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

While my approach is different to yours @Oggysfavouritecockroach, I agree with the final line. No one is forced to use me. I'm expensive but no one is obliged to pay my rate. There are much cheaper tutors.

This 100%.

I never gave refunds. I'd credit it to the next half term if it was something like last minute genuine illness OR I'd offer another slot if I had one.

BUT I had some parents trying to cancel lessons for after- school sports matches, parties, out of term holidays etc.
Sorry, but our income was based on my earning £X a month.

The way to deal with this is parents do not get refunds for swimming, ballet, gym etc when their kids don't attend. So it's no different for tutoring.

You know what, I can appear very disorganised. It's not personal to the people it impacts. Indeed, I am sorry for the impact it has on other people. However, if I screw up and one of the children misses their tutoring, the tutor still gets paid - because that's what was agreed at the outset.

You sound super-judgemental; she's not "normal" because she is wealthy; she's disorganised and that's "shocking".

It seems, in reality, that you both had a slightly different view of the arrangement. I think hers is easier to justify.

The way to deal with this is parents do not get refunds for swimming, ballet, gym etc when their kids don't attend. So it's no different for tutoring.

I agree in principle - BUT clubs like swimming ballet etc tend to be paid for termly or half termly or monthly, in advance, so it’s very clear that those are non refundable. I think if tutors switched to this system then it would avoid many issues - parents would have paid for the next X sessions up front and wouldn’t expect to be able to cancel and get a refund.

However, I guess it would look like a pretty large bill and might make some parents think twice about tutoring … whereas billing per session keeps the amounts smaller. And billing after the session makes it easier if the tutor ever has to cancel (illness etc).

Has it occurred to you that they might not have the money? Unless you've seen their bank accounts you have no idea, whatever their situation. Again, I appear relatively wealthy, but sometimes my business has shocking cashflow (unpredictably) and this can cause me temporary difficulties. I don't tell people that I employ or that I have services from that I am worried about being able to pay their wages/fees, but at times I am absolutely terrified. You're making massive assumptions about them.

And if anyone is about to come along and say "if you earn enough to appear wealthy you should always have the money for things like this". Why would that apply only to the wealthy? If you earn enough to live, shouldn't you always have enough to live? Managing finances is complicated for everyone.

No she doesn't. She chose not to have a contract and admitted herself that this was stupid.

We've all made stupid mistakes but that doesn't entitle you to expect other people to pay for them.

This would be much better for us! I might see if our tutor wants to switch to this method

Did you declare the income?

With no contract in place you have zero rights and really shouldnt have come to rely on the money without building on it with more students.

Put it this way, say you had an accident or became so ill that you couldnt teach her child. Would you be expected to supply a substitute teacher to cover whilst you were unable? What if the replacement cost more? Would you cover the shortfall?

It was a mutual agreement whereby either of you could walk away at any given time.

Op you do have a contract with the parents. Its a verbal contract and as someone once said "a verbal contract isn't worth the paper its written on"!

However, you also have an email stopping tutoring for a set period with the obvious intimation, if not specifically stated, idea that it would restart.

Personally I would email anc wish the child well, but point out that you still expect payment "given the lack of notice and the fact that if I hadn't asked I would have made contact at the time we agreed i would teach at, I do still require payment. I have done the usual preparation work for the month so I am requesting a payment of x amount "

I am not sure how much you are owed, but using the small claims court is fairly easy and cheap...but i doubt worthwhile in money terms. But if this gets no response or a no, then a letter/email advising in polite terms you are considering legal action may bring a result.

I think the problem is no one has any idea of what she is owed, if anything. There may not be a verbal contract; a contract requires the meeting of minds. It seems clear here that there was no meeting of minds, certainly on matters such as notice period etc.

The small claims court seems excessive for this. I would likely have paid OP for the session that was cancelled on the day, but not for anything after that. It seems to the parent this was a casual arrangement (more consistent with the arrangement IMV) and OP viewed it as quasi-employment. But that doesn't mean it was.

Not read all the replies, just @HenriettaHippopotamus but actually you do have a contract - it has been created by mutual conduct over a 3 year business relationship in which you have provided services in exchange for payment. It was regular - 4 hours a week.

A contract does not need to be a written document under UK law: it comprises of three main components: offer, acceptance and consideration. You offered your services, they were accepted and consideration in the form of payment of your fee has been forthcoming. This persisted for 3 years so you have implied contractual terms. Whilst you have no formal defined contractual agreement, stating cancellation policy for example, ‘reasonable notice’ would normally be accepted as an implied term by a court of law.

