Lodger underpaying by 31p, would you make a fuss?

neas

I can flip this story and imagine the tenant coming on complaining of an 'a n a l' landlady who doesn't round up/down bills.

I have never, ever paid anything but whol numbers on rent. £495.00, £500.00, £300, £275.

Never ever has anyone been so i dunno 'exact' would be a good word, to charge me pence.

Hell i've never even paid in pounds.. its always in multiples of five pounds. And this includes 3 rentals with bills included.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

It's a good point about round numbers- but perhaps the OP thought it fairest to charge exact amounts. Utility bills are never in round numbers and you can't decide to underpay those by any quantity of your own choosing.

Thinking about it, my current rental contract stipulates that if I underpay my monthly rent by any amount I will be charged interest every day it's outstanding, and the LA will charge me £10 for writing me a letter to inform me of this.

Harmonious sharing needs knowledge and respect of agreed boundaries or it can't work.

1echidna

To my mind, and the answers reflect this, it is difficult to decide whether this matters or not. And one can't be sure whether the OP's lodger is playing a light hearted game or whether there is a more malicious motivation of a calculated attempt to irritate.

roses

Ok to all those who are moaning about the landlord being stingy and moaning about 31p.

Out of those of you who rent, how many will put your hand up and say you have paid a few pence less than the amount in your contract? Then did the same again intentionally after your landlord asked you to correct it?

It is in the extreme minority the people who do not pay the correct amount when specifically requested (twice). And that is the point of this thread.

lostinrates

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

It's a good point about round numbers- but perhaps the OP thought it fairest to charge exact amounts. Utility bills are never in round numbers and you can't decide to underpay those by any quantity of your own choosing.

Thinking about it, my current rental contract stipulates that if I underpay my monthly rent by any amount I will be charged interest every day it's outstanding, and the LA will charge me £10 for writing me a letter to inform me of this.

Harmonious sharing needs knowledge and respect of agreed boundaries or it can't work.

Yopur last line highlights the difference for me in sharing (s you did at uni) and having a lodger. Sharing I would expect to,and have, shared bills equally and fairly.
Lodging, DH pays a round number, when we had a lodger, we charged a round number.

westv

Who would have thought that 31p could go to at least 9 pages?

lostinrates

westv wrote: »

Who would have thought that 31p could go to at least 9 pages?

Aha, but its not 31pence, its a principle

Gwhiz

bandraoi wrote: »

I'd tell them to keep the change.

As for the comparison with a stamp, while I wouldn't expect to be let off the full price of the stamp if I didn't have the penny and it was a shop I frequented I'd expect it to be left off the cost.
As a proportion of the transaction, that's a far more similar amount.

If the OP wants to view it as the lodger taking the !!!!, they're welcome to do so, however personally I usually ignore things like that which might be done for provocation. I prefer to set my own boundaries as to what I will react to then have them set for me by somebody who (maybe?) is setting out to test me.

31p on a months rent is well below my provocation level.

I absolutely understand where you are coming from!

bandraoi

lostinrates wrote: »

Aha, but its not 31pence, its a principle

My principle of not being deliberately provoked into reacting to things far outweighs my principle of making sure I get my exact entitlements when the issue is 31p.

mlz1413

Has the lodger signed an agreement for a set period of time?

If so raise the rent at the end of the period to a round figure that is rounded UP - that way no pence to miss off the payment and the rounding up should pay back more than the missed 31p's.

If the lodger doesn't have a set agreement tell them the rent is going up and round up the current rent to the next zero - ie 103.31 = 110.00

any issues from then on can be judged on merit of complaint / action and you can decide if you want her to continue being your lodger.