Management Company Service Charges
Recently one of our clients was concerned that he had been left high and dry after flood damage due to the recent thunderstorms.
His situation was that flooding had occurred to the communal entrance of the private block of flats where they lived. The management company claims service charges increased due to an insurance claim for the flooding. However, this was untrue as nothing was ever done to repair the damage. The question arose as to whether any appeal could be made for the charges to be re-assessed.
Our advice was to visit the website of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (www.rpts.gov.uk) and download the Service Charge Application Form (form 27A). A fee of £50 will be applicable to appeal against the charges (unless the amount you are disputing is more than £500, in which case higher charges will apply). A fee of £150 may also be payable if the case goes to a hearing – although the management company may be ordered to pay all your costs if it loses.
In the long run any person should consider getting together with neighbours and exercising your ‘right to manage’ – sacking the managing agent and either hiring a different one or doing the job yourselves.
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