Fee (from company not bank) to pay be direct debit

infinity995

My leasehold management company has started charging an annual fee to pay by monthly direct debit instead of paying full quarter invoices. I’ve complained but they are maintaining charges because they have this clause in the invoice 

“CHARGES

Payments outside of your Lease / Transfer will incur a charge to RMG for administering your payments. This fee will be included as part of the agreed payment arrangement with RMG. Any payment arrangements are entered into without prejudice to the Terms and Conditions set in your Lease / Transfer.”

my issue is that they do not say what the fee is until it appears on the invoice. They didn’t tell me when I set up the monthly direct debit back in 2016 and they did not bill this until 2021 (I didn’t notice until recently). Also they did not advise before a recent increase that the fee was going up in price, which I only noticed on my first invoice for 24/25.

does anyone know if they are obligated to say before adding to an invoice what the exact fee would be? Or are they covered by saying a generic statement that there will be a fee?
thanks

DullGreyGuy

Ours dont offer DD but do charge if you pay by SO... how it makes any difference to them if you by SO rather than FasterPayment I've no idea. Personally assume its they want more chance of you forgetting to make a payment so they can add late fees. They were very open about the charges when we first bought the property and discussed the options etc. 

The rules on DDs require them to inform you of any changes in the amount prior to taking the payment but it does sound like they are sending you invoices and maybe the issue has been your checking of the invoices?

eddddy

infinity995 said:

my issue is that they do not say what the fee is until it appears on the invoice. They didn’t tell me when I set up the monthly direct debit back in 2016 and they did not bill this until 2021 (I didn’t notice until recently). Also they did not advise before a recent increase that the fee was going up in price, which I only noticed on my first invoice for 24/25.

If what you say is correct, the management company have broken the rules of the Direct Debit Scheme - so you can ask your bank for your payments to be retuned under the Direct Debit Guarantee.

But that would mean your Service Charges would go into arrears - which is bad news. You could then be charged late fees, solicitors fees, debt collectors fees - followed by legal action to have your lease forfeited (i.e. your flat repossessed).


Having said this, the Management Company should have told you what the fees were in advance. You can ask them why they didn't. (If you think you have a case, you could make a court claim for repayment of some/all of the fees.)