Fees in lieu of notice at private school Post Reply

[VKAC]

Hello, my husband & I are facing a mediation with a private school as we did not give notice as we should have (altho we have arguments that may get around that...) & owe a term's fees as well as forfeiting a substantial deposit. I'd be so pleased to hear, if anyone willing to share, if anyone has had this experience & if so if able to reach a 'compromise'; of course the contracts will be different but any thoughts would be great. Our child had not yet started at the school & we gave over half a term's notice,& as far as we know there was a waiting list for places.

[tooposhtopush]

Hi
This has been discussed before.

My understanding is that the deposit is to protect them from "loss" so it really depends whether they can claim that they're out of pocket.

It's a tricky one!

[curly]

I had exactly this situation and refused to pay the outstanding amount as, according to a lawyer, if they are able to fill the place then they shouldn't be asking you for the money. The school did not push me for the money.

Apparently a lot of the t&c's were unenforceable.

Good luck

[VKAC]

Thank you very much ladies

[Bluerose]

I understand that the school's position would be that you breached the contract. As far as I understand it, their remedy for breach of contract is damages flowing from the breach. Thus, their losses in terms of fees and any other costs associated would be their 'damages' and that's it. They can't profit from it and should only be put back in a position financially as if no breach had occurred. If they fill your child's place at the school, with no loss of income from fees, their losses are likely nil (despite slight admin work obviously but I doubt that'll 'cost' them financially).

From memory, penalty causes - ie a clause in the contract saying if you breach a term of the contract then you must pay the school a term's fees, irrespective of the losses suffered by the school - have been found to be unenforceable in court. They are often still included in contracts, despite being unenforceable, as a deterrent for certain behaviours and to scare people!

Hope that makes sense and helps!

[pie81]

under the law on penalties, a clause which says "if you breach the contract you must pay X" is only valid if X is a genuine pre estimate of the likely loss from the breach.

however, a clause which says "you must pay X non refundable deposit to secure the place/on starting school" is different. the law on penalties doesn't apply as it's not an amount paid in the event of breach. That said, there is a good argument that the second type of clause could be invalid under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, if the deposit is well in excess of the school's loss.

Practically speaking you are more likely to get them to drop their claim for the unpaid fees than you are to getthem to repay the deposit. possession is 9/10 of the law etc...

[VKAC]

Thank you v v much, ladies, all v helpful. Think we have forfeited the deposit, yes, but doesn't feel right that we also have to pay a term's fees (& we'd have to pay this even where the place we vacated is filled, so seems to me to be a penalty as must be in excess of their loss).

[Allgood]

Can I please jump on this post, was about to post on parallel suject.

I'm going to be a little cryptic, but basically I'm in a horrible situation where because of what I consider appalling behaviour (nothing sinister, just lack of professionalism and appalling treatment of me) by 2 members of senior staff at my child's (private) school, I am about to withdraw him mid year and change to another school (all sorted). Yes, it is serious enough to withdraw. I went through a complaint's procedure and the school has shown no actual concern for my complaint but have only been interested in covering their back legally. I will be refusing to pay the next term's school fees, under effectively 'constructive dismissal' and considering that they have breached their contract with me by their behaviour, possibly effectively making the contract null and void, and therefore the contractual bind of having to pay a terms fees should also be null and void.

Without going into the nitty gritty, pls just trust for a second that their behviour has been disgraceful, and the whole complaint process has been a farce. (I have contacted the Independent Schools Inspectorate, who agree, and infact there is also something that happened that the Dept for Education believe is quite a serious breach). Again, sorry for the crypticness.

Does anyone know what my legal standing might be on this? / Has anyone had any experience of this situation.

I read this post and am hopeful what has been said about the school not really being able to chase for fees may be true. I don't want to have to face a battle right now.

Thank you v much for any advice / info.