Electrician course via loan - school not delivering to promise, can I stop paying?

[Deleted User]

Hi all,

This is post on behalf of my friend.

She applied for electrician course in private school. There supposed to be regular, physical seminars and lessons with wiring/testing etc. practice, followed by exams, at certain pace. She signed contract and signed a loan with the school for £250 per month, for total of £7200 or something like that, in course of about 3 years. Fast forward one year, she is very unhappy with what has been promised and what is being delivered. There is only short zoom meetings every week or so, quality of which leaves much to be desired. No physical meetings, no face to face consultation, as everything is online and tutors are impossible to contact directly. She struggles with her exams after every chapter. Also their website is very poor with many glitches. So many hurdles. So, she is exploring her options:

• Already contacted school the said "change my mind" period was 2 weeks so she can't resign
• Loan company says the same, contract has been signed and she need to keep paying for her loan

Does she have any other options? Regarding not delivering what has been promised, can she void  the contract somehow based on that? Will it need to involve Small Claims Court?

Does she stand any chances in court? As they still providing her with electrician course and quality is a matter of opinion?

Thanks for your thoughts.

MattMattMattUK

[Deleted User] said:

Electrician course via loan - school not delivering to promise, can I stop paying?

Generally no they can not stop paying, the finance is usually a separate agreement, refusing to pay could have serious consequences.

[Deleted User] said:

Hi all,

This is post on behalf of my friend.

She applied for electrician course in private school. There supposed to be regular, physical seminars and lessons with wiring/testing etc. practice, followed by exams, at certain pace. She signed contract and signed a loan with the school for £250 per month, for total of £7200 or something like that, in course of about 3 years. Fast forward one year, she is very unhappy with what has been promised and what is being delivered. There is only short zoom meetings every week or so, quality of which leaves much to be desired. No physical meetings, no face to face consultation, as everything is online and tutors are impossible to contact directly. She struggles with her exams after every chapter. Also their website is very poor with many glitches. So many hurdles. 

The pandemic has had an impact on in-person teaching, with many educational establishments closed to in-person teaching for much of the period, disruption is understandable and to be expected. Has she first raised a formal complaint, detailing where she feels the course is falling short of what was offered and/or where would be reasonable adjustments based on current circumstances? Most educational/training establishments and companies will have a complaints procedure, it would be wise to follow that first, before going down a legal route.

[Deleted User] said:

So, she is exploring her options:

• Already contacted school the said "change my mind" period was 2 weeks so she can't resign

Likely correct.

[Deleted User] said:

So, she is exploring her options:

• Loan company says the same, contract has been signed and she need to keep paying for her loan

Almost certainly she must keep paying. What generally happens is you agree finance with Company B, they pay the amount in full to Company A who is the service provider. If you are in dispute with Company A you must continue to pay Company B and recover funds from Company A, unless S75 or other regulations become relevant.

[Deleted User] said:

Does she have any other options? Regarding not delivering what has been promised, can she void  the contract somehow based on that? Will it need to involve Small Claims Court?

Does she stand any chances in court? As they still providing her with electrician course and quality is a matter of opinion?

What will happen, what could happen in court and what legal grounds she has depend on the contract, complaints procedures, relevant contract law etc. but no she can not unilaterally declare the contract void. Quality of teaching can be subjective, some may be struggling with remote learning, others may be thriving, it depends on the individual even with the same course materials. For a practical course one would generally find that a move to entirely online would not be adequate, but it depends what provisions have been put in place to cover the practical work (catch up when restrictions are lifted), or an offer to defer the year until the restrictions are relaxed. 
Can she void the contract? No.
Will it need to involve the courts? Possibly, unless both parties can reach a mutual agreement.
Does she stand any chances in court? Impossible to know without far more detail than can be provided on here.
As they still providing her with electrician course? Yes, although not in the way desired or originally envisioned. 
quality is a matter of opinion? Yes, unless specifically quantifiable.

[Deleted User] said:

Thanks for your thoughts.

Speak to the educational establishment first, they may well agree to changes, flexibility, catch up etc. If their response is one you deem inadequate then speak to Citizen's Advice first, then if they advise possibly take it further. Do not stop paying the finance, all that will do is mean that their credit record will be blemished and the original issues will still remain. 

[Deleted User]

Thank you. I will inform her that next step in issue similar letters like before but this time as a formal complaint. To both school and lender. As this hasn't been done previously. To first letter, school was very quick to reply, 8 minutes for a long e-mail. Obvious copy paste, as I expect she is not first person doing this.