Please send me your advice - unable to pay private school fees

[amy676]

Hi everyone!

I hope someone can help with advice. My two children were attending private school up until before the summer term when I took them out as I can no longer afford to pay due to personal circumstances. The children don't attend the school anymore but I have been getting letters demanding payment of up to £10K but I did explain my situation to the school and my intention to take them out in March 2022 but they said I should have given them written notice and not just verbally and now keep asking for payment.

What would happen as I don't have means to pay what would the school do and what action could they take against me as I'm worried. Please do kindly advise.

Thanks, Amy

Thanks so much for this I do appreciate you letting me know about this legal clause and will wait for the finance manager to respond to my email.

I'm still confused... Are the summer term fees (that your children attended) still outstanding?

Hi OP, so sorry you are having to go through this, how upsetting. I am surprised the school is being so unsympathetic. My DC attend an independent school in Scotland and they are very supportive of families facing sudden hardship due to sickness or work circumstances (esp in these times), and will bend over backwards to help. It's traumatic enough having to move schools, let alone being chased in this way. I hope they see sense.

That's true they never discussed about a new contract after Easter or that I needed a new notice or anything so I assumed that everything verbally was still taken as 'official notice'

Here in Scotland the new term starts mid August -December I think they consider that the Autumn term. The summer fees from April -June have all been paid in full its just they want me to pay now as they say I owe them 'one term's notice' even though the children are not attending the school

Thank you so much SafferUpNorth really means alot to me as I already feel low about this situation.

Op your posts are quite confused.

you gave written notice you’d take the kids out at Easter.
you didn’t and rescinded this and kept them in till summer.
at some point you told the principle they were leaving. When did you say this to the principle and what did you say,,March or June exit?
in June you gave them written notice they were leaving,

so what did you say to the principle exactly and when please?

Sorry I should have explained myself clearer. I had actually told the principal in November 2021 of my intention to take the kids out and then the finance manager emailed me in December saying that I only have to pay up until the Spring term which is March 2022 and the kids can remain until March 2022. Where I went wrong is because I was so unwell the kids stayed 3 months extra which I paid for but I had reminded the principal in June that this would be the kids last month at the school and they will not be attending after the summer. Hope this makes sense.

@Floweryflora I think this is pretty immaterial, TBH. The OP had already given written notice, which should flag up that the family is facing hardship due to circumstances. The fact that she then kept her kids on at the school for another term should should not 'reset' the clock. Only a very heartless Principal and Bursar would interpret it this way. At the very least they should have checked in with her. I wonder whether there has been a miscommunication within the school somewhere.

They are probably right in terms of the contract, but if you can’t pay then you can’t pay.

If they go to court and win the court would only ask you to pay on a schedule which you could afford.

The court would not appreciate the school bringing the case to them if you were making some effort to make payments.

When you have verbal notice did they remind you at the time written notice was also required?

if you have long covid I wonder if you could claim indirect discrimination as they could have made a reasonable adjustment to remind you that written notice was required seeing as you were/are so unwell.

Nothing to add of any use but I assume this school are a ‘charity’ 🤔

Thanks for your message. No, they didn't remind me about written notice they said that they would take my word as 'official notice' so I assumed that was it

Pay what you can in instalments. You may need to do a income and expenditure form- if you can only afford £10 a month then that is what you pay. Unless they can prove you are lying at much expense to themselves there is nothing they can do.

Write to the chair of Govs and explain your situation and the action you took . Explain that you simply don’t have the funds to pay the £10,000. Offer to show bank statements etc to validate your inability to pay.
Ask him/ her to suggest how you pay the fees due with no income. Return all letters demanding money with note attached saying I have no money or assets to use to pay these fees.

Have the spaces been filled from the start of next term. Do you have any friends at the school you can ask? If their places are filled, the Financial loss to the school is less, does this help reduce your liability in law I wonder.

I have sent bank statements and everything to them to prove it but they are still being demanding and I already in debt but they still don't seem to understand

Yes this is also a good idea that I could try thank you

I'm not aware whether they were able to fill the space but I do know that they sent a letter to all the parents that they are increasing all parents fees asking them to pay £200 more due to the cost of living crisis.

It’s far from immaterial and it’s not about being heartless etc, it’s about the legalities of it.

ok, op that’s clearer, the school is in the right I am afraid, I think you know this.

it seems everything was done correctly for a March exit, but then as the children stayed till June and you didn’t confirm their exit again till June, the school is saying they needed the terms notice.

this is now about if they want to chase this, personally I also think they are being harsh, I’d ask for a face to face meeting or a virtual one, and explain again you simply don’t have the money and neither does their father (if there is a father) and as such any legal action will simply cause further hardship. See if they will let it go.

I’ve been in this position and it feels like shit. My story is different but reading your posts I think you would have a reasonable chance of defending any action.

Frankly, given the circumstances I would brazen it out and say you’re happy to go to court and for the full story to come out there. Say you will also be sharing your story with the local press.

Be prepared for the school to refer it to a nasty debt collection company. In my case they tried to intimidate me and threatened home visits and gave me a whole lot
of bullshit of what would happen if it went to court.

In my case the school dropped any action.

Thanks for sharing your story I know its so stressful and its honestly terrible for anyones wellbeing. I have written an email to them again as I really don't have the money if I had it I would have definitely paid it and not go through all this. I think its best if i wait until I get a response from the finance manager as the principal just ignores any emails I send about this.

How long did you have to go through this intimidation with the school if you don't mind me asking as I just want to be mentally prepared although I know every school has their own individual way of handling things.

I don’t think calling it intimidation is going to be helpful.

Yes, indeed. They'll likely pass it to a debt collection agency at some point anyway. It's a legitimate debt.