University wants to collect on old housing charges

[Ramble]

I am an American who attended university in Britain for one semester on a study-abroad programme. This was four years ago, in 2005. More recently, the university has started sending me letters demanding £1196 that they think I owe them for university housing. I thought I got all my dues paid while I was a student there, so I initially dismissed this as a clerical error (especially since they took years to tell me that I owed anything), but looking into my records, I'm not so certain. I'm still trying to figure that out.

 

In the meantime, though, I'd like to know what my options are. I've read a little bit about how debt works in the UK (CCA, for example), but I don't know how much of it applies to me. I have a few specific questions:

 

1. My supposed "debt" isn't a conventional debt from a credit agreement; it's just some money that the university thinks I should have paid in 2005 but didn't. Does the CCA apply to this kind of debt, or should I be looking elsewhere? So far, the university has been unable to produce any agreement that I signed. (I asked informally, but I haven't yet attempted a proper CCA request.)
   
2. What exactly can the university do to me? Their most recent letter threatens to turn me over to a collections agency (and even vaguely threatens court action, which seems unlikely, right?). If this goes to a collections agency, can it hurt my credit score in the United States?
   
3. If the university is unable to produce any agreement that I signed that would compel me to pay this amount, is it even legally possible for me to owe them anything? Can there be a debt without an agreement?
   
4. What should my next step be? Should I do a formal CCA request? (If so, what's the best way to send £1 from the US to the UK?)
   

Many thanks, and sorry about the length!

[dx100uk]

it is not a credit agreement so cca is not possible.

 

tbh: thete is little they can do to you

and yes a dca cannot do anything either

 

i'd just ignore it totally

 

dx

[twofoot]

I'll second that. They will eventually go away.