Partner paid money on rent that he shouldn't have. Can he get it back?

[starsareshining]

My partner was doing a PGCE course from September til about three months ago. Whilst on the course, he rented student accomodation with two other people. He was asked to leave the course so obviously had to leave the house and move back home since he had no reason to stay and no money to pay the rent with. When this happened, he called his letting agent and asked whether he could end his contract. They 'looked into this for him' and told him that he could not be released from his contract.

A few nights ago, he looked through the contract and found something in it stating that if you are no longer on the course then you are free to leave and no longer have to pay rent. You are released from the contract I suppose. He's really angry at both himself and the letting agent and worried that he won't be able to get his money back. It's about £750. I think that he should be able to get it back since it is the letting agent's job to know these things and they have not done their job properly. They have broken the contract.

He called the letting agent yesterday and the woman said that she'd have to let her boss know and they could look into it. He called again today and was told that the boss hasn't been in and they haven't been able to call the landlord because they've been busy. I think they're trying to fob him off. I'm also worried that they will cause a fuss because he only informally told them that he had left the course and was leaving the house. There was no formal letter. So, will he be able to get his money back?

If the contract has a clause in it which says that he is no longer liable for rent if he leaves the course and vacates the property (and no doubt gives them notice of this - one month maybe?), provided there is no inconsistent clause or 'but', he is not liable for rent thereafter.

If he has mistakenly paid rent because of the wrong advice he was given he should be able to claim it back.

It doesn't matter was was said by the agent when he asked 'am I liable for rent now I've left' because the contract is what was agreed.

He should write to them and request the overpayment back, pointing out the terms of the contract and threatening small claims court if they refuse. Don't forget to factor in the notice payment that he would no doubt have been required to give.

But that's what's worrying me, I don't think he ever did give them any written notice and they didn't request any. He definitely didn't write to them but they knew what was going on. Would this be a problem?