I appreciate that the stress of a county court judgement may be something you wish to avoid, but you can get googleAI/chat GTP to help you draft a ‘letter before action’ - stating that a contract for services has existed between you for 3 years, evidenced by their receiving your services in exchange for payment, and that reasonable notice ought to have been given. You would therefore request that 4 weeks income (4x hours) be paid for by X date after which you will have to take the matter to the small claims court.

You don’t actually have to proceed, but they may be guilted into understanding what they have done and maybe at least come back and offer you half if not all of it.

And re people saying ‘word gets around’, ignore that. You have a right to expect to be treated fairly. The chances of this family impacting whether you get more clients or not is minimal. The home ed community is small, the number of experienced tutors is even smaller. No one I know goes on recommendation of friends for tutors (I have formerly homeschooled) - they research on tutor directories, research the tutors to check credentials and proceed from there. And if anyone ever asks about them specifically, because they have said something, just be honest: you tutored their child for 3 years and they cancelled without notice and you had not choice but to insist upon payment. As a result you now have a strict written contract in place so that everyone is very clear of expectations. The family won’t say anything, though, because no-one likes to be judged and risk censure from their friends, so the chances are they will keep it to themselves and potentially just pay up.

As they say - if you don’t ask, you don’t get. So, yes, you state that they owe you for cancelled tutor sessions and lack of reasonable notice.

They’re not wrong though - if you want to be treated professionally you have act professionally - after all, if you don’t take yourself seriously, why should anyone else?

I think you're right. The op did put eggs in a basket without checking there was an actual basket.

But i would still ask for payment for work completed. There is a phrase related to actual employees "custom and practice" in that its not unexpected that the op would have prepped. And indeed, if the tutoring had continued, the parent would expect it. I personally think there is a contract. The existence of the email shows that there was an agreement between them. How enforceable and at what cost enforcing it is being the legal question.

This is not great advice, and is wrong in several respects (I am a lawyer, but contract is not my area of expertise). In particular be careful about:

1. UK law - there's no such thing; its the law of England and Wales, Scots law and the law of Northern Ireland;
2. Offer, acceptance and consideration are not all that is required: you also need intention to create legal relations and sufficiently certain terms
3. Three years of dealings do not necessarily establish one continuing contract for four hours every week. It could have been multiple weekly contract for four hours that week;
4. Even if there is a contract, it does not naturally follow that its terms include cancellation terms. It would be necessary to examine the terms of the contract - what agreement was there in relation to buying future services?
5. A court will not imply "fair" or "reasonable" terms - the implied term must be evidenced (not only in writing) or an implied term necessary for business efficacy or so obvious that it goes without saying.
6. Indeed, the OP would need to show that (i) the contract could not be terminated immediately and (ii) what notice was reasonable in the particular circumstances.
7. OP may well not have a debt claim, rather a claim for damages, and if a debt claim, a CCJ would not necessarily result from a small claims court decision.
8. LBA is not a mechanism by which to threaten people. If the OP can't set out the terms of the contract and the basis on which she says those are the terms, she probably shouldn't be sending an LBA.

I agree - there probably is a contract. But how the OP would prove it includes the terms she thinks it does is a more difficult point

I'm not going to rehash everything that's been said. In simple terms, if this is a business and your main source of income, treat it like that. None of this "But it isn't nice; it isn't fair" or "I've been working with them for three years; I always ask after the children, I care!" hand-wringing. It's a business and you need to put everything in writing.

Put it this way - if you HAD said you require a month's notice (or however long) and the mother sent a message like the one you've sent to the father, saying "I know you specified a notice period, but I'm really struggling, so can I just cancel and not pay?", would you happily just say goodbye to the money? Or would you say what you're telling us now - that you rely on that income?

You saying you want to leave things on a positive note could be construed as threatening.

Again, with no contract you cant demand anything, but you might get away with charging for the one sesión cancelled at the last minute. However you should have done this when she cancelled. It might be difficult after the event.

Bad luck and make sure you have a cintract in place for the rest of your clients.

OP have you done any research on your competition? Have you googled maths tutors near me etc (or whatever your subject is) to to find out what others are charging? Are you not charging enough and therefore could it be seen as "pin money" etc?
You can't possibly operate a business relying on one family.

You need to be business savvy as well as being able to do tutoring or people will walk all over you.

As I said in a previous post you may be better off with a teaching job.

