FirstPort/Peverel may be VERY seriously harmful to our elderly people.

coachman12

I am trying to find any MSE members who know anything about what most TrustPilot reviews call the worst company they have ever come across.
An elderly (in her eighties ) relative of mine bought a McCarthy and Stone-built  flat in a complex of such flats years ago( for McCarthy & Stone , see 
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/nov/16/flat-retirement-builder-value-mccarthy-stone   ).
The managing agent for the flats is a company called FirstPort, which was called Peverel until a few years ago ( when it became so infamous due to scandal after scandal that it changed its name-----but nothing else------in a desperate attempt to throw off newcomers from finding out about its disgraceful actions and behaviour ). Before that it was called by other company names, for the same reasons ie. scandals and shady dealing. 
Her flat was built in the 1970s and , although the national housing price levels have increased by about 500% since then, flats on her small complex are now selling for less than the purchase price when first built over 40 years ago !!!!!!!
And the reason lies primarily with the managing agents -----FirstPort .
Residents in the site have no say in anything that happens there. FirstPort are supposed to be the servants of the owners in that the residents are using them as their agents to deal with matters that are too much of a nuisance  for residents to do. Residents want to tell an agent what to do, and when, and for how much. With FirstPort it is the other way round. FirstPort make all the decisions and then go ahead with any works they please, especially ones that are not needed. In this way, FirstPort can keep increasing the Service Charge paid by owners as much as they want. And the companies they use to carry out often unnecessary works are often subsidiaries of FirstPort ( as in the case of the company called Appello which was used to replace a perfectly good existing Entry Phone and Emergency Alarm system----------which turned out to be wholly owned by FirstPort !!!!). There are many other such scandals involving Peverel/Firstport-----just google Peverel/Firstport Scandals and follow the links.
And all external and internal surfaces are painted across the whole site every 3 years or 5 years---whether the highly costly jobs are needed or not.
Surely owners of the flats, the residents, should say when such works and indeed all works are done or if they need to be done at all in some
 cases ?
Who pays for all the money Peverel/FirstPort make from all this high-handed behaviour ? My aunt and all the owner residents pay for it all vis their "Service Charge" which rises and rises and rises of course, because it all goes to Firstport !  In flats for over 65s only, many have had to sell up 
( at a loss ) because they cannot afford the ever-increasing Service Charge which is going into FirstPort's greedy little hands.
And to keep residents in order there is a site manager, with a salary and a free flat on site, paid for by residents visa Service Charges . Such Site Managers are supposed to work, as should FirstPort, on behalf of resident owners but, instead the site managers control every aspect of life in the flats on orders from FirstPort and do as little work as they can get away with.com. They get away with it because they rely on residents being too old to do anything to free themselves.
But one group of flats in Rye used their legal "free right to manage" and/or to appoint a different managing agent 
see  https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/15/right-to-manage-service-charges-firstport-peverel-warner-court-fairhold
and also, more recently  , a 94 year old led a successful campaign , along with his elderly fellow-residents, to kick FirstPort off their complex of flats in Rye, Sussex.
Other online info I have found is at  http://www.spanglefish.com/aboutpeverel/   -----------THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST TELLING WEBSITE.
www.leaseholdknowledge.com  and many other sites, including a TV documentary called BBC Rip Off Britain-First Port Property Management, available online.
To bring this woeful saga to an end , I ask MSE posters to tell me how owner residents can rid themselves of FirstPort as cheaply and as easily as possible. And does anyone know any further details , including a recent £25 million loan which FirstPort has just taken out and which will mean higher Service Charges for owners as the money has to be paid back to the lending Banks by 2025 ?  Any info at all about this company or dubious management agents in general would be most appreciated please.

NeilCr

If the residents want full control then you already have the answer. They'll need to go down the Right to Manage route

In the shorter term (or if they don't want to do that) they could complain to the freeholder - they will employ FirstPort. And they can go to the Tribunal to challenge service charges

https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/service-charges-other-issues/

I sympathise - we kicked FP off our estate over eighteen months ago and are still trying to get money and information from them. About to go down the  LBA route

eddddy

coachman12 said:

To bring this woeful saga to an end , I ask MSE posters to tell me how owner residents can rid themselves of FirstPort as cheaply and as easily as possible. And does anyone know any further details , including a recent £25 million loan which FirstPort has just taken out and which will mean higher Service Charges for owners as the money has to be paid back to the lending Banks by 2025 ?  Any info at all about this company or dubious management agents in general would be most appreciated please.

You don't need to show any "bad behaviour" by the company in order to use "Right to Manage". Instead you need to concentrate on getting the support of at least half the leaseholders in your building. See: https://www.lease-advice.org/fact-sheet/right-to-manage/

So searching for other "bad behaviour" by the company may not be the best use of your time and resources. (Unless it's to show to other leaseholders, to persuade them to join in the "Right to Manage")

And similarly, if you want to challenge any service charges, it won't really help to say that the company has overcharged people in other buildings - you need to concentrate specifically on what your relative has been charged.

