Entering into a Credit agreement without signing any CA in the UK

Question

My wife recently registered herself to an online learning course and opted to pay the course fees monthly. During sign up she was sent terms and conditions of which buried in the terms and conditions state that upon cancelling 'You shall immediately pay us all outstanding invoices and interest'.

They had originally sent her the wrong course material, corrected the issue after around 1 week and then around another week later she realised that the course was not what she expected and then cancelled.

The company is now claiming that by registering and logging in she has accepted their terms and conditions and is liable to pay the full course fees or have the debt sent to a debt collector.

During the sign up process it was not made clear that she was entering into a credit agreement as it is mentioned no where other than a few lines in the terms and conditions.

Is something like this enforceable?

Answer 1

What credit agreement?

A credit agreement involves someone advancing you money which you agree to pay back with interest - there is nothing like this here.

You entered a contract for the course the terms of which were that, at your election, you could either pay upfront or pay by monthly instalments. That's not a credit agreement, it's a straightforward contract for services with alternative payment terms.

One of the other terms was that if you withdrew then the full amount would be immediately payable.

Under normal contract law principles, this is all fine.

Consumer Law

Under UK consumer law, you have a right to cancel a contract for services formed off-premises if you do so within 14 days. "... around 1 week and then around another week ..." might be within 14 days; if it is, you are entitled to a full refund; if it isn't, you owe the money.

There are also rules about what information they needed to give you. If they haven't then they have committed an offence and the contract may also be void.