JSA & Leasehold Service Charge

ian_h

I live in a Leasehold Flat ans am currently getting Mortgage Interest Relief paid directly to the lender.

As my flat is Leasehold and I have a monthly service charge, I receive this as a weekly topup to my JSA and pay it over to the management company.

All running smoothly until the Management Company decide there is a shortfall and land me with a £750 bill to be paid immediately - as JSA pays I assume they will pay the £750?

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks in advance

tcr_3

What's the bill in respect of ? What period does the bill cover ?

happy35

it depends on what the payment covers as they do pay towards some things and not others.

You will need to provide a breakdown of what this payment covers as it is likely that only a small amount will be covered

ian_h

Thanks guys it covers communal areas upkeep, DWP already pay the monthly amount its just that the management company have messed up their calculations and been undercharging so have landed us with a bill, will get a detailed breakdown and write to dwp to see what if anything can be done

tcr_3

Mm. Tricky one.

Because, generally speaking, they'll only increase their contribution towards your service charges from the week in which they're notified (i.e. this week ... in which case there's no backpayment for you).

But given the special circumstances you mention (the management company messing up) you'll have to ask DWP to backdate the increase & provide documentary proof that the company have admitted the error. It wasn't your fault, after all. But neither was it DWP's fault either. Quite how far the DWP will be prepared to backdate an increase on a change of circumstances I honestly don't know. One month comes to mind although I'm not entirely certain. Perhaps someone else here might know. You might need to call your Benefit Delivery Centre, run them by what's happened & discuss how far they'll be prepared to backdate, although I suspect they'll just give you a "send in the documents and we'll take a look at them" type holding resposne.

Depending on how much the weekly shortfall was, you might need to prepare yourself to be considerably out of pocket with this.

viktory

In my experience (as a leaseholder services officer) the DWP are unlikely to pay that sum. Surely your management company will accept a repayment plan - over a year for example?