Case Summaries

Accommodation - CS012402

Case summary January 2024 | Not Justified

A student had a room in a hall of residence from September until January, when they withdrew from their studies for reasons unconnected with the accommodation. The provider sought payment of outstanding rent payments from the student.

Eleven months after withdrawing from their studies, the student made a complaint to the provider. They said that they didn’t want to pay for the first seven weeks of their accommodation because there was a silverfish infestation which made it uninhabitable. The provider decided the complaint was out of time for consideration.

The student complained to us that the decision was unfair because they had tried to contact the provider many times about their accommodation. They also said that pursuing the complaint caused them stress and anxiety. We did not uphold the complaint (we decided it was Not Justified). We were satisfied that the complaint procedure was easily accessible and all relevant deadlines were clear. The evidence provided showed that when the student had contacted the provider about their accommodation concerns, they had been given information about how to submit a complaint, but they did not do so at the time.