out of my depth with SD over school fees

[macm00n]

Hi Macm00n,

 

 

Is the school over-subscribed? Do they have a waiting list? Were all the places filled for the Autumn Term, meaning that they had suffered no financial loss by your daughter not being there?

 

Sorry to throw so many questions at you.

 

Yes the school was/is over-subscribed and our place was quickly filled.

[Desperate Daniella]

Okay.

 

So you didn't pay the £1100 deposit.

 

I bet the school would say that unless they received that £1100 deposit your child's place at the prep school was not guaranteed?

 

So, if they weren't guaranteeing her a place because you hadn't paid the £1,100 I would argue that there is no contract and therefore they cannot demand the Autumn term's fees.

 

Lots of parents in London put down two or even three holding deposits on schools and it's only decided at the last minute - first choice available or not available, etc., - but they only agree an actual contract with one school when they put down the entire deposit for the child to start the following term, and you didn't do that.

 

I'd like Andy's input on this when he comes back on.

 

DD

[Desperate Daniella]

Yes the school was/is over-subscribed and our place was quickly filled.

 

So they are not out of pocket either.

[macm00n]

Hi DD

 

no the Autumn fees are not in dispute. The amounts they took us to court for cannot include the autumn, that would bring the bill up to nearly £9000.

But the solicitor petitioned the court for the SD stating we hadn't paid the autumn fees due, when in actual fact it was the summer term bill resent at the beginning of sept. This was the bill for April, May, June.... of which our youngest had been excluded for May and June.

We have always questioned this bill as there are additional costs on the bill, i.e. trips etc that our youngest was not allowed to participate in.... all of which were organised after the exclusion date.

[Desperate Daniella]

Sorry. I have obviously misunderstood.

 

So you owe only for April to June? I still can't believe she was excluded for one missed direct debit. That is unbelievable, especially as there had been no problem with late DDs before.

 

How much are the extras? Can you prove they were only organized after the exclusion date - not mentioned on school calendar, etc.?

 

I do not understand why the school would not accept smaller payments.

[macm00n]

DD

its all so messy, sorry if It was probably me not being very clear, I'm all over the place, worrying about this and the effect its having on my husband.

 

Yes they are charging us for April- June.

They excluded beginning of May, and would not accept a payment of monies owed to that date.

Instead insisting that all the monies, i.e. April, May, and June were paid then and there. We couldn't do that as it tripled the payment, so the exclusion came into effect. They wouldn't take smaller payments because ..... and i quote the credit controller.... 'we are not a bank'

[Desperate Daniella]

So you offered to pay and they would not accept it?

 

Was your husband already poorly before the actual claim arrived? I know his stroke was later, but if he was already suffering ill-health, was worried, and had visited his GP that might help.

[Desperate Daniella]

Did they have a new credit controller?

[macm00n]

So you offered to pay and they would not accept it?

 

Was your husband already poorly before the actual claim arrived? I know his stroke was later, but if he was already suffering ill-health, was worried, and had visited his GP that might help.

 

yes we offered to pay the missed DD and meet the may DD they said no it had to be payment in full.

 

we were disputing the bill all sept and oct. Nov the solicitor notified by letter it was going to northhampton court, at the same time as my husband suffered his first stroke. then judgment was made at nothampton 2 days after my husband suffered his 2nd stroke.

[macm00n]

Did they have a new credit controller?

 

No, she was the same person we had dealt with for 5 years..... so she had full knowledge of our previous payment histories.

[Desperate Daniella]

So you were disputing the bill and rather than reply to your questions they just instructed their solicitors to issue the claim.

 

And they changed their attitude about letting payments be a bit later, but never more than a month late?

 

What had happened about the bullying?

 

Let's get Andy's input in the morning.

[macm00n]

So you were disputing the bill and rather than reply to your questions they just instructed their solicitors to issue the claim.

 

And they changed their attitude about letting payments be a bit later, but never more than a month late?

 

What had happened about the bullying?

 

Let's get Andy's input in the morning.

 

Yes that's pretty much it!!! Although they had allowed

Us to be a term late paying in the past. Through arrangement.

 

As for the bullying , exclusion came into effect before an outcome, but I know the problem continued after our child

Left, and still continues. Just with other children as victims if the same child.

[Desperate Daniella]

Did you have an on-going complaint about your daughter being bullied?

 

Were you unhappy about the way it was dealt with?

[Desperate Daniella]

I think the set aside will have to be on the basis of your husband's ill health, and yours too, but the court will want to know that you have a reasonable chance of defending the claim which is why I'm asking all these questions about the background.

