Direct Debit gym cancellation - adult son but my account

willduff13

I have been paying gym membership by direct debit for my elder son who has now left for university. The gym company say that I cannot cancel the direct debit without him giving approval as he is over 18, even though I am the one actually paying. (The membership is flexible, i.e. it's not locked in for 12 months.) Does that sound right? It's not a huge problem except that he is difficult and unreliable, so getting him to actually do it will be frustrating.

vacheron

If you are not in any contractual period. Just serve them the required notice (1 month or whatever) quoting the associated membership number, and then cancel the DD yourself from your banking app.

anna42hmr

I would just cancel the direct debit with your bank directly and keep an eye out that they do not keep trying to load the direct debit mandate back onto your account (and if they do contact your bank again and advise it is fraudulent as you are not the member and no longer consent to them taking the payment for someone else from your account.  if you are not party to the membership agreement/contract they cannot enforce you to pay it for someone else. 

If your son is in a contract with them with a notice period, he will need to liase with them to make the relevant arrangements though, but at the end of the day he is an adult and will need to take responsibility to do this.

Mark_d

So the contract is in your son's name but paid from your bank account?

The gym contract likely requires one calendar month's notice of cancellation.  You son would need to do this otherwise he is in breach of contract.  He might be able to cancel his gym contract by email.

DullGreyGuy

willduff13 said:

I have been paying gym membership by direct debit for my elder son who has now left for university. The gym company say that I cannot cancel the direct debit without him giving approval as he is over 18, even though I am the one actually paying. (The membership is flexible, i.e. it's not locked in for 12 months.) Does that sound right? It's not a huge problem except that he is difficult and unreliable, so getting him to actually do it will be frustrating.

He is the one that would need to cancel the membership which is likely to require a 1 month notice period. Cancelling the DD doesn't automatically cancel the membership but obviously moves it into a non-payment situation. 

You are free to cancel the DD, keep an eye on it that they dont set it up again but if they do then just cancel it straight away again. Depending on if he gave them his new address you are likely to start receiving letters addressed to him about non-payment initially from the gym and then debt collectors. 

born_again

As above.
If you just cancel the DD, you risk a unpaid marker on your credit history.

As a aside in future make sure if they want something paying it comes out of their account. If you want to be generous & pay it for them, then just transfer the money to their account.
Saves no end of problems, such as this.

PRAISETHESUN

born_again said:

As above.
If you just cancel the DD, you risk a unpaid marker on your credit history.

As a aside in future make sure if they want something paying it comes out of their account. If you want to be generous & pay it for them, then just transfer the money to their account.
Saves no end of problems, such as this.

To clarify, if OP cancels the DD it will be the OP's son who will potentially get the bad credit marker since the contract is in their name. Might be the kick in the pants they need to start taking responsibility for things.

anna42hmr

born_again said:

As above.
If you just cancel the DD, you risk a unpaid marker on your credit history.

As a aside in future make sure if they want something paying it comes out of their account. If you want to be generous & pay it for them, then just transfer the money to their account.
Saves no end of problems, such as this.

Cannot see how it would be an unpaid marker on the OP's account if it's not her gym contract/agreement to pay, it is her sons. So as long as she is not party to the actual membership contract, it  will not affect her if she cancels her end with her bank (as above may affect her sons though).  

As such as a compromise,  it may be worth advising the son you will be canceling the Direct debit on your account from x future date and tell him he needs to contact the gym to sort it out.

At least that way he has had warning that the payment will no longer be paid by and as such, may affect him and cause a debt with the gym that he owes, and if he has not sorted out before then he has had fair warning that he needs to actually do something. . 

General_Grant

Is it the kind of contract where membership can be used in different premises?  If so, is there a gym near his university which he would want to use?  (Might not as university may have own facilities at advantageous rate.)

MEM62

The gym membership and the payment are separate subjects.  Cancelling the payment does not cancel the membership and therefore, by just canceling the DD, you son will be chased for any months membership fees due before cancellation takes place (including any notice period)  Ideally, you should get him to cancel the membership first.  However, if he is that unreliable he will certainly have additional motivation do so if they start chasing him for money if the DD is cancelled first.   

born_again

PRAISETHESUN said:

born_again said:

As above.
If you just cancel the DD, you risk a unpaid marker on your credit history.

As a aside in future make sure if they want something paying it comes out of their account. If you want to be generous & pay it for them, then just transfer the money to their account.
Saves no end of problems, such as this.

To clarify, if OP cancels the DD it will be the OP's son who will potentially get the bad credit marker since the contract is in their name. Might be the kick in the pants they need to start taking responsibility for things.

Payment is coming out of their account. Hence unpaid marker. As far as Gym is concerned they are the debtor.