Uni accommodation 'debt' being chased by ACT Credit Management Ltd

[numpty]

Hi.

My daughter started Uni at the start of Covid. She was told that another member of her (official student accommodation) room share had covid and was flying home a day early from Ireland to get around the "no-fly" rule which was due to start on the Sunday. She had a doctor's appointment for something unrelated, but asked the doctor about this as she has asthma. He told her not to go back (and also provided proof of this)

At the same time, there was a problem with the internet connection - nobody could log on, and they had sent the wrong equipment - it was a comedy of errors), and the electricity would be turned off by - not sure who, but it was not the students, and I believe the maintenance dept. admitted fault shortly after - at any time the accommodation was empty - resulting in a lot of food waste.

The uni then decided to move to on-line only lectures - which is fair enough - but there was no internet connection, and when there finally was, it was unreliable.

My daughter tried to invoke the breaking of the contract on health grounds - as this was a clause in the contract - they asked for proof from a doctor that she had asthma, which she provided. They did not honour her request.

At this time it was untenable staying in the accommodation as she was having to return home most weeks in order to be able to attend lectures on-line, it was at this point that she transferred to an on-line only university to continue her studies (as the 9k a year at the uni for them to provide the exact same service now seemed excessive), and gave notice on the accommodation. 

She refused to pay for the remainder, rightly in my humble opinion, as it wasn't fit for purpose.

She is now being chased for around £1500 - she made a goodwill offer of £500 a month ago, but they have refused this and have said that they intend to continue to a county court claim.

Does she have decent grounds to defend this?

[dx100uk]

ignore stupid dca's they are powerless

who is doing this the uni or a student let company

who are the DCA's stated client.

poss scan up the letter to pdf please

read upload

dx

 

[numpty]

Hi, the last one was an email.  It's pretty standard threatogram fare to be honest. It looks to be the uni itself that has instructed them. She's worried that they'll get a CCJ and it'll make her mortgage rate unaffordable when she has to remortgage shortly when her fixed term expires.

-----

NOTICE OF POSSIBLE LEGAL ACTION

Client: Canterbury Christ Church University
Our Reference No:Mxxxxxxxx
Amount Due: £*,***.**

Dear Miss *****************,

We write with reference to the above outstanding account and hereby notify you that our client may commence legal action against you, as you have failed to settle the above debt amount.

Our clients claim can include costs, fees and statutory interest. In the event our clients claim is successful, our client will apply for a County Court Judgment (CCJ) to be registered against you. This may affect your ability to gain credit, obtain a mortgage or lease, and take out a mobile phone contract. If our client is granted the CCJ, an application could be made to enforce the CCJ in one of the following ways (subject to your personal circumstances):

Warrant of Control for Goods
Court enforcement agents will attend your property to gain goods, to the value of the debt, plus costs and interest.

Attachment of Earnings Order
Your employers will be written to by the Court and ordered to discharge a part of your salary directly to the Court in line with the Court Order.

Order to Attend Court for Questioning
Your means and assets will be examined by a Court Officer on oath and a Court Order may be made.

Charging Order
A Restriction Order will be registered against any property or land which is solely or jointly owned. Your property cannot be sold and no monies can be extracted from the secured asset until the Restriction Order is discharged.

Immediate payment terms could prevent our client from proceeding further. We would recommend that you take this final opportunity to contact us on 0203 1500 150 to resolve this matter.

HOW TO PAY
Payment can be made by a credit or debit card over the telephone or via our website: www.actcredit.com. Alternatively, you may send a cheque payable to “ACT Credit Management Ltd” to the below address. You can also pay by bank transfer: Bank Name: Santander – Account Number: 41193555 – Sort Code: 09-06-66. Please ensure your reference number is quoted on all payments: Mxxxxxx.

Yours sincerely,

Legal Liaison Department
0203 1500 150

*If you would like us to call you - please text your reference number Mxxxxxxxx to 07418 342 114* Standard text messaging rates apply.

ACT Credit Management Ltd
Bank House
7 St. Johns Road
Harrow HA1 2EE

Edited September 19, 2023 by numpty

[dx100uk]

totally agree

just ignore them

that a very std threat-o-gram

and we've met act before here  too.

until or unless the UNI ever write through a solicitor with a letter of claim with a reply pack wanting stuff like I&E totally ignore them all.

block and bounce all emails, reports texts to 7726.

23 hours ago, numpty said:

She's worried that they'll get a CCJ and it'll make her mortgage rate unaffordable when she has to remortgage shortly when her fixed term expires.

doesnt work like that.

[Ethel Street]

As a formal Letter of Claim under the pre-action protocols is supposed to be issued by post (NOT email) does the University/ACT have your daughters current postal address to avoid possibility of a backdoor CCJ?

[numpty]

Hi, yes they do, and they have also sent a few threatograms there as well.

[dx100uk]

good so as post 4 then.

dx

 

[numpty]

Cheers all. It's as I expected - ignore it until (or if) it gets a little more serious. To be fair, given that they didn't provide what was supposed to be included, I'd be wary of putting that in front of a circuit judge if I were them.