Was it a definite tutoring date? Ie when she said “we’ll start again in September, can we book you for 17:00 on 2nd Sept?” or was it “ daughter needs a break, can we restart in September?” If it’s the former yeh, that’s really poor form, but unfortunately not much you can do without a cancellation policy in place. If it’s the latter, that’s totally different as there was no definite restart date.
She also has no intention of wanting you back as a tutor for the time being. Don’t take it personally. Turn it on its head and look at it as being fortunate to having three years worth of payment from a single client.
your attitude of ‘they can afford it’ really stinks.
Moving forward get a contract in place, decide on the period of time a client needs to give you; a term, half a term, a month or a fortnight….whatever.
Planning should already be included in your fees.

I know that you have relied upon goodwill and people 'doing the right thing' by giving you good notice of cancellations, but this is how we learn to put contracts in place because sadly some people just do not care about others AT ALL and will leave it until the last possible minute to cancel and lose you the potential for any other bookings.

People don't have contracts at first because most people ARE kind and act respectfully, but then because of this normal experience of good and kind clients, you just don't see the other coming when it does. But then one comes along like this and it is what teaches us to put general terms into a contract. Not everyone will do the right thing as far as they are concerned the world revolves around them and them alone and you can just lose out for all they care, this really is out there as well unfortunately as you've found.

Please protect yourself with a contract from now on, email it over at the start of the relationship with confirmation of the price and any terms that you may need and make it clear that going ahead with the lessons means agreement of all of your terms and this will form a contract between you (put that part at the top of the email in capitals or bold) then add all of your t&c's, payment terms etc and one is the necessary notice you need in order to book other clients into the spots as one of your terms.

You can add more details to your terms as issues crop up, as this is how we learn what to protect ourselves from over time.

I also had the same issue a few years ago. A boy I'd been tutoring for about 2 years at that point... I was sat in a nearby McDonalds, having a quick coffee before going to his house for the lesson, about 5 minutes drive away. My phone rings, and it's the boys dad, just announcing that they'd decided not to do tutoring any more. This was perhaps 20 minutes before the lesson was due to start.
I was a bit shell-shocked and said yes on the phone, and drove home. I text the dad later that evening, asking for payment for that lesson, as it was all prepared, and I was literally about to drive to their house. I can't really remember whether he then paid or not... I don't think he did. But like you, I didn't have any sort of contract, so it was what it was.
But in 8 years of tutoring, that was the first, and to date, only time it's happened.

I still don't have any sort of contract. It's a pretty casual affair, and I'm consistently full and busy.

It would be normal and reasonable to expect to be paid if no notice is given but I think the responsibility lies with you to have been in contact sooner than the day of the tutorial. You should have made contact a week before. The rationale for expecting to be paid in leiu of notice is that you could have (theoretically) taken on another pupil instead and given that slot to them if your previous pupil pulled out, but clearly you don't have a waiting list of pupils to take on instead so it's not this family's responsibility to ensure your stability of income. If you had contacted them a week ago for confirmation, they would have told you with a week's notice that they were doing things differently this year - and you would be in that case not entitled to any kind of pay in leiu of notice so I don't think it's reasonable to ask or expect for pay given that you just assumed.

We have a similar situation with a tutor we have been using over the past year. DC has a lesson booked for in a few days time, which will take place, but we may decide that that's the last one - or we may decide to continue - I would only expect to pay for a lesson that doesn't happen if I confirm a booking and then choose to cancel with less than 24 hours notice but a "see you in September" said in July cannot be taken as a confirmed booking.

It's not just a contract, it's a way of doing business.
I'm a piano teacher
I take payment for a full term up front, and students can give notice 2 weeks before the end of the term that they are leaving.

If they want to leave mid-term, I contact the next person on the waiting list and when they pay for the rest of the term, I refund any lessons that are paid for by the incomeing student.

I would know if a student wasn't continuing as they would have had to pay for the next term during the school holidays and I chase if not paid and have the conversation.

If they ghost me (never happened), I have a waiting list and get in touch with the next person on it.
The max I'm out of pocket is 1-2 weeks.

But with 44 students that's a cost of business, not an arrears on the mortgage.

In July, I charge a registration fee to be included on the Sept timetable, send my T&C's and request a signature/acceptance from every student, and ask for a scheduling questionnaire to be completed with availability. So I know who hasn't paid or filled in the questionnaire, and I chase. If someone isn't continuing, then again I go to me waiting list.

I don't teach a single lesson if I haven't been paid up front.

A 2 million pound house tells me this