Admin charges for an unpaid invoice I didn't receive...?

Transform_IT · 21 Jun 2022 at 19:14

Hi all,

Me and my wife live on a new build estate and have done it for 4.5 years. We pay an annual maintenance fee for the upkeep of the gardens and other areas. - the amount changes each year. We receive the invoice/charge annually (it runs from Jan - Jan; however, it usually doesn't arrive until mid-April). We only received this year's charge last Friday, with a threatening letter saying that if we didn't pay immediately, they would take us to court. Due to the apparent outstanding payment, they have slapped a £60.00 administration charge.

We have always paid these immediately on receipt of the invoice (which is never received in January and usually appears in March/April). I have challenged the admin fee and asked for proof of postage for the previously claimed requests. They have responded, saying it is still payable and must be sent within seven days.

Any thoughts on where I stand?

Thanks,

T_IT.

Transform_IT · 22 Jun 2022 at 12:39

I paid the invoice Monday night - £270.00. Today I received this response:

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately we do not send out any post out via recorded delivery however if you would like me to do this in future we can do so at a cost to yourself.

I understand that you state you have not received any correspondence from us but from our point of view we cannot see why you wouldn’t have received it if we have the correct address for you and numerous letters have been sent and received. As a gesture of good will I am going to reduce the admin fee to £30.00 from £60.00 making the outstanding balance on your account £300.00. As offered previously a payment plan for the outstanding balance would be £50.00 a month for the period July to December 2023. This will allow you to bring the account up to date monthly then moving forward we now have your email address so correspondence can be emailed over to you to ensure you get a copy.

Please let me know if you are happy with my proposal and I will make a note on your account.

Transform_IT · 22 Jun 2022 at 12:47

I am tempted to respond with this - thoughts:

Good afternoon,

I sent the £270.00 payment on Monday, 20/06/2022, following receipt of the letter I received on Friday, 17/06/2022. This should be in your account; please let me know if it hasn't arrived.

As previously stated, I haven't received any previous requests regarding this invoice/payment. During the period you claim these requests have been sent, I have been in touch with your office via phone and email for the past several months while undergoing remortgage, and not once has it been mentioned this payment was outstanding. In answer to your comment stating the following: I understand that you state you have not received any correspondence from us but from our point of view we cannot see why you wouldn't have received it if we have the correct address for you and numerous letters have been sent and received. I don't believe that is a satisfactory response, considering the pressures and stress Royal Mail have been under recently and the staff shortages they are still facing, which has left thousands of parcels and letters undelivered.

You talk about reducing the admin fee from £60.00 to £30.00 as a gesture of goodwill, and I am unsure what you mean by a gesture of goodwill? You are emailing me regarding this, and spending so much time makes me question if a percentage of the annual charge is to cover administration charges. Whilst I don't typically charge for my time, as I am extremely busy with work/life, should you continue to request payment of an admin charge, for every response I send, I, too, will be invoicing for administration charges.

Kind regards,

Transform_IT · 22 Jun 2022 at 15:00

replied:

Good afternoon,

I sent the £270.00 payment on Monday, 20/06/2022, following receipt of the letter I received on Friday, 17/06/2022. This should be in your account; please let me know if it hasn't arrived.

As previously stated, I haven't received any previous requests regarding this invoice/payment. During the period you claim these requests have been sent, I have been in touch with your office via phone and email for the past several months while undergoing remortgage, and not once has it been mentioned this payment was outstanding. In answer to your comment stating the following: I understand that you state you have not received any correspondence from us but from our point of view we cannot see why you wouldn't have received it if we have the correct address for you and numerous letters have been sent and received. I don't believe that is a satisfactory response, considering the pressures and stress Royal Mail have been under recently and the staff shortages they are still facing, which has left thousands of parcels and letters undelivered.

You talk about reducing the admin fee from £60.00 to £30.00 as a gesture of goodwill - I am unsure what you mean by a gesture of goodwill? Are these charges and costs detailed in the management contract - if so, please provide details and proof that you have the authority to make these claims and charges (even if I haven't received previous invoices, which you claim were sent)? As you will be aware, demands for payment of an Administration Fee must be (by law) accompanied by a 'summary of the tenant's rights and obligations. If no such summary is included, I am legally entitled to withhold payment of such administration charge (albeit you have already reduced the admin fee as a gesture of goodwill?). This is stated in Schedule 11 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. You are spending excessive amounts of time emailing me regarding this, and spending so much time makes me question if a percentage of the annual charge is to cover these administration charges. Whilst I don't typically charge for my time, as I am extremely busy with work/life, should you continue to request payment of an admin charge, for every response I send, I, too, will be invoicing for administration charges.

Kind regards,

Transform_IT · 22 Jun 2022 at 15:02

Haggisman said:
All of which is irrelevant if they have no proof they posted it at all - claiming to have done something is not evidence of having done so.

If you really want to troll them, you could claim to have posted a cheque to them for the payment, and point out that if their claim of postage is sufficient "evidence" that they did so, then so is yours

I wouldn't bother with the wordy second and third paragraphs in that response, you don't need to justify anything to them unless they can prove they sent the invoices. I'd go with short and to the point.

"Unless you are able to provide evidence that the invoice was posted to me at the correct address, I now consider the matter closed. Any further communication on this matter will incur a £60 admin fee, and continuing to contact me will indicate acceptance of these terms."

depending on their reply - I will send that response back.

Thanks

Transform_IT · 23 Jun 2022 at 12:00

Their reply:

Good Morning,

I can confirm that we received your payment yesterday for £270.00.

In regards to you being in touch with the office this wouldn’t be something that would be raised by another member of staff. We have different staff who deal with different matters so should there be a problem with the arrears another member of staff wouldn’t advise you of this information.

I have attached a copy of the management agreement for your reference. This is the management agreement between Redwood Point and Homestead CSL which is signed by the directors of the company. Page 17 of the management agreement has the admin fees which would be charged should the collection procedure be carried out. The admin fee applied to your account for late payment of service charge was £60.00 however I am offering to reduce the admin to reduce the outstanding costs for you. This would mean the outstanding balance for you to pay is £30.00 rather than £60.00. I am reducing the balance as you claim you did not receive the invoice or initial arrears letter however these have been sent to the correct address and our admin work has been carried out. The admin fee will remain on the account to be paid, this will not be chased on its own.

I have attached a copy of the admin charges – summary of rights. This document is sent out with every arrears letter in which an admin fee have been incurred. A copy of this document would have been sent with your arrears letter.