[AndyOrch]

Hi macm

 

Daniella is quite correct this will hinge on you and your husbands health at the time the claim was issued but also if you have viable defence.They are not interested in bullying or discriminations it must be black and white.

 

It's very difficult to get a court order set aside and you've got to have a very good reason for asking for this to happen. The judge will decide whether you have a good case. Possible reasons for getting the order set aside include:

 

1.a mistake in the original judgment

2.the court did not follow the court rules during the claim process

3.the creditor did not follow the court rules during the claim process Refere to your time allowed to resolve this and the date of the LBA and when they served the claim.

4.you have a defence to the claim which you were not able to make known earlier Rely on the circumstances at the time and why it was impossible to respond to the claim.

 

5.you weren't able to attend a hearing and a judgment was made in your absence.

 

If the court sets aside judgment you will be allowed to put in a Defence explaining why you do not agree with the Claimant's claim.

 

The court will also give you a timetable to explain what you must do next. For example, you may have to tell the Claimant what documents you want to use to prove your Defence and if you have witness(s) they may have to make statement(s).

 

To have a default judgment set aside the defendant will have to satisfy the following legal test found in Part 13 of the CPR:

 

You have a defence with a real prospect of success; or,

The judgment should be set aside for some other good reason; and,

The application to set aside the judgment was made promptly.

 

In deciding whether or not the defendant has acted promptly in making their application the relevant date is usually the date on which the defendant found out about the judgment. Judges have differing views on what constitutes a prompt application. Some say that anything over four weeks shows that the defendant has failed to act promptly – others will entertain applications made many months later so not set in stone.

 

 

The law on default judgments provides judges with a wide discretion to set judgment aside. Justice demands that a judgment which has been entered with no, or little, regard to the merits of the claim should be set aside if the defendant has a good defence and made his application promptly. However, there is no point setting aside a default judgment if the defendant has no chance of defending the claim. It would be a waste of time and money because, ultimately, the claimant would simply obtain another judgment. The courts should be slow to deprive the claimant of a valid judgment obtained in accordance with the law.

 

I trust the above is of help and hope that your set a side is successful remember dont go into too much detail within your statement that can be retained later for a fully particularised defence.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[macm00n]

Thank you so much Andy,

 

I have no idea how all of this is going to pan out. But the help from yourself Desperate Daniella and Uncle B has given me a slither of hope.

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Macm00n,

 

I think it would help if we can work out the date the Claim form was deemed to be served. If your husband became ill during the 14 days before you had to acknowledge the claim that would give you a better chance of the set aside.

 

As you didn't acknowledge, the other side would have applied for a default judgment, but sometimes people apply on the first possible date and others may leave it a few days, so it's important to try to work out the date.

 

DD

[macm00n]

Hi DD

 

Yes he had his first stroke with that 14 day time period.

[AndyOrch]

macm if you could look at points 3 & 4 of my last post and clarify what happened from the receiving of the LBA and the issuing of the claim....was you allowed 7 or 14 days to propose intentions?

 

What date is the LBA and what date is the claim ?

 

This could be a plus with regards to your set a side in that they have failed to follow pre action protocol.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Desperate Daniella]

The Defence has to come after the set aside, but I am wondering if there is anything to be done about the fact that they terminated the arrangement for you to pay by monthly DD without any notice, and in fact refused to take the monthly payment you offered.

 

Did you ever get a letter or email from them confirming that they were happy to accept monthly payments and the fees would be paid on that basis?

[Desperate Daniella]

In any case your bank statements will show that you were paying by DD, and I don't think it is reasonable of them to stop that arrangement without giving you any notice.

[macm00n]

macm if you could look at points 3 & 4 of my last post and clarify what happened from the receiving of the LBA and the issuing of the claim....was you allowed 7 or 14 days to propose intentions?

 

What date is the LBA and what date is the claim ?

 

This could be a plus with regards to your set a side in that they have failed to follow pre action protocol.

 

Regards

 

 

Andy

 

So we had a letter from solicitors demanding full payment within 14 days of date of letter, 23rd Oct

then 14/11/20013 letter from solicitor notifying claim had been made

then letter from cc 15/11/13 to say claim made.

[macm00n]

nothing was mentioned of court proceedings in the october letter.

 

it does not identify itself in any way as a letter before action

[Desperate Daniella]

If the claim form is dated 15th November, then it should allow five days for service - 20th November. If your husband had his stroke on the 30th you are well within the 14 days to acknowledge.

[macm00n]

If the claim form is dated 15th November, then it should allow five days for service - 20th November. If your husband had his stroke on the 30th you are well within the 14 days to acknowledge.

 

Hi DD he was very unwell from the 22nd nov and had his 1st stroke the evening of the 26th followed by a second on the 2nd of december.