Legal assistance with NCOI disputes

Questioner

My employer concluded a contract with NCOI for me in early 2009 for a 3-year Business Management course worth €10,800. After involuntary dismissal due to reorganization, I received the course free of charge at the end of 2009. Stopped in 2011. My ex-employer paid for the 2 years (approx. €7,600). However, NCOI still claims approx. €4,000 from me for terminating the course based on general terms and conditions. My ex-employer does not want to pay that. I did not sign anything with my ex-employer regarding this course, nor with NCOI, and I have never seen NCOI's general terms and conditions. This week I received a reminder from Intrum Justitia, so +10%. Is there a chance that I can get out of this (via a lawsuit?)?

Lawyer

The question is who is the client of NCOI, the employer or you. If you have never signed anything, it seems that your employer is the client. In that case, the NCOI cannot approach you unless you have agreed something about it with your employer. So I would start with a letter to Interum Justitia stating that you are not the client because you have not concluded an agreement and therefore no general terms and conditions can apply and that you have never had them either.

Questioner

The general terms and conditions of the NCOI state that if an employer refuses to pay for whatever reason, the payment obligation is automatically transferred to the student.

Lawyer

General terms and conditions only apply if two conditions are met 1. they must have been declared applicable at the latest at the time of conclusion of the agreement 2. they must have been handed over Both conditions have not been met because you never received the conditions and you did not even enter into an agreement with NCOI. It is up to NCOI to demonstrate that they have met these conditions and they cannot do so because you never signed. In a similar case, NCOI has already been ruled against by the court, so do not be put off by NCOI or the collection agency. If you wish, I can assist you further in this. In that case, you can contact me via my profile on this site.

Questioner

Thank you. I had also found that similar case on the internet and had the discussion with the NCOI in recent weeks with approximately the same arguments as you put forward. Nevertheless, they persisted with that collection agency and I began to have doubts. Thank you for the advice and I will send the letter to the collection agency.