Received Penalty from Management company

happyorange

I live in a freehold house in a new development area where I share bin rooms with some blocks of flats. A few days ago, I received an invoice from the Property Management Company(who collect service charges), asking me to pay £150 for Tenant Re-charge, which I have no idea what it was for, as there is no explanation and I have standing order for my service charge quarterly. 
So I called the management company and asked for the clarification for the charge, they told me it was a penalty charge for not putting the bins properly, as I didn't flatpack the empty boxes belonged to me and they took picture of them with my address on it. The cost is for hiring people to do the job, and I'm not the only household to get fined for it. I apologised for the problem, but thought at least they should have given me a notice/warning letter before sending the invoice. I understand this is something should not have happened but I didn't know boxes can not be leaved without flatpacked and the bins were absolutely full, lots of empty boxes was left stacking on to each other. £150 is a lot, does anyone know what my right is in this circumstances. I don't feel comfortable to pay whatever they are asking with no approve their cost for hiring people doing the extra job. Please kindly advise. 

Gentoo365

Seems a lot of money, I would at least ask for the invoice for the work done and how many residents the charge was divided between.

HampshireH

They can charge yes. I expect you will find your terms state to leave communal areas clear and free from rubbish etc.

However, I expect their charge needs to be reasonable. You could dispute it and request to see the costs but I'm not sure they have to provide it.

You are paying for the person who inspected it, the admin and towards the cost of disposal.

If two of you got the letter and it cost £300 then 50/50 would seem fair for example

AdrianC

It's not unreasonable for the management company to penalise those who are so inconsiderate as to leave their rubbish piled up in the vague direction of the bins, no. In fact, I applaud them for doing so.

They will certainly have incurred trade waste costs for doing what you could have done for free by taking your rubbish to the tip yourself.

If this wasn't a private development, you can bet the local authority would be doing so, too.

But, ultimately, the terms of the covenant or rentcharge or whatever binds you to them for management of the shared areas of the estate will determine exactly what is a legitimate charge.

jeaniemsm

It is a lot to charge but it is sooo annoying when people leave boxes unflattened in the bins, it just means the bin ends up over flowing and should in reality fit so much more if people were just that bit more considerate and just took 30s to disassemble a box.

I think you just need to take it as a leason learnt i guess.

HampshireH

Also many council recycling guidance state to flatten cardboard when disposing of it so it's unlikely to be any different for private managed bin stores

Wanderingpomm

Ask them for an invoice. £150 is a considerable amount and should be split between al who left boxes there. 

eddddy

Just to be clear - nobody can charge you a 'penalty' or 'fine' (apart from  courts, government depts, official organisations, etc)

So they are either charging you:

• A contractual fee - which would probably be explained in a management agreement (deed) you signed
• Damages (i.e. their costs) because you have breached a contract (e.g. the management agreement you signed)
• Damages (i.e. their costs) because you were negligent (which seems unlikely)

If you want, you can ask them what the legal basis is for the charge.

For example, if they say it's clauses in the management agreement, you can read those clauses to see if it allows them to charge you £150 in these circumstances.

If it's for breach of contract, ask them which clause you have breached, and ask them to show you how that resulted in losses of £150 to them.

princeofpounds

Eddddy is right - make them justify this.

happyorange

Thank you guys, for all your advise. I will email the management company and ask them to justify the cost. In the meantime, I will get my own recycle bin in the back garden to avoid the situation again. Appreciate all your comments. Have a nice day!

juliedee4663

Why on earth are you leaving your name and address on anything that you are throwing away?