Rent standing order

steeley83

Apologies if this has been asked before but I'm having a slight issue with the standing order that was set up to pay my rent.

I signed documents on 23.07.12 and moved in to the flat on the same day. I paid a months rent and a deposit as standard.

I received a letter today saying that rent for August and September have not been received. After checking my statements I can see the September payment has been made and I'm waiting for them to verify this at their end... The payment has the correct reference number but they are still claiming they've not received it. I have this on a statement though so there's no issue there.

The issue is that the August payment didn't go because of an error on their part. The person who originally set the standing order up put down a start date for payment of 23.09.12 and the bank have set it up accordingly.

If this is a simple case of wrong date, let's move on by paying the missing month then that's fine because I have no issue with that. If I owe it then I will pay it. I was just wondering who liability lies with because it's not an error on my behalf or on the banks behalf at all - it's purely down to incompetence at the letting agent.

Thanks in advance.

Fire_Fox

You are contractually obligated for paying your rent according to your AST, you are responsible for setting up standing orders and checking your own banking. Their error should simply give you a little leeway to make a late payment which clearly it has. Have you still not paid August's rent? If not you should do this as a matter of urgency, if you are eight weeks in arrears you can be served notice to quit.

Do you have faster payments on your standing orders? If not and your rent is due by the 23rd of the month you need to change the standing order date to a few days earlier so it clears in time.

G_M

Agree. It is your responsibility to pay rent. Either by cash, Standing Order, cheque, internet bank transfer whatever - your choice. But you must ensure it happens.

And Standing Orders are set up by the person paying. Sp again it was your responsibility to complete the SO form correctly and give it to your bank.

Only a Direct Debit is set up by the receiving party.

steeley83

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You are contractually obligated for paying your rent according to your AST, you are responsible for setting up standing orders and checking your own banking. Their error should simply give you a little leeway to make a late payment which clearly it has. Have you still not paid August's rent? If not you should do this as a matter of urgency, if you are eight weeks in arrears you can be served notice to quit.

Do you have faster payments on your standing orders? If not and your rent is due by the 23rd of the month you need to change the standing order date to a few days earlier so it clears in time.

Thanks for your response.

I wasn't given any documentation regarding the standing order. This was all done by the letting agent on the day I signed and sent to the bank to add on to my account. They simply asked me for my bank account details and that was it.

I signed the document on the day and was told the first payment would be taken on 23rd September - which is what has happened. It's a very poor oversight on their behalf seeing as the first payment should have been 23rd August. As it stands there is just the one payment which is overdue and that is the August one. If the member of staff at the letting agent would have done the forms properly, the payment would have gone in August as well as the one for this month so it's a pretty poor error on their behalf.

I will wait until I hear back from the letting agent tomorrow to see what they say next. Hopefully they will be understanding of the problem being their error and let me pay the outstanding months rent in two payments because with paying September's rent 4 days ago, it will be a bit tight having to pay two months rent in the space of a week. It's not the end of the world if not, but it would be helpful!

G_M

steeley83 wrote: »

Thanks for your response.

I wasn't given any documentation regarding the standing order. This was all done by the letting agent on the day I signed and sent to the bank to add on to my account. They simply asked me for my bank account details and that was it.

I signed the document on the day and was told the first payment would be taken on 23rd September - which is what has happened. It's a very poor oversight on their behalf seeing as the first payment should have been 23rd August. As it stands there is just the one payment which is overdue and that is the August one. If the member of staff at the letting agent would have done the forms properly, the payment would have gone in August as well as the one for this month so it's a pretty poor error on their behalf.

I will wait until I hear back from the letting agent tomorrow to see what they say next. Hopefully they will be understanding of the problem being their error and let me pay the outstanding months rent in two payments because with paying September's rent 4 days ago, it will be a bit tight having to pay two months rent in the space of a week. It's not the end of the world if not, but it would be helpful!

Except that:

It is your responsibility to pay rent. Either by cash, Standing Order, cheque, internet bank transfer whatever - your choice. But you must ensure it happens.

And Standing Orders are set up by the person paying. So again it was your responsibility to complete the SO form correctly and give it to your bank.

Granted the agent may have assisted you with this, but that does not alter the fact that it is
a) your responsibility to ensure correct rent payment
b) your bank account being debited and
c) your signature on the SO form - and you should never sign documents without checking them

FBaby

Didn't you notice it on your account? Surely you would have been much better off at the end of the month than you anticipated?

jimjames

I'm confused. Your rent for August didnt go out so is still in your bank but you now say you don't have the money to pay it? Surely if the money is in your bank and you were expecting to pay it in August you can pay it immediately?

Mistakes do happen but if the money was due and you expected to pay it then the money should still be available to pay the landlord now.

Fire_Fox

steeley83 wrote: »

Thanks for your response.

I wasn't given any documentation regarding the standing order. This was all done by the letting agent on the day I signed and sent to the bank to add on to my account. They simply asked me for my bank account details and that was it.

I signed the document on the day and was told the first payment would be taken on 23rd September - which is what has happened. It's a very poor oversight on their behalf seeing as the first payment should have been 23rd August. As it stands there is just the one payment which is overdue and that is the August one. If the member of staff at the letting agent would have done the forms properly, the payment would have gone in August as well as the one for this month so it's a pretty poor error on their behalf.

I will wait until I hear back from the letting agent tomorrow to see what they say next. Hopefully they will be understanding of the problem being their error and let me pay the outstanding months rent in two payments because with paying September's rent 4 days ago, it will be a bit tight having to pay two months rent in the space of a week. It's not the end of the world if not, but it would be helpful!

You should never sign things you have not read or have not been completed, every adult knows that. The person who is paying always sets up the standing order even if someone else is kind enough to mail it for you.

You also should have read and signed your AST, which would have specified what was paid on what day of the month so you would have known when the first rent payment was due. This is a legally binding contract, the standing order is nothing more than an easy method of payment.

Don't see the point of the thread if everyone is going to tell you this is your mistake as much/ more than the agents and you are going to continue to shrug off any responsibility.

jimjames

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Don't see the point of the thread if everyone is going to tell you this is your mistake as much/ more than the agents and you are going to continue to shrug off any responsibility.

It might be the agent's mistake but if the money hasn't been taken for the SO then it should be still there to pay the LL. The LL still has the mortgage to pay!

rpc

The agent made a mistake.

You still owe the rent.

Simples.

steeley83

I received an email this morning:

Dear Sir
Further to perusal of your file we have located the letter to your Bank dated 23rd July 2012. This has the following: Commencement date as the 23rd August 2012, we also note that the attached standing order has the following date: 23rd September
2012. I can only apologise on behalf of the team concerned for this unfortunate human error. The accounts Department have today located your 23rd September payment.
We look forward to receiving all future payments on this account smoothly.
Regards

After a phone call to the person dealing with this matter it turns out I will not be asked to pay the outstanding due to the nature of their error.

I thank you for all of your input on this but I think it shows how one should never rely on an internet forum for a definitive answer as they can quite well be incorrect - as is shown here.