O/T - debt collection agency advice for an admin fee from an estate agent

[mistahclarke]

I live in a lease-hold and we missed our payment (for the next 6 months)

We did get the first letter but never got round to paying it for one reason or another and went on holiday. On our return we saw the chaser letter so promptly swore to ourselves and rung up to pay. It was at this point we found out they charged us a £150 admin fee. I was not prepared to pay that as found it excessive and unreasonable so was advised to email someone in the office to register my complaint.

So we paid the monies owed (bar the fee) and off went the email to request the amount refunded and stated why I believed so:
- The amount seemed too high
- They were charging a fee for late-payment of a fee for a service that I hadn't even had yet
- That we didn't sign any Terms and Conditions that we agreed to their fee's.

They didn't respond and thought nothing of it until I have found some messages from a debt collection agency on my house phone.

To say I am livid is an understatement. I thought my points were valid, and feel they should have responded.

The advice I am looking for is would you just pay up or would you try and fight it? Has anyone had this issue before?

 

[happypig]

I would recommend you talk to the citizens advice bureau and possibly consult a solicitor.

 

[Bognorblue]

It will cost you more in cash and effort to challenge it.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

You shouldnt necessarily need to use a solicitor. Write to the financial ombudsman or whoever regulates estate agencies. I would also write again to the agent asking why they didnt acknowledge your original letter. Send a copy of this letter to the debt collection agency saying that the debt is in dispute and the reasons why and they should leave you be for the time being. I had success with that method when being chased for money that Sky erroneously thought they were owed.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I live in a lease-hold and we missed our payment (for the next 6 months)

We did get the first letter but never got round to paying it for one reason or another and went on holiday. On our return we saw the chaser letter so promptly swore to ourselves and rung up to pay. It was at this point we found out they charged us a £150 admin fee. I was not prepared to pay that as found it excessive and unreasonable so was advised to email someone in the office to register my complaint.

So we paid the monies owed (bar the fee) and off went the email to request the amount refunded and stated why I believed so:
- The amount seemed too high
- They were charging a fee for late-payment of a fee for a service that I hadn't even had yet
- That we didn't sign any Terms and Conditions that we agreed to their fee's.

They didn't respond and thought nothing of it until I have found some messages from a debt collection agency on my house phone.

To say I am livid is an understatement. I thought my points were valid, and feel they should have responded.

The advice I am looking for is would you just pay up or would you try and fight it? Has anyone had this issue before?

Firstly, if you haven't signed anything that states there is a £150 late charge and that you agree with it then it's unenforceable entirely.

Even if you have signed something a fee of £150 for administration sounds excessive. In fact it's a penalty. Under contract law ( and that's what we're talking about here ) a company can not charge a penalty to a private individual ( even if you've signed a contract ). A reasonable charge might be around £20 ( roughly what a bank would charge for writing to you ). So here we have a penalty they can't charge you and what appears, from reading your post, no contract anyway.

They might try saying the charge is for interest. This would be OK if you'd a) signed a credit agreement and b) they held a credit licence ( which a managing agent clearly wouldn't ). So they would be breaking the law to claim it as an interest payment.

You should phone the debt collection agency and tell them the debt is expressly denied and to return the alleged debt to their client. You should then write to the managing agents asking them to justify their £150 admin fee and to prove it isn't it isn't a penalty. Either that or you could state that you believe the fee to be a penalty and excessive and that they should take you to court if they disagree.

In effect the contract, if you have indeed signed anything, is unfair and this is illegal. To summarise, don't pay it and fight it.

 

[StonehamPark]

£150 admin fee.

Can you tell me if it's directly the estate agent asking for this or a separate debt collection agency.

 

[Bognorblue]

The contract is the lease, you signed to say you would pay on the due dates, and did not, therefore the chasing of the sum due is usually chargeable as a admin fee. It may not be reasonable, but to challange at a tribunal the cost is £150 and a solicitor would be more. If you don't pay you could incur further costs and the £150 may well include the debt collectors fee.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The contract is the lease, you signed to say you would pay on the due dates, and did not, therefore the chasing of the sum due is usually chargeable as a admin fee. It may not be reasonable, but to challange at a tribunal the cost is £150 and a solicitor would be more. If you don't pay you could incur further costs and the £150 may well include the debt collectors fee.

Errr - complete and utter bollocks !!!! He denies the debt, and correctly so. The worst that can happen is that the managing agents / estate agents take him to small claims court. There the judge will rule if the amount is both legal and that the contract is fair ( neither are in this case ). IF, and it's a very BIG if, the judge rules for the agents then he will owe them the £150 plus court fees ( around £80 ). I'm really not sure where you get the word tribunal from - this isn't the case of unfair dismissal.

 

[Bognorblue]

Leasehold issues are dealt with at the leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT)

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Leasehold issues are dealt with at the leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT)

Correct but admin fees on debt are a contractual issue not a lease issue.

 

[mistahclarke]

Can you tell me if it's directly the estate agent asking for this or a separate debt collection agency.

it's the estate agent, in the reminder letter they added it, calling it an admin fee.

I have no idea what the collection agency want to charge.

To be fair, now I've cooled a bit I am wondering what I would have signed when we got the mortgage sorted. You can still get round T+C's if they are unfair, and estate agents are covered by the office of fare trading, so should charge reasonable costs.

I've decided to politely send a chaser to enquire as to why my original correspondence was ignored. Any complaint has to be responded to, so I feel I have grounds to stall a bit longer.

Also, and I might be wrong, I was on the understand that you cannot sell debts to outside agencies if the contain nothing but fee's and charges? I don't owe them anything but that which they chose to bill me

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[StonehamPark]

Any complaint has to be responded to, so I feel I have grounds to stall a bit longer.

I reckon this is the way to go. In the nicest way possible, if you're stalling (fairly) and asking for answers/responses and basically become an 'annoying customer'. Chances are they'll prefer to just void the fees just to get you off the phone etc.
Good luck either way, I know how much of a pain in the ass these 'admin fees' are first hand.