Gym Membership

[carrybasket]

6 months ago i joined a gym, paid my membership of �10.00 plus one months membership fee �80.00.
before the month was out i realised i could not afford to keep this up, i informed the gym verbaly that i could no longer continue.
since then i have recived invoices and nasty letters demanding the rest of the annual fee, i only used the gym facilities for about 2 week and have never been there since.
can they force me to pay for something i have not used?

[Eve]

How long was the contract you signed with them for?

You are contractually bound, unless they agree to let it go (unlikely) or they have breached the contract in some way, to pay up to the end of the contract or they have every rights to pursue you for the remaining unpaid amount.

Are you able to afford it better in the near future as some contracts have a holiday period in where you can suspend the contract for say a couple of months, though this is usually added onto the end but if you have already defaulted on payments then this may not be an option.

Are you able to make some payments as the last thing you need is for them to get debt collectors involved or for them to issue court proceedings as this will only increase the amount owed.

Trouble is, there would be no point in them signing people up to contracts if they could just be got out of easily and they rely on people's own judgement as to whether they can afford to keep it up before they sign.

Obviously some things like losing a job or illness cannot be forseen but they often have the options to opt out for a few months or with a doctors note to help with these kind of situations.

[buildersmate]

Absolutely they can. I am afraid that you agreed to a contract and now they are within their rights to enforce it. There will be a termination period - which you need to check out. You are liable for the full period - it is your choice that you haven't used the facility.
Gyms are well known for extracting the full amount of money due under the contract - through the use of debt collection agencies. Keep ignoring their letters and you will find that debt collectors fees get added to the sums due.
Your only hope is to go and see them and try and negotiate for a reduced sum paid now to extract yourself from the contract terms - but they are not obloiged to accept your reduced offer.

[buildersmate]

(Above constructed before Jen's reply appeared - we appear to be saying the same thing)