Verbal agreement to contribute to holiday

[emkana]

When my daughter was with her boyfriend we said he could come on holiday with us. He verbally agreed to contribute a percentage of the cost, and the full amount in case of separation.
He has now split up with her but is not willing to pay. Is there any legal
obligation on him?

I think it was naive and very odd to get a teenager to agree to theoretically pay the full amount if they split up. He could have wanted to split up but not been able to afford it. That's not a position you should put anyone in and there's something morally off about your position.

Plus it seems - not cricket? - to give a gift under a set of circumstances but outline the circumstances under which you would take it away (ie, when he has no further value to your daughter on the holiday as they weren't together).

If you weren't prepared to see it go, I don't think you should have paid it. That's the chance you take with hoping a relationship between teenagers will last.

You seem to be cross that you’re dealing with his mother and not him. Yet you seem to be the one dealing with this on behalf of your daughter, not her.

They are both adults. They should be dealing with this together.

Ooh I just got it. So you were paying if they were still together and you only want the money because they’ve split up. What @0v9c99f9g9d939d9f9g9h8h said then.

Guacamole- you got it all wrong I'm afraid
I'm dealing with it because it's my financial loss.
And he was going to pay towards the cost even if they'd been together.

I’m very confused then I can’t make head nor tail of your posts.
What I think I have learned from this post though is family holidays should be family holidays and if 2 x 19 year olds want to go on holiday together they should go in holiday together.

From what you’ve said so far, if I were you I’d risk putting together a factual claim with the evidence you have and see what happens. Hopefully the threat of it will mean that they’ll pay before it goes to court.

If the booking is in his name surely he is already responsible for payment? Unless you've already paid?

Might be worth trying small claims court if his name is on the booking as it showed serious intent to pay, therefore the verbal contract will be binding.

No. It doesn’t. I’ve booked and paid for holidays and plane tickets for other people as gifts. I didn’t need their permission to book it.

Hes not going to pay, neither are his parents.
He signed nothing, you've got nothing in writing.
If verbal agreements stood up in court, then noone would bother with contracts.
Youve been foolish and now quite honestly you sound a bit mad.

Agree with Nekoness it shows no intent to pay.

OP - I'm still not clear, have you actually asked the travel agent / holiday company if you can change name on booking?

I would chase it, it's a lot of money to lose

He won't come, people saying that sound absolutely mental. He committed to pay, he's 19, not 5 playing shop so should have to honour that commitment. I would ask his mum to pay if you are in contact with her or go through small claims court; you're already out so much and it's worth a go.

For the record, his parents income is relevant here as he lives at home and the mum has involved herself. If my daughters boyfriend told me his parents earned that much I'd probably google too as I'd be so shocked so again, some posters here are crazy when they say you're weird for checking!

It's not legally relevant. You can't chase a debt based on their parents income unless the parents have committed to being guarantors.

Verbal agreements are binding in law, it's proving it the difficulty. I think the name on the booking shows intent to go on the holiday and coupled with the assertion of a verbal agreement, on the balance of probabilities, which is what civil law is based on, making the booking is a definite intention to go on the holiday. Most normal people would agree someone going on holiday would be paying for it.

I'd see a solicitor for a quick chat, some have a free initial consult, or citizens advice bureau have solicitors who can call you, to see if this is possible for the small claims court. If you have home insurance it sometimes has legal advice included in the cover

@Branleuse According the GCSE law, verbal agreements are legally binding, if you have witnesses or if it's admitted.

@Nekoness So booking a holiday shows no intent to pay? The vast majority of people who book holidays intend to go on them, and unless he asserts it was a gift, then he would have no case. It's the balance of probabilities in civil law, and that sounds most probable to me and most people.

@friendineed but the boy didn't make the booking did he? the OP did. if the boy made the booking he would have paid for it already. I could make a booking in the name of John Smith tomorrow and it wouldn't prove that anyone called John Smith had agreed to pay, or should be compelled to refund me

youre not going to get hundreds of pounds out of someone you didnt bother making them sign for whether verbally agreed or not. If you want you could try, but it would probably cost you more in solicitors fees.
I do get why youre annoyed, but there is a REASON there are things like contracts, wills, statements that people sign. Its because without these things you cant prove it.
People promise each other shit ALL THE TIME.
When money is involved, you make sure you get someone to sign for it. If not, then youre fucked. Sad but true.

No need to involve a solicitor. It's literally half an hour's work to gather evidence and submit a claim. It can all be done online.

Of course if it does go to court, then that will take more time, but the other party might well pay up before it comes to that.

@Branleuse - A signed written agreement is useful because it proves what was agreed. However, you are completely wrong in saying that you won't get hundreds of pounds out of someone on the basis of a verbal agreement. The courts are perfectly happy to enforce verbal agreements. As long as the OP can convince the court that, on the balance of probabilities, there was such an agreement, she will get her money.

You are also completely wrong about it costing more in solicitors fees. This would be a small claim so the OP does not need a solicitor - indeed, it is strongly recommended that she doesn't use a solicitor as she wouldn't get the legal fees back even if she won. The only cost would be the court costs which are much less than the amount owed and can be reclaimed from the other side if the OP wins.

If you instructed me to advise on the merits of your claim, I'd say you had less that an 51% chance of success and it would therefore fail.

At best, you have multiple hearsay to present. Further, as the claim would be against the ex, not his parents, their financial position would be meaningless.

I agree that, on the information presented to date, the OP's chances of success are limited. And, as you say, the financial position of the parents is entirely irrelevant. However, I wish people would stop claiming that verbal agreements cannot be enforced. If you can prove that the agreement exists you can enforce it.

I thought it said somewhere he had booked it. or had some part of the booking in his name? if not its less likely to succeed

So they take home £35k a month?!? His parents??