Received legal letter wth high fees for an unpaid invoice we never received

SonnyH

Hi,

We had a strongly-worded (read threatening) letter last week from our freeholder's solicitor (via our solicitor) telling us we were in breach of our lease as we had not paid buildings insurance. The insurance amounts to approx £230, but the bill is for nearly three time the amount.

But, we never received the invoice and hence had no idea we had an outstanding payment. I specifically emailed them last year to give our contact details (postal and email address), and got a response that they would update their records (note we haven't moved, but I had to chase them to bill us for ground rent last year).

I emailed them immediately on receipt of the notice last week to say we would of course pay the invoice on receiving it, and that the other charges (legal and admin) should be rescinded. They wrote back that my email would be passed to the relevant dept. Since then I have heard nothing.

I am conscious that their solicitor may try and charge more and more as they state they have given ten days to pay or further charges will be accrued. My position is I will not pay anything until I have received an invoice (their solicitor has sent a breakdown of costs, but not the original invoice), and then only pay what is owed for the insurance.

My question is should I also be writing to their solicitor, or is writing directly to the freeholder enough?


Thanks!

scriv

From personal experience of rogues like this, the individual gets nowhere without legal back up. Can you seek legal advice?

It still amazes me that they still manage to get away with this unscrupulous practice!

AdrianC

How long have you lived there? Have you paid the buildings insurance every previous year?

How long is the bill overdue by, and what is the breakdown of costs on top?

always_sunny

surely they must be able to provide proof they send it when/where.
Though unless it's your first year owning the property, you must have paid insurance before so know how it works?

SonnyH

Bought last year, paid insurance in December 2016 after I chased them for a bill. Checked my records - it expired end of March. So I guess is now 6-7 weeks overdue. I still haven't received an invoice from them, despite now emailing daily.

xylophone

We had a strongly-worded (read threatening) letter last week from our freeholder's solicitor (via our solicitor)

Equally strongly worded letter from your solicitor to their solicitor?

ThePants999

Pay the £230 before the 10 days is up. Continue to dispute the rest.