Charging fees for broken laundry machines

Short answer

No, not straightforwardly. A student accommodation provider generally cannot lawfully charge undisclosed laundry fees, and it cannot fairly charge for a service it is not actually providing because the machines are broken or unavailable. Whether a particular charge is lawful depends on what your contract says, how the charge was disclosed to you before you agreed, and whether the charge is a genuine payment for a working service or an unfair term. Several overlapping areas of law apply, and the right approach depends on some facts I do not yet have.

The key distinction to draw first

It helps to separate two different situations, because they lead to different answers.

The first is where laundry is included within your rent or accommodation fee as part of the package (for example, “laundry facilities provided”). If you have paid for access to working machines and they are broken or unavailable for a meaningful period, that is a failure to provide the contracted service or a disrepair issue, and you may be entitled to a reduction or partial refund.

The second is where laundry is a separate pay-per-use service (card, app or coin operated), often run by a third-party contractor such as Circuit or a similar operator rather than by the university itself. Here you are paying per wash, so a broken machine usually means you simply should not be charged for that wash, and any money taken for a cycle that failed should be refunded.

Identifying which arrangement applies to you is the single most important fact, so check your accommodation contract, the fees schedule and any signage or terms displayed on or near the machines.

Undisclosed fees

Charges that were never disclosed to you before you entered the contract are the weakest position for the provider. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, terms in a consumer contract must be transparent, meaning expressed in plain and intelligible language and, where in writing, legible. A term is not binding on a consumer if it was not brought to their attention and given a fair opportunity to consider it before agreeing.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 also prohibit misleading actions and misleading omissions. Failing to disclose the true price of a service, or hiding material charges, can be an unfair commercial practice. If the true cost of laundry was concealed or presented misleadingly when you signed up, that strengthens any complaint or claim.

Practically, a fee that appears for the first time on a bill, with no basis in the contract you signed and no prior notice, is one you can reasonably dispute and ask to have removed.

Excessive fees

“Excessive” is harder, because businesses are generally free to set their own prices, and price itself is not usually assessed for fairness under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provided the price term is transparent and prominent. So a laundry price you may consider high is not automatically unlawful just because it is expensive.

However, a charge can be challenged as an unfair term under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 if it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer, contrary to good faith. Charges that operate as disguised penalties, or that were not transparent or prominent, are more vulnerable. If the “fee” is really a charge for something you did not receive, it is on much weaker ground than a genuine price for a working service.

Charging when machines are broken or unavailable

This is where your position is strongest. If you pay per wash and the machine takes your money but fails, or eats your card balance, you are entitled to a refund of that money. Charging for a service that was not delivered is, in effect, taking payment for nothing.

If laundry access is part of your accommodation package and the facilities are unavailable for a significant time, two legal routes are relevant. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a service must be performed with reasonable care and skill, and where a service falls short you may be entitled to a repeat performance or a price reduction. Separately, if the machines are part of the fabric or facilities the provider is obliged to keep in repair under your agreement, the failure to maintain them can be treated as a disrepair or breach, potentially justifying a proportionate reduction in what you pay while the facility is unavailable.

Charging full price while knowingly failing to provide a working, available service is the most obviously objectionable scenario and the one most likely to succeed if challenged.

A fair alternative explanation to consider

Before treating the charge as unlawful, it is worth checking whether there is an ordinary contractual explanation. Many university laundry systems are outsourced, and the fee may genuinely be a per-use price for a normally working service, with occasional breakdowns that the operator does not immediately deduct because the fault has not yet been reported. In that case the issue is often a refund and repair problem rather than a deliberately hidden or unlawful charge, and it is usually resolved quickly once reported. The provider is also entitled to charge for laundry as a paid service if that was properly disclosed. The law does not give you free laundry; it protects you against paying for a service that was concealed or not actually delivered.

What facts would change the answer

The outcome depends significantly on the following, so gather this information:

1. Whether laundry is included in your rent or is a separate pay-per-use service.

2. Exactly what your accommodation contract, fees schedule and machine terms say about laundry charges and refunds.

3. Whether the machines are run by the university or an external operator, and who you actually paid.

4. How the charge was disclosed to you before you agreed, and whether it appeared only later.

5. How long the machines have been broken or unavailable and whether you reported the faults.

6. Whether you lost specific sums to failed cycles, and how much in total.

Codes of practice that may apply

Most university and large private student halls in England and Wales are members of a code of practice, either the ANUK/Unipol National Code or the Universities UK Code of Practice for the Management of Student Housing. These codes set standards for the management and maintenance of accommodation and facilities, and provide a complaints and mediation route. If your provider is a signatory, that gives you an additional external avenue if internal complaints fail, and it is often faster and cheaper than court.

Practical next steps

1. Gather evidence now. Keep screenshots of the app or card balance, photos of out-of-order machines with dates, any signage or terms displayed, your contract and fees documents, and a note of when you first reported faults.

2. Report each fault and each failed transaction in writing to the accommodation office or laundry operator, and ask for a refund of money lost to broken machines. Keep the correspondence.

3. Put in a clear written complaint. Set out the sums taken, the periods the machines were unavailable, and what you want, whether that is refunds, removal of undisclosed charges, or a reduction reflecting the lost facility. Ask them to identify the contractual basis for the fee. Give a reasonable deadline for a response.

4. Escalate internally through the provider’s formal complaints procedure if the first response is unsatisfactory.

5. If they are a member of the ANUK/Unipol or Universities UK code, use that complaints or mediation route once the internal process is exhausted.

6. For failed card or app payments, you may also be able to use your bank’s chargeback scheme, or a Section 75 claim if you topped up by credit card and the amount qualifies.

7. As a last resort for money genuinely owed to you, a small claim in the County Court is available, but it is worth pursuing the cheaper and quicker routes first given the modest sums usually involved and the time and stress of litigation.

Bottom line

A provider cannot fairly hide laundry charges from you before you agree, and it cannot fairly keep taking money for machines that are broken or unavailable. Undisclosed fees and charges for undelivered service are your strongest points and should generally be refunded or removed. A merely high price for a genuinely working, properly disclosed service is harder to challenge. Start by identifying whether laundry is included or pay-per-use, then use evidence, a written complaint and, if needed, the relevant code of practice before considering a small claim.