Here's some more detailed info on "Right to Manage": https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/right-manage/

As a starting point, you can arrange a 15 minute phone appointment with LEASE to find out more - but use the time carefully, to ask about the "Right to Manage" process - rather than making it a session to rant about how bad the management co is: https://clients.lease-advice.org/Appointment/Appointment?isFireSafety=False

HampshireH

"And all external and internal surfaces are painted across the whole site every 3 years or 5 years---whether the highly costly jobs are needed or not.
Surely owners of the flats, the residents, should say when such works and indeed all works are done or if they need to be done at all in some
 cases ?"

This is usually an obligation of the lease. Have you checked?

I don't disagree with your post on cost but prices rise. However you speak on behalf of 1 person or are you the person in the report who inherited a flat and therefore arent a resident? The scheme will have been designed this way and many may have signed up wanting the service provided. 

They aren't really designed to be inherited purely based on the fact They are assisted living accommodation.

Who do you propose replaces them and provides the service/manages the building and its residents?

The scheme manager you claim does nothing and works very little will be ensuring the health and safety of the building (fire management, pull cords, water testing in communal areas to name a few), supporting residents, maintaining the building, managing any services, groups, charities who put on social events etc. Again that role would have been part of the service initially offered on the scheme or introduced due to a need. This is often an incentive for older persons who rely on someone being available when they have no one else.

General costs such as cleaning, lift maintenance etc Don't come for free.

If your elderly relative didnt want nor need these things why did they move there in the 1st place?

I appreciate the costs are high but the services are extensive by design. 

coachman12

Thank you to Hampshire's FirstPort employee. I wonder , in view of what you say, why FirstPort has 3 websites dedicated solely to kicking them out of the housing sector + a facebook account entitled "I Hate FirstPort". Have you read any of the links I provided ??? Have you looked at the TrustPilot verdict about this shocking management company ? I think not. And how do you respond to the giving works to subsidiary companies and the sharp practices that have been identified in press and on TV. Look at the details on the links I posted and then come back and try to sell FirstPort to those posters who have bothered to read them and who have already made scathing comments about Peverel/FirstPort on this thread.
If you "appreciate the costs are high but the services are extensive by design", why can elderly  residents living on pensions halve their service charges by getting rid of Peverel/FirstPort and employing new managing agents. And why do you not refer to the many scandals and downright improper activities about this dreadful company. 
In reply to your questions to me : my relative had no idea about the awful reputation of this worst management company because she only read Peverel/FirstPort's fantasy advertising, such as your posting on this thread. Yes, she is intending to move. I am not inheriting it, now or ever. Why is the value of her flat less now than it was nearly 40 years ago when first built (when market prices have risen by an average of 500% (sic) since then?). Why are residents, even though elderly and vulnerable and without help except for younger relatives with PC literacy, trying to band together to get rid of Peverel/FirstPort using the legal provisions available and replace their existing incompetents with a new and honest management company?
I think anyone who reads my posting in detail and reads the links I provided will wonder why you are trying to defend the worst management company in Britain. I think they will all all know why, don't you? I have taken up too much of my time replying to a FirstPort employee. Go back and do some work.
Now back to the real thread-------can anyone provide any further help for these elderly people who are being exploited or some action that might be taken that I have not yet found out about. The experts on MSE must have much more knowledge about how to deal with these sort of companies than I do. Thanks to those who have already posted earlier on the thread and who have heard of Peverel/FirstPort's notoriety. But all help much welcomed from as many others as possible would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks.

HampshireH

Hilarious. I dont and never have worked for First Port but there you go.

No need to be rude.

You linked to an article based on someone who had inherited a property and couldn't sell it or afford the costs.

coachman12

whatever..............many thanks for your incisive postings   

NeilCr

Eddddy and I have given you the best ways forward

There's no magic wand. Someone, somewhere will have to do some legwork. 

You can ask  all these questions but I am afraid - if the residents want to have the same outcome as those linked in your earlier post - then they are going to have to go down the RTM route. As Eddddy said call lease advice - but don't rant at them in the way you do here

comeandgo

Well you are going to say I'm an employee too. We have First Port as maintenance contractors on our housing estate and we run them and have no problems.  
The residents, if not happy, must take the appropriate action to get rid of them, it can be done.

coachman12

NeilCr said:

Eddddy and I have given you the best ways forward

There's no magic wand. Someone, somewhere will have to do some legwork. 

You can ask  all these questions but I am afraid - if the residents want to have the same outcome as those linked in your earlier post - then they are going to have to go down the RTM route. As Eddddy said call lease advice - but don't rant at them in the way you do here
__________________________________________________________________
That's helpful, though difficult, and I thank you and Eddddy. With an average age of about 
75-80 involved, it is a difficult job-----and Peverel/FirstPort revel in that fact. I was hoping for a flash of something less difficult that I could not see myself. But I appreciate your helpfulness.
As to ranting..............well, what do YOU make of the posting in question    ? No, I would not be ranting as I will be dealing with helpful and sensible people . Thx again.
And, if anyone else has any thoughts about the way to get rid of Peverel/FirstPort or indeed their own ( or relatives') experiences with the company, please post on this thread. Cheers. 

NeilCr

Not bothered about you ranting here. It's just that - as Eddddy says - you'll only have 15 minutes with lease advice so you need to be concise

The residents could try - as I pointed out - complaining to the freeholder. That wouldn't take too much - especially, if they are united