Private school refusing to honour quote given and demanding back pay - can anyone help me with my legal position??? PLEASE!

[OneLieIn]

This is very long and hopefully not too boring -but if anyone can help me I would really appreciate it please.

Our 2 kids have been in nursery / school with the same school group for over 6 years- we both WFT, so not much choice about schooling - don't judge me.
When we moved to the current school (3years ago), we were given 50% off DD's fees for 2 years - the other kids who went from the nursery got the same deal but for life.

The school was bought by another company. When our 2 years was up (earlier in 07), we talked to the head and agreed this discount would remain. We receive and accept, sign and return a new quotation with a 50% discount shown for the academic year 07/08.

Another year,another head teacher. Now it all goes to shit, we get an envelope addressed to DD at home. This has no covering letter, simply a statement with nearly £5000 due and circled in red. This is because they are now saying that they did not agree to the 50% discount and that we owe them backdated full fees for this year. We don't - we gave them the quote, they say we do.

The woman at the company behind the school kept saying threatening things like 'we won't send the baliffs round, we are not that kind of school' and I am totally stressed with this.

We don't have the money, we don't owe them the money....we have a quote to say that we have the discount....

HELP, please!! What are my rights?

We have looked into other schools (state now DH is self employed and we are sking) and hopefully we will get 2 places. We are pulling them out at the end of the summer- but dread the "Your children are not welcome" thing that we think could happen any morning....

Please - what do you think?

What do they say when you show them your accepted and signed quotation showing the discount? TBH, it sounds like they haven't got a leg to stand on as long as you have that? On another note though, have you given them notice already because most private schools demand a full terms notice if you pull your children out and if you haven't already done that they probably WILL legitimately chase you for a term's money for both children!

Have you told them you are taking the children out yet? Have they responded to that at all?

If not - get it done asap or you will be liable for a full term's fees as well.

Is the school struggling? Is that why they are requesting money back?

TBH I ahve never heard of children getting such hefty discounts for private schools; even many scholarships doesn't lead to that amount.

Does seem an unusual arrangement. Is there any possibility they have simply not entered the agreement for this year on the system. Is the same bursar in charge of finances who you could speak to ? We've never had "quotes" just bills !

And yes you have given notice , haven't you ? Or you could be up the proverbial as far as payment in lieu of notice or offsetting a deposit against the closing bill is concerned and your position to argue will be much weaker if not.

You can't take them out in the summer by giving notice now. You had to give notice a term in advance. So whatever happens you may have to pay a term's fees but check the terms and conditions.

What you need to do is put the paperwork together, copy of the quotation or whatever said for this year you paid the £5k less. Presumably you paid the lower amount and did htey query that on receipt? Did you receive a bill which looked higher after that agreement and did you disagree with that at the time?

We have given notice - we gave notice back in January because we were hoping to move house, but it isn't looking too likely now given the world has no money

Their accounting has always been beyond rubbish, every parent in the school has complained about it, bills are not wrong, they are wildly wrong. They have twice accused us of owing £2000 and have both times been wrong.

When we give them the quote, they say "It was an administrative error by a temporary member of staff (she's no longer there) and she issued you with a replacement for the full fee (which she did not). You have had the schooling and you need to pay."

The school is tiny and is struggling financially I guess. It has a thriving nursery with it, which is doing really well though.

We have always paid the lower amount and to be honest,I have never taken any notice of the monthly bills (which they give us termly,even though we ask for monthly) as they have never been right. We have for example, 3 different amounts for one month a few years ago. We keep our own accounts in Excel, which they agreed with in September 2007 and we got to a zero balance.

They have not said we owed the money until recently. Last summer, based on this discount, DH decided to leave work and start out on his own - we would never have done that if we knew it was the full amount. We would have moved the kids immediately or DH would have kepto on WFT.

There is no bursar either, just a finance department who deal with multiple schools. The staff in the school have not been helpful at all.

BTW, the 50% we got at the beginning was the same as other kids who moved at the same time. They have it for the duration of their schooling, we were told ours would also be when we originally moved there.

Does anyone know whether they can indeed send the baliffs round? Do they have to go to court first? I just don't want to wake up with someone knocking at my door...

BTW, was chair of PTA and have done tons of good stuff for school too

No bailiffs can be sent in law unless and until they have issued a court claim against you. You then get time to put in a defence to that. What you really need to do is type a good sensible short letter setting out why you owe nothing. I very much doubt they would take legal action.

I recommend that you read up about contract law. Visit Citizens' Advice.

If you have been paying 50% over a period of time then I would suggest that you have created an implied contract to that effect by custom.

How have you paid the fee notes? If you offered a cheque and they accepted it and banked it then they have agreed to your offer of the 50%. It will be difficult to argue, after the event, that the amount was incorrect if they originally accepted it without demur.

Disclaimer: I am just someone who knows a little bit of business law, I am not a legal person.

They can't send the bailiffs round without a court order. If it went to court you have the bill you have paid showing the discount on your side along with their repeated crap accounting. You are a long way away from that. I would get a solicitor to write them a letter saying that you do not acknowledge the debt and you don't owe them money.

If you are taking your children out at the end of term I wouldn't worry about it at all. Do not communicate with them except in writing and do not let them bully you - you are in the right and you can prove it

Thank you all so much.

I wrote the finance woman a strong letter saying we do not owe them the money and explaining why.

I spoke to CAB, who are fab and they said as its a quotation,not an estimate it is a contract, which is great.

As the woman was such a cow yesterday, DH is making the call tomorrow to tell her we are waiting for them to sort it out.

Thanks so much! Plan B also came good today when a great small local state school has accepted them from half term if we need them to move locally.

Thanks again

So, finance woman continuing to be a total cow, so we have gone to the head of schools. We'll see what happens. We went to a solicitor tonight and we are totally in the right, which is good.

I am just worried that one day we are going to school and the head will pull us into his office and say 'Sorry, but your kids aren't welcome today. We are under orders from our head office.'

We have put an ultimatum into the school to sort this out or we are moving the kids at half term.

BTW, cannot take the stress of all of this - really really really really hate the school for putting us through all of this sht. It is so unneccessary.

when you leave i hope you go to the local paper and tell what a bunch of ill organised crap hustlers are running the joint...