mis-type; if from US you need to be aware that this is a UK site and any advice will almost certainly be based on the posters understanding/lack of understanding of UK law.

jem16

chrisbur wrote: »

Are you from the US or was this a mis-type;.

That and the spelling of "honored" as opposed to "honoured" plus the middle of the night posts would suggest to me that the OP is from the US.