Invoice admin fee!

blitzboy

This is probably in the wrong section but I wasn't sure where to ask so apologies for that.

Is it legal for a company I have a contract with to suddenly start charging an administration fee for every invoice?

No notice was given and there is no mention of it in our contract, which has been ongoing for just under 2 years now. If it was a yearly fee I could just about understand it, but £5 a month 'invoice administration fee' just sounds crazy!

Thanks in advance

GrowingUp

ask them what fee will be applicable if you were to apply (Application) rather than invoice?

and also if they could point out the fee within your contract with them, so that you can keep a track of the changes to your account with them.

blitzboy

Im not sure what you mean by the first bit. They are just a local service company, not a financial services company or anything like that. And I will be switching to another company for future months. Was just wondering if it is legal, given that there is absolutely no mention of it in the contract. Seems odd to me and i'm sure i wont be the only client looking elsewhere

PlutoinCapricorn

This is the first time I have heard about this: it certainly does seem odd.

Perhaps you could ask them for clarification: what exactly are they charging you for?

EricHart

If it isn't in the contract then I am not sure how they can do this.

As has been mentioned, I would want to know what it is for.

Mistral001

This seems strange. Processing invoices is just a business cost that every business has.

It looks like just a change in your conditions that they are imposing on you and it is up to you whether yu accept it or not.

I would not send in your next invoice without getting advice from your accountant. You perhaps need to send a statement along with your next invoice with the admin fee which was deducted from the last payment added to it. If you send your next invoice without acknowledging the fact that the last one was not paid in full, you run a risk of accepting their imposed change of terms and conditions by default.

At the end of the day the firm charging this fee may ask you to accept it or not get any more work from them. Then you have a decision to make. Nothing illegal in them doing this. It is just business.

paddyrg

£5 fee is cr4ppy, but sadly I have seen cr4ppier from some of the big boys - giving themselves upto 105 days terms after you manage to wrestle a purchase order from their stingy hands, then 'discounting' your invoice by 3% for paying 'on time' (ie within 3 months) like they are going out of their way to do you a favour.

You just have to choose whether or not to continue with them, or maybe change to invoicing monthly instead of weekly, or bimonthly instead of monthly, etc. Business to business it all comes down to what you or they can get away with, not like the nice safe touchyfeely world of consumer rights or employment laws.

Savvy_Sue

Is this something you pay every month at the same rate? If so, ask if you could set up a standing order instead, no need for invoices.

Also ask if they would reduce it if they emailed it to you - I've never seen it called an admin fee, but I have seen a 'paper bill' charge, more than once!

It's not PHS, is it?

expressduck

I've never seen this except for one supplier we have that adds a line to their invoice "asking if you would add an extra £3.50 to the invoice to cover their bank charges". I never do, bloody cheek! I always figured that they "ask" because they can't legally just apply it - could be wrong!