Paying the first term's fees after choosing another school

[tercio]

Hi all,

Apologies for an elitist topic... we accepted a place at a local private school, signed the contract, and paid a deposit.

S/he was then offered a place from the wait-list at our first choice. We withdrew them from the first school, and resigned ourselves to losing the deposit. We have now received a bill for the first term.

This happens to others. As anyone got away with not paying?

It is a very popular school, and they are very likely to fill the place, therefore not suffering any damage, and actually benefiting from our deposit. Legally, you should only pay damages that flow from the breach of contract.

Of course, it's very likely that this group of schools will support one another, and we will find ourselves under pressure from the new school too, and our name will be mud...

Any experience or anonymous legal advice very welcome,

Tercio

[Undiscovered]

I've always understood that if you give notice after Easter your liable for first terms fees as well as deposit, before it's just the deposit. at least that's how I've always understood it. its to deter a lot of late movement I guess? When did you withdraw?

[Curmudgeon]

You must have signed up to these terms

[uncleglen]

There is no need to apologise for sending your child to a private school although you may think there is given the tone of some of the people on this forum. You have chosen to spend your money on education, rather than expensive foreign holidays (thereby wasting valuable finite energy resources), or an expensive car, or even a second home in the country (thereby pushing up house prices and contributing to the death of the English village).....sorry for the rant- but you should not apologise. As a teacher myself, in the state sector, I am all too aware of the inverted snobbery surrounding the topic.

[tomskip]

Uncleglen, how can you possibly know that the op has chosen to pay school fees instead of foreign travel, expensive cars or a second home? Do you know something that the rest of us don't? (excuse thread derail but that just seems SO bizarre).

[DaveR]

"It is a very popular school, and they are very likely to fill the place, therefore not suffering any damage, and actually benefiting from our deposit. Legally, you should only pay damages that flow from the breach of contract."

With the caveat that I'm not an expert, it's not quite as simple as that. Contractual terms for payments of this type are enforceable unless they are penalties i.e. intended to be a deterrent rather than pre-estimate of loss. However, that test is applied in light of the overall commercial rationale/business model, not just the particular case, so not such an obvious outcome. You can expect that the school will have a fairly well-rehearsed case as to why this is not a penalty.

If you are asking whether they are likely to pursue you if you refuse to pay, anecdotally the answer is 'yes - very likely'. Are they likely to win? Impossible to predict without seeing their evidence, and you won't get that unless you fight, and incur some fairly hefty costs.

It might be worth writing to them and pointing out that it seems more likely that deposit plus a whole term's fees is an arbitrary figure rooted in tradition and practice in the sector rather than a genuine pre-estimate of loss, that you are willing to pay a lesser, reasonable amount, and make them an offer.

Edited to add - if you want to be a bit cheeky you could also say that if they do pursue you for the full amount, you will require disclosure from them of the detailed financial information that supports any supposed pre-estimate of loss calculation i.e. how many deposits are forfeited, how many sets of fees billed and received for non-attending students, the actual additional costs to them of re-allocating rejected places etc.

[uncleglen]

tomskip...foreign travel, expensive cars or a second home, etc.....I can't believe you did not get my drift

[Siduhe]

There is a fairly recent case on this - same situation, don't know if the terms of the contract are similar to what you signed up to, but the school won. I'll try and find the reference so you can see whether it's similar to your contract.

[srisky]

I do know someone who decided to go state so wrote a polite letter explaining their circumstances (just moved home, new baby, lost track of deadlines) and their first term's fee owed was waived.