Cancelling gym for medical reasons

IanPirie

I was diagnosed with PTSD last November (ex forces) and I am going for counselling with Combat Stress. Part of this involved fitness and well being so I joined the local gym. This worked well for a few months but I have found my mental health deteriorate again and will require further counselling. As a result I cannot cope well in busy and noisey environments. When it come to cancelling the DFC bespoke Direct Debit Services company will only consider cancelling if I provide a headed letter detailing my mental health issues from a doctor. Do I have to provide this because surely it is medical in Confidence? After some advice if I have to or not or if anyone has had a similar experience.

Manxman_in_exile

I think if you want to cancel for medical reasons, and your contract allows you to do so, you need to follow whatever T&Cs you signed up to.


Your medical history is confidential, but if you want to rely on it to cancel your membership without further cost, you may need to waive that confidentiality and get a GP's letter.


I sympathise with you, and if you don't want your PTSD to be revealed to the gym, your best option may simply be to suffer the financial cost. The question is, what is the lesser cost to you: a letter to the gym from your GP, or writing off the membership fee?


Were you advised by your counsellors to sign up for a gym membership, bearing in mind you were suffering from PTSD?

macman

Cancelling within your minimum term contract for any reason (other than death or bankruptcy) is a breach of contract, unless the terms say otherwise, so the gym would be allowing it on a purely discretionary basis. If so, you would have to comply with their requirement for a doctor's note, which doesn't seem unreasonable to prove your condition.
PS: if you are concerned with confidentiality, it may not be a good idea to use your real name as your username.

parkrunner

Seems a perfectly reasonable request. Look at it from their point of view, anyone could simply say they have a medical problem and cancel their membership. Unfortunately there are a lot of dishonest people around. Hopefully you will recover and when you do try and find a gym with monthly membership, they are the best.