Injury liability exclusion query in contract...is this legal?

[pauldbaker95]

Hi all,

I am new here so thanks for welcoming me. Long story but ultimately, I paid over £3000 in advance for a training course to be held next year. I am out of my 14 day cooling off period and have asked for a refund but they are saying no and I feel aggreived at letting them keep all of my money, this doesn't seem fair. Although I signed a registration form that said about accepting the terms and conditions, these were never explicitly given to me in the same form. I have looked on the company's website to try and find something that is against fair contract law to force them to rewing our contract and give me a refund. I am giving them more than enough notice and they have not got £3000 of losses as they have not even planned for the course or advertised it yet. I am kicking myself for paying so much in advance! I have also read advice from the CMA that says a trader cannot keep excessive prepayments or deposits, only to cover their losses, but I have yet to even receive the benefit from the course as I do not want to attend any longer. I am in a catch 22.

I found this on another post here:

5A term which has the object or effect of requiring that, where the consumer decides not to conclude or perform the contract, the consumer must pay the trader a disproportionately high sum in compensation or for services which have not been supplied.

Anyway, effectively, I have found a term that I don't think surely is right:

1. Self-inflicted injury, or injury caused indirectly or directly by another person cannot bring a lawsuit to us by the student or any related party.

In this theory, surely I could be attacked by a staff member for retaliation to me making a fuss - I know this is a bit of a reach but just in principal? I read up online and I have found the following from Section 2(1) of The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977:

“A person cannot by reference to any contract term or to a notice given to persons generally or to particular persons exclude or restrict his liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence.”


Does this ultimately mean I have an unfair contract with them that I could take to small claims court to get my money back this way?

They have also said the following term:

1. All Courses and Fees are subject to change without prior notification and we reserve the right to cancel or change the start date of a Course where there are insufficient numbers booked on for it or to be viable to run.

How is this allowed if I have only a 14 day cooling off period, but they get to cancel or change the course whenever they want, not mentioning what happens to my fees?

And final term I think may be unfair:

1. We can expel students without a refund of fees.

Is this surely fair as well? They could in theory allow me to come along to the course and then just expel me for no reason and I would not get a refund in their terms. This surely cannot be right.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I cannot afford a lawyer with their costs quickly exceeding my claim value. Thanks everyone.

[echat11]

Hi Paul

Welcome to LB

How did you pay for the course?

The 'timeline'?

The excessive cancellation fee maybe be 'unfair', as they should only charge you for actual losses incurred, they would need to show they have losses.

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/unfair-...s-unfair-terms (note this is guidance for firms)

[pauldbaker95]

Hi Paul

Welcome to LB

How did you pay for the course?

The 'timeline'?

The excessive cancellation fee maybe be 'unfair', as they should only charge you for actual losses incurred, they would need to show they have losses.

https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/unfair-...s-unfair-terms (note this is guidance for firms)

Hi thank you so much. I paid via credit card over the phone but they have said it is not a chargeback. I am continuing with a section 75 case and issuing a final letter to them. They are now trying to tell me that they are entitled to at least keep the VAT loss from the £3200?? How does that work? If you went into a shop and bought something and got a refund, they surely don't deduct the VAT? I think they are baffoons to be honest.

I am going down the unfair route as despite me asking several times, they are failing to prove their losses to me, which makes me think they are bluffing. The truth is in theory, they should have no losses at all. The course is a year away and they have 3 courses before then. They haven't planned anything for it yet, I said they may be entitled to an admin fee at best of £200 to seem reasonable but they just keep referring to our contract and are refusing to budge.

I appreciate your help.

[echat11]

Regards the Section 75 claim, the claim / complaint letter goes to the company and the credit card company. Explain that as the course is over a year away, there is no loss at all, nothing has been done in preparation for the course. All they have is an application sitting on their systems, which probably hasn't hit 'Admin' yet. Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

I would leave it with the credit card company and then assess your position once you get a 'response' from the credit card company. It's easy to get in a 'muddle' if you are writing to the company and the credit card company are writing to them as well.

Update when you get a response.