Direct Debit: Business wants back £700 back-payment

raaymaan

Hello,
My two children attend a small local football club and I pay about £35 a month by direct debit. The company has just sent me an email saying that I have been paying the wrong amount for the last 20 months - £35 instead of £70! - and they would like the money owed to them. As you might imagine, I don't have a spare £700 lying around, especially in these torrid times.

The error was not my fault however, but of the football club's accounts. They changed the direct debit amount after a session was cancelled, as a way of giving people a refund, and subsequently forgot to change it back. Dangerous practice it seems. 
The club also insinuated that I am to blame, as "how could I not notice the incorrect amount every month?", well I didn't, and quite frankly that's why I have small direct debits, so I don't have to deal with them. I know they're there, but not the amount. Mortgage and credit card are the only outgoings I really know, as they are the most significant.

I intend to try to pay some of the money back alongside future sessions, but I still do not feel I am fully at fault. 
Opinions and moral obligations aside - am I legally obliged to pay them anything further?
Thanks

eskbanker

I'd say yes, you are obliged to pay - that is an opinion but, turning it round the other way, on what basis (legal or otherwise) do you feel you shouldn't pay for a service you signed up to and received, despite the admin error?

raaymaan

Thank you for your reply.

The main issue I have with the situation is the time and the accusatory tone - nearly 2 years before the error was spotted, and it was made out to be my mistake.
As I stated, I intend to contribute towards the owed amount, and I haven't agreed anything with the club, but let's say hypothetically I would now pay the new corrected monthly amount of £70, plus an additional £35 for back pay, or even £70 if the debt were to be cleared under a year.

A jump from £35/month to £105 or even £140/month is quite significant and rather frustrating to say the least.

eskbanker

It sounds perfectly reasonable to me for you to go back to them and accept that you owe them the money, but to make the point that you're not in a position to pay it off immediately and to negotiate equitable repayment terms.  Obviously paying off arrears (regardless of cause) as well as the correct undiscounted subs entails significantly higher payments than in recent times, but on the flip side it's harder to plead poverty if you're effectively claiming that the prior reduction was too insignificant to be noticeable....

raaymaan

That is how I responded, but I have not had a reply yet.
As I said, I was rather surprised and upset about the tone - it felt a bit hostile and after stewing on it for a while, I worried myself that they might start chasing me for the entire amount, hence me focussing more about the legality of the situation rather than the morality.

penners324

Of course you owe it. OK the club has made a mistake so their finances are now out by quite a bit.

eskbanker

raaymaan said:

That is how I responded, but I have not had a reply yet.
As I said, I was rather surprised and upset about the tone - it felt a bit hostile and after stewing on it for a while, I worried myself that they might start chasing me for the entire amount, hence me focussing more about the legality of the situation rather than the morality.

I'm sure that they'd prefer the arrears to be repaid in full immediately but realistically they can't enforce that through any legalistic methods, although if you fail to reach an amicable agreement with them then ultimately they could kick your kids out of the club.

Presumably other parents will be in the same situation too, maybe worth discussing with some of them and agreeing a collective response?

comeandgo

There would have been a contract, either written, verbal or implied that you pay £35 per month per child.  You have only been paying £35.  You are owe them the money, hopefully they will come to a payment agreement.  Maybe the tone of the letter was the way it was as you have now shown them you are not to be trusted, you were happy to use their mistake to your advantage.

ZeroSum

I would say your both at fault. 
Nearly 2 years before one of either side noticed. 

And if you think £70 is a small DD, then as mentioned above you cant try & claim poverty.

Maybe you need to keep a closer eye on your finances in future. 

PRAISETHESUN

Playing the blame game isn't really helpful here - for either side.

I'd check what you agreed to pay - if this is written then dust out a copy of the agreement. As above, legally you owe the money so you can't get out of it that easily. Sure they didn't pick up on the payment error but they do have 6 years to chase you for the debt so they don't actually need to be all that quick about it - the onus should be on you to make sure you are paying the right amount. If you can't pay then there's not much the club can do short of taking you to court, and even then they'd probably only order you to repay what you could reasonably afford, so I'd get in touch and work out something that works for both of you.

pjread

Assuming you don't have the cash spare to just pay it as you say, I'd be inclined to suggest to them the DD increases to the 'correct' value from the next payment, and you offer to pay whatever the arrears are at a rate you're comfortable with.  I imagine neither of you really want an argument over it, with you refusing to pay and/or the kids getting booted out for non-payment.