SALLY RECORDS IT: David Lloyd has increased my gym bill by £900 – and wants an extra £756 to book a tennis court!

I am soon to be 24 and have been a member of the David Lloyd gym in Northwood, North West London, for almost ten years. I mainly use the club for tennis.

For the last few years I have had a contract for 18-25 year olds, with full access to the club, racquets and spa. When my annual membership came up for renewal in June I was told that my membership fee would increase by 67% from £1,335 to £2,232.

The club said that the discount I had previously received was no longer valid. I was not happy but reluctantly accepted the new price, believing that I would have the same access as before.

I paid up front as it was cheaper than paying monthly. However when I went online to book a tennis session I was told I was no longer a member of racquets. I complained and was told adding tennis and the spa would cost another £756 per year.

LH, Pinner, North London.

Sally Hamilton responds: You felt like the David Lloyd Leisure Company were giving you a nasty lob when you renewed your membership. With the fee more than doubling to £2,988 if you wanted to continue playing tennis, you feared it was game over.

And if you were not satisfied, you had to cancel three months in advance. You did your best to solve it yourself. You asked for a joint membership with your mother, who has been a member for years, because this would reduce the costs. But this was rejected, because only couples can be joint members.

You asked if they would refund you what you had already paid and then set up a monthly direct debit for the new fee so that you could manage the bills more easily. You were told that this was not possible.

You asked if you could at least spread the additional cost of £756 for tennis and the spa into monthly instalments, but this was also rejected.

You were so angry that you asked me to arbitrate the dispute. After I took your complaint to David Lloyd, a member of staff offered you what you later described as a ‘great deal’. This turned out to be a membership with tennis and spa access for a price of £2,376, which is only £144 more than the price without these extras. My intervention saved you £612.

Apparently you were poorly assisted with the age discount. You were told that the youth discount used to apply to people aged 18 to 25, and that this had changed, while David Lloyd says that wires were probably crossed, for which he apologises, as the discount has only applied to people aged 18 to 23 for a long time.

A spokesperson said: ‘We aim to offer a wide range of packages to suit the lifestyle and age of our members. We apologise for any miscommunication. LH has been a long-standing member of the club and we hope she continues to enjoy her time with us for many years to come.’

Navigating gym membership fees can be a bit of an obstacle course. It can be worth negotiating. If the front desk clerk or the person on the end of a live chat won’t budge, try talking to a manager. In general, gym-goers who want to cancel a contract must provide a notice period, which varies by gym. Exceptions include if a member is injured or seriously ill, or loses their job.

If a gym plays hardball, members should cite the Competition and Markets Authority, which says a gym contract is unfair if it does not allow a member to cancel due to serious injury or illness or a change in personal circumstances that means they cannot afford the fees. If a club will not accept this, contact Citizens Advice for help.

My brother and I are executors of our late father’s will and beneficiaries under his Clerical Medical whole of life policy, which we believe is worth over £80,000. Our father paid monthly premiums from October 1992 until his death in September 2023.

When he died, we instructed our attorney to settle matters. Their first correspondence with Clerical Medical was on October 4. Ten months later, the policy has still not been paid, despite the attorney’s best efforts.

In June and July of this year I sent an email to the insurer myself, but I did not get a response. I did get a response to a letter I sent in July, but it only asked for documentation that we had already provided.

NL, Blackpool, Lancs

Sally Hamilton responds: It seems that the clerical side of Clerical Medical needs some medical attention. Ten months is not an acceptable waiting period for a policy payment.

I contacted Clerical Medical and they responded by confirming that the money would be with your lawyers the next day. And it was.

Apologies were made for the delay and it was said that this was because the company had not communicated clearly to your solicitors that one of the trustees’ names on your father’s policy needed to be corrected. A trust registration was then requested with HM Revenue & Customs when this was not necessary.

You were grateful for my help but were surprised to only receive £58,902 when you thought the amount should have been over £80,000. The premiums are lower for this type of cover than for other types of life insurance because the amount paid out decreases over the term of the policy.

Many choose to take out a decreasing term policy alongside a repayment mortgage, for example, where the cover decreases to reflect the shrinking size of the loan over time. Others choose to provide a benefit to support the family if the breadwinner dies prematurely, calculating that less money will be needed for older children.

The sum insured was initially £83,536, but when your father died it had fallen to £9,932.

The remainder of the payout consists of a fund value of £16,464 and various bonuses of £29,935. The last payment you received included £2,571 in interest for the period of the delay. Clerical Medical also paid you an additional £980 for the inconvenience.