Mum told me on the day of tutoring that there is no more tutoring

[Thatyachtmusicsong]

Can anyone help please?

I do private tutoring and have tutored one student twice per week for three years.
She has had some health issues and we changed from tutoring at her home to online 6 or so months ago.
We tutored over summer until the last few weeks of August when she said she was taking a breaj for summer and would tutor again as always in September.
Today I messaged in the morning checking that all was okay for tutoring in the evening and the mum told me that they decided to take her out of school and have signed up to an online school.
The mum said she doesn't know about the future and how things will go and she would take a pause for our tutoring as it may be too much for her.
I feel sad for her and understand the situation, but this has come as a real shock to me as we rely on those lessons financially. I had done tje planning for September and feel shocked they only let me know on the day of tutoring, which leaves me no time to find something else.

Stupidly, I don't have a contract.

What would you do about this situation?

Would it be fair to ask for a months payment since I had no notice etc?

Feel like I've really been left in the lurch

Exactly, that is what I thought.

I have been in a similar situation, my Dc was absent from school for a year due to illness, we both understand one another's situation-they knew about my Dc.
I have huge sympathy and have helped them in other ways.
I should have had a contract, but also I do think it would be a fair thing to acknowledge my concerns

This.

Also be prepared when you are a private tutor or instructor of any sort that pupils will stop or stall tutoring at any time and to be prepared for variations/fluctuations in income week to week. If losing two hours of pay is going to cause you financial hardship then as default you need to be teaching an excess of hours each week/take on more students so you don’t feel the pinch on the weeks when income might be slightly lower. Also consider contracts, notice periods or retainers for future customers so you are not left in the lurch like this. I hope you find a new student! I’m sure you will!

Going to the small claims court doesn’t have to cause a heart attack or cost £5k. If judgements need to be enforced, ultimately the debtor pays for the enforcement action. Being a tutor is no different to other breaches of contract in that sense.

I wouldn’t ask for money. Word of mouth counts for a lot in your business and at the moment, she would hopefully recommend you to other parents but if you piss her off then she’ll just tell everyone what a cheeky cow she thinks you are for asking.
People spread news of bad service a lot more than they do good!

Ivwas only told tutoring was paused today.
I was due to start tutoring today after a short summer holiday

I agree with this. Cancelling one lesson should not cause financial hardship.

Maybe get a teaching job if this is your only income

I would ALWAYS reach out to the tutor, if they hadn't already reached out to me, to confirm the continuation of lessons.

I would NEVER assume we would just pick up where we left off. Believe it or not, many tutors don't either, as they often use this email to increase their fees.

Tutoring is a bit of extra money on the side. This talk of small claims is laughable. Is the tutor declaring every penny of this extra income. She might find herself with a nice tax bill for her efforts and if she annoys the family enough, the family might report her!

I think asking for payment for a lesson that was cancelled with two hours to go is fair and hardly constitutes harassment.

You could ask her for a good review. Then start advertising. The new year is just about to start so I'm sure you'll find a new tuter soon. Make sure you have a good contract in place for next time.

Completely agree with this.

But is it being cheeky? I think the way they've done it isn't nice, I'd never do that

Cancelling one lesson doesn't, but it was my monthly pay for over three years and it will make a big difference. I tutored her for four hours per week

What

If they know all of that and they haven’t already offered to compensate you for the lack of notice, then you’re not going to get anything out of them now. I agree with everyone else; you’ve just learnt an expensive lesson.

There's probably people that don't think it's cheeky asking for money from them. I'm of the opinion that it's a really cheeky thing to do.

Fair enough but it's the start of September. I'm guessing you don't have a waiting list. You'll soon fill those places. But contract or no contract it can be an unreliable business at times so maybe a teaching job would be more stable income for you

They don't owe you anything. You've sent a message asking the father to pay, it's up to him whether he decides to or not - he might decide that the very short notice for the lesson today was unreasonable, he might not. You were just a twice x 2h a week tutor for a kid. You say it will make a big difference to your monthly income but that is simply not their problem. You have managed the situation badly and it needs to be a lesson learnt. They were always going to be well within their rights to cancel the tutoring at any point. I know this sounds harsh to you but you really should have been aware of this and it's on you that you weren't.

Yes I think so, I did this to work around my Dc, it's just too stressful though financially

I think they're just a bit oblivious to how it affects you. They obviously have a lot going on with their DC, and might have thought that a text to take a pause is suffice. It all sounds quite causal.
See what the dad comes back with. Now you've explained it to them, they might just pay you for the late notice. I probably would have moved on if I were you because of the lack of contract, and also after all those years wanting to leave things on good terms. I think this leaves it open to them coming back more.

Can’t believe you did that - really inappropriate and also cheeky. Yes it’s annoying but that’s the risk you take when you’re self employed, especially without a contract. Just leave them alone.

Realistically it will now be January before you can start a.teaching job
Get some social media presence. Create a page and get people to share it. What subject are you?

I put it in a very open and kind way, explaining my situation, but obviously sympathising with theirs (which I genuinely do) I also said how I am aware we didn't have a contract and would like to leave things on a positive note etc.
The mum prior to this has been sending
voice notes about the Dd's situation and was saying thank you for my support (in terms of help medically with her Dd-info I found etc) so aside from the teaching aspect, Ive always been supportive

Whether they were oblivious to how it affects you or not, it is still not their problem. Your issue is not actually the short notice for the lessons this week alone - your issue is that you were banking on that income as ongoing and guaranteed, which was a huge error on your behalf. They paid you for a service on an extremely part time and casual basis and they no longer require that service - you think you wouldn't behave the same way if you were in their shoes but you absolutely would. If you thought about it, you will be able to come up with many examples of when you've decided to no longer pay for a service you don't need or want.

Do you really think so