Managing agent demanding money already paid

dankes

Hi there

Just wondering if anyone else lives in a property managed by Waterglen/Pier Managemet/Hercules Group/Erinaceous Group/David Glass Associates/Dunlop Haywards?

I've had lots of problems with them over the years, but the latest thing to come up is a demand for money for buildings insurance that I - and all the leaseholders in my building - have already paid.

To cut a long story short we all pay our insurance through the service charges to David Glass Associates (DGA) and have done so for the period Dec 2007 to Dec 2008. They even sent us a notice saying that the insurance premiums had gone up so I've had to pay nearly £750 already this past year.

Now I've received a request for payment for insurance for Dec 2007 to Dec 2008 from Pier Management - who I pay my ground rent to - saying that they haven't been paid the insurance money by the managing agents - who they don't name directly in the letter - and we should pay them this money of £274 as they are acting on behalf of the freeholders, Waterglen. And there are substantial arrears on the property in this respect.

Cos I'm not at my property full time, I've only spoken to one of the other leaseholders who was all for paying the money and getting a refund from DGA - until I explained that DGA, Waterglen and Pier Management are, as far as I could tell, all part of the same group.

The letter seems to be a standard one - ie not addressed to us individually - and I was wondering if anyone else had received it and what they did about it?

At the moment, I can only see that paying them will open myself up to saying I am liable for the 'substantial arrears' so they can keep coming back for money whenever they feel like it. And even if they weren't part of the same group, surely they should be chasing the managing agents for the money and not asking us for it?

Thanks in advance for any info on how to respond to this and if you've had any dealings with these people.
D x

tbs624

Have a look here: http://www.lease-advice.org/

vivatifosi

Hi dankes,

I don't know whether or not it is related to your problem, but Erinaceous went into administration in April this year. I know that parts of the company have been sold on, but I can't help wondering if payments to the insurers were missed (by them) before they went down.

dankes

Thanks for the information. Am going to write to them and tell them I've paid the money to DGA and they should contact them for it. Hopefully that'll be the end of it. Thanks again.
D x