Owning your own home

I'd probably have to

It's either a reasonable amount or none at all.

They sound like they have it in for you.

Yes, it was adequately ridiculous.

• Oven - it's an oven, what can I say... but it does have a "You don't need a blind bake" setting
  
• Steam oven - tried not to smirk, "You can wilt your spinach at precisely the temperature you desire"... I pour boiling water from the kettle over mine but daren't pop her bubble
  
• Are you interested in drawers? (I ignored this)
  
• Induction hob - OK, this I'm interested in and colour me seriously impressed. 1L of cold water to boiling in less than 30 seconds, full control, total silence as it did this, hob is cold to touch. Also impressed by the "place a pan anywhere and it will just heat that area evenly"
  
• Hood - "It's linked to the hob and will automatically turn on to the appropriate speed for the area in which you're cooking"
  
• Dishwasher - It's a dishwasher, unsure why £1k is needed
  
• Washing machine - Seems fairly neat, but unsure why £1k is needed
  
• Fridge freezer - Ice cubes on demand is nice, different levels of freshness for cheese drawer and salad drawer is nice, mechanism to break the door seal is nice... but £2k?
  
• Are you interested in wine conditioners? (me wondering how it differs from a wine fridge)... sure, tell me about them... "this one can take 36 bottles and offers different climates for every rack of bottles"... OK.
  
  

Actually I am so impressed with the hob that I probably will get this, the hood hmm, maybe, it matches and works with the hob. So on that basic I can imagine a domino effect decision taking place and the whole kitchen ending up Miele.

It was worth it for how insanely good the hob is.

cheese drawer

Tell me more about this. What is the capacity

Not enough :D

About the width of a smart phone is the depth... and then it's the size of a standard fridge shelf. Basically it's a lot of space for cheese.

For some reason I’m thinking it’s not enforceable. The only way for them to recover is via small claims/court judgement.

So you could argue that £265 is an abuse of process in the matter

If I don't pay them the £265 (plus VAT) then the next step is the county court, according to their letter.

This was a thing of beauty. Thankyou for brightening my afternoon.

Ha sounds great, err I have a steam oven. Spinach tastes good. Dishwasher cleans dirty dishes, though annoyingly quiet as I never know if it’s on or not. When we ordered ours as we had ordered 7 appliances Miele gave us a free upgrade on the dishwasher, would I have paid £1500 for it, no but do I like it...yes

The bora induction hob has the same function, where extraction will automatically match the temp of the hob.

I regret nothing.

Have they given you a basis for their claim for the charge?

"Issue of letter before action and associated costs £250 +VAT"

I think the principle you want to be looking at is estoppel.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/estoppel.asp
"Equitable estoppel prevents someone from taking a legal position that is contrary or inconsistent with their previous stance if doing so harms the other party."

@Dammit After 10 years, changing the rules and leaving you £265 poorer. That seems to fit with inconsistent and doing harm

They're charging you for the LBA?

Respond, charging them £500

[Edit]

Have you googled the solicitors? Sounds like a shakedown outfit.

Call their bluff and say fine. If it goes to court then recover your costs for attending etc

Deal with the MA directly and ask for their proofs. You could always request a SAR to find out all details they hold on you and request the records of last 5/10years of payments you’ve made.

They're also (line below the lBA) charging £12 for "Office copy fee".

I've had enough of being in court tbh. I might pay someone to represent me if this goes to court.

^^ Ditto.

Deny that you owe them a penny (unless, of course, your lease says you do), and tell them to fuck off.

I know a successful firm on the Mersey...

Who is charging who? The solicitor is charging you directly?

Or has it been added to the service charge demand?

Might be so but a judge will only look at the hard evidence in front of them so if you have your paperwork in order it’s for the MA to demonstrate they changed the payment structure and clearly inform you