PLEASE HELP I signed up to a gym at 17, 3 years on i get an email about unpaid fees.

callumd2

I signed up for a gym when i was 17, im sure i was told i will not be able to go on a contract until i am 18 and it states that on the gym website, nearly 3 and a half years later a credit company have emailed saying i owe an outstanding balance of £206 and i need to pay, i still have a receipt from when i signed up at the age of 17 and when i replied telling them there response was, "Please note, as you made a payment after your 18th birthday your Agreement was ratified" so i asked to see proof of the contract i signed and they sent me an email i received off the gym and when i said no i actually want to see the the document i signed then they responded "Having signed your Membership Agreement online you have entered into an enforceable contract and you remain liable to clear your account balance. There not being a signed document would not make you any less liable to pay." but i did not sign an agreement online as i went into the gym to sign up, please can i have some legal advice on whether i need to pay this thanks.

unholyangel

If you want proper legal advice you'll need to see a solicitor or your local citizens advice. Any advice given here is little more than opinion (sometimes informed opinion but its still unwise to take it as gospel).

Minors can enter into contracts - just they are voidable by the minor at any time before they turn 18 (and sometimes for a short while after they reach 18).

However first we would need to establish what kind of agreement you entered into and a timeline of events. Was a credit agreement involved? When did you sign up? When did you turn 18? What exactly did the gym send you when you turned 18? When did you stop paying? What were the terms you agreed to (ie how much per month, was there a minimum term etc)? Did you ever actually cancel it?

They are right on a few points though - you don't need a signed physical document, you can have a legally binding contract with no documents at all (although it might be hard to prove what the terms of the agreement were) never mind signed documents. You can also ratify a contract you entered into as a minor after you turn 18 - it needs to be positive/express ratification (can't be implied) as far as i'm aware although I may be wrong on that point.

Express ratification would require you to tell them (orally or in writing) that you agree to be bound by the agreement. Implied ratification could mean that the ratification could be inferred from your conduct (such as continuing to make payments under the contract).

callumd2

Thanks for taking the time to reply, i will arrange an appointment with my local citizens advice office.
I signed up for the gym wanting to do a 12 month contract of £10 a month(really good deal) but i was told i couldn't go on it because i was under the age of 18 so they made me fill out a form for £15 a month but not on a contract and said when i'm 18 they will put me on a contract after around 3 months my friend cancelled his direct debit and said he's not going anymore and i wanted to quit as well so i took the same approach which i know now isn't the best option but i was only young at the time and didn't understand these things, they emailed me a few months after saying i owed them money so i emailed back saying i have a receipt that i was only 17 at the time and shouldn't have been on a contract and that was the last i heard now 3 years later a credit company has emailed saying i still owe the balance, if i have to pay i will but i'm just buying a car and with all over bills its just another cost going out so if i can legally not pay i on't but if i have to i will

unholyangel

callumd2 wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to reply, i will arrange an appointment with my local citizens advice office.
I signed up for the gym wanting to do a 12 month contract of £10 a month(really good deal) but i was told i couldn't go on it because i was under the age of 18 so they made me fill out a form for £15 a month but not on a contract and said when i'm 18 they will put me on a contract after around 3 months my friend cancelled his direct debit and said he's not going anymore and i wanted to quit as well so i took the same approach which i know now isn't the best option but i was only young at the time and didn't understand these things, they emailed me a few months after saying i owed them money so i emailed back saying i have a receipt that i was only 17 at the time and shouldn't have been on a contract and that was the last i heard now 3 years later a credit company has emailed saying i still owe the balance, if i have to pay i will but i'm just buying a car and with all over bills its just another cost going out so if i can legally not pay i on't but if i have to i will

Which is exactly why a minor can't be held to contracts. Theres a presumption in law that they lack the capacity to understand what it is they're agreeing to in all but the most basic contracts.

But just to clarify, how long after turning 18 was the final payment made? Were you ever given any T&C's by the gym? I understand you might not want to give exact dates and reveal your DOB online but if you could either change the dates so same timing is between them (doesnt need to be exact, just to give us an idea) or just tell us "I turned 18 3 weeks after signing up and made 2 payments after turning 18 - the first was 1 week after turning 18 and the other was 5 weeks after".

You could respond to them stating that you deny the debt and they should refer it back to their client. Then contact the gym to try and resolve it.

Also, do you happen to know whether they were taking payment in advance or not? If it was a prepay arrangement, there was really no reason for them to allow it to accumulate to £206. It sounds like they're possibly trying to charge you for the remainder of the minimum term but they would have had to advise you there was a minimum term in order for you to be bound by it - you can never be bound by terms you had no opportunity to become acquainted with.

steampowered

The first thing is to ask them for details of where the balance comes from, and a copy of the contract which they claim entitles them to claim it.

They cannot expect you to pay a sum of money without explaining what it is for.

bris

Contracts can be formed online, making payments based on that contract is agreeing to it. Millions of contracts are online now without the need for paper signatures.


As you now know, cancelling a DD does not cancel a contract, it stops the payment but the fees just accumulate.


I believe you are liable but the CAB will give you advice you should listen too even if it's not what you want to hear.

callumd2

I can't say when the final payment was made as i have changed banks since then but you got gym points for every time you signed into the gym and the last email i got saying i earned points was on the 20/05/2015 so i presume around so im guessing only one or two payments were made then and the first payment was made on the 09/04/2015 and i didn't turn 18 until the 22nd, ive just checked and the minimum period was 11 months when i emailed them back saying

"With this being a very long time ago im not sure whether i signed a document to say i am entering a contract and i know for a fact i did not sign a contract online, i am willing to pay if i can get proof of entering this contract or how do i know i actually owe this outstanding balance? Other than an email confirmation which does not prove i have entered a contract with exercise4less at all, im sure they told me when i turned 18 they would put me on one but have no memory of doing so, i want proof i owe this money or for all i know its a scam." now its been 5 days and they haven't responded considering they were replying straight away to previous emails.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.