Service charge debts

Wenpat

Hi
Yes due on the first of October.   I’ve been trawling through the lease and it’s RMG and they are the managing agents .

eddddy

So the payment is less than 4 weeks late. In that case..

• You should ask them for a break down of the £180 fee and the £220 fee.

• They are not allowed to charge you 'fines' or 'penalties' - they are only allowed to charge you for any extra costs they've incurred. e.g. If they had to send you a 'reminder letter' they might be able to charge you around £40+vat for that letter.

• Did they send any 'reminder letters' before instructing debt collectors?

• I would argue that it's not 'reasonable' to instruct debt collectors less than 4 weeks after a payment is due, and definitely not without first sending you reminder letters

Based on everything you've said, I think you've got a fairly strong case for fighting the £400 fee at a tribunal. But maybe you're not keen on a fight.




But you might find that threatening tribunal makes them back down - if they think you are really serious.

Because if you win at tribunal and show that their £180 and £220 fees are unreasonable - it might cause a flood of claims from other people who've paid them £180 and £220 fees in the past.

And it will stop them charging £180 and £220 in the future.

So they might prefer to 'quietly' reduce your charges to keep you away from a tribunal.

Wenpat

I’ve read quite a bit on line about this management company and they seem really unscrupulous. What do you think if I pay it (as mentioned before  and say paying under duress , it’s with the debt collectors now ) and then I challange after, safe in the knowledge they are not going to add extra charges?

Again thanks so much for you time helping me with this situation .

eddddy

Wenpat said:

I’ve read quite a bit on line about this management company and they seem really unscrupulous. What do you think if I pay it (as mentioned before  and say paying under duress , it’s with the debt collectors now ) and then I challange after, safe in the knowledge they are not going to add extra charges?

Again thanks so much for you time helping me with this situation .

That seems reasonable.

But you could try making one offer first, before paying - saying something like:

The £180 and £220 fees are not reasonable [for the reasons I explained above]. However, without prejudice and without accepting liability, I am prepared to offer a total late fee of £50 as a final settlement, if you agree to withdraw the £180 and £220 fees.

If you don't accept the £50, I plan to challenge the full £180 and £220 fees at tribunal.


The words 'without prejudice' are important - you could also write 'without prejudice' at the top of the email. (That means if they don't accept your offer, you can then ask for the full £400 back at tribunal.)


But if you don't hear back quite quickly - it's probably best to pay the full amount, and then challenge it.

Wenpat

Thankyou I think that’s best as I still haven't heard from them .