Estate Agent Fees (forgotten Invoice)

wilsysir

I have recently moved house on the 30th June everything seemed to go through fine however I have just had a call from the estate agent / solicitors to say that they had forgotten to invoice me for the purchase of my house and that I will need to make the payment now.

What was meant to happen was that the money from my sale was used to fund the deposit, and moving costs and anything left was to be transferred to me to clear existing debts.
When I received my final invoice I did think I was receiving a little more than expected so asked them if everything was settled and they said yes.

The problem now being that I have used that money to purchase items for the house and no longer have the £1000 that they are requesting.
So basically I am asking
A. Do I have to pay?
B. Would I be allowed to pay in installments?
C. Help! what to I do?

Thanks

hazyjo

If they owed it to you, would you be allowing them to pay in instalments or would you be demanding it straight away?


They may agree you can pay that way, but they're certainly under no obligation to. Up to you to check the bill.


£1k is very cheap for EAs. Was it a fixed fee? Or are you saying they charged you less rather than nothing for EAs?

DumbMuscle

wilsysir wrote: »

I have recently moved house on the 30th June everything seemed to go through fine however I have just had a call from the estate agent / solicitors Which one? to say that they had forgotten to invoice me for the purchase of my house and that I will need to make the payment now.

What was meant to happen was that the money from my sale was used to fund the deposit, and moving costs and anything left was to be transferred to me to clear existing debts.
When I received my final invoice I did think I was receiving a little more than expected so asked them if everything was settled and they said yes.Do you have this in writing?

The problem now being that I have used that money to purchase items for the house and no longer have the £1000 that they are requesting.
So basically I am asking
A. Do I have to pay?Yes
B. Would I be allowed to pay in installments?Ask them
C. Help! what to I do?Talk to them, explain the situation, point out their previous statement that the account was settled

Thanks

Answers in line above

Browntoa

yes , its is a bill you should have paid wither way


although as they made a mistake you may get installments

Guest101

You have to pay, but the only way to force you to pay is via the courts.


I'd offer to settle monthly

sheff6107

If you can only pay by instalments don't give them to opportunity to say no (which they will). Just send them a cheque for £333.33 with a letter saying you'll send another 2. They'll have no choice but to accept and cash them. What else are they going to do?

ReadingTim

sheff6107 wrote: »

They'll have no choice but to accept and cash them. What else are they going to do?

Oh, let me think...Cash the cheque then sue for the rest?!?:rotfl:

G_M

wilsysir wrote: »

When I received my final invoice I did think I was receiving a little more than expected so asked them if everything was settled and they said yes.
Surely when you checked the final completion statement from your solicitor you noticed it did not cover the EA fee?
You presuably had worked out your finances, and budget - where did you think the extra £1000 had come from? How did you think the EA was being paid?

So basically I am asking
A. Do I have to pay? Yes, of course. The EA has 7 years in which to demand payment and/or sue.

B. Would I be allowed to pay in installments? I don't work for the EA, or even know which agency you used, so I cannot answer for them

C. Help! what to I do?

Thanks

Find the money you owe just like any other debt.

aneary

Explain how you did query the amount at the point of invoice.

Go on to say that you did have some unexpected costs and as you had queried the original invoice you had thought you got your original sums wrong. Then say you are happy to pay however due to the unexpected costs you no longer have the money and would like to pay by installments.

Yes they could take you to court but if you can only pay by installments then they won't get the money any quicker, as long as you are reasonable and don't want to pay £1 a week they will probably agree.

Guest101

aneary wrote: »

Explain how you did query the amount at the point of invoice.

Go on to say that you did have some unexpected costs and as you had queried the original invoice you had thought you got your original sums wrong. Then say you are happy to pay however due to the unexpected costs you no longer have the money and would like to pay by installments.

Yes they could take you to court but if you can only pay by installments then they won't get the money any quicker, as long as you are reasonable and don't want to pay £1 a week they will probably agree.

True but the OP could get a CCJ.

aneary

Guest101 wrote: »

True but the OP could get a CCJ.

But if he is reasonable and offers a sensible installment plan and sticks to it the company is unlikely to go for a CCJ. It's extra paperwork to get the same result. Unless of cause they are a massive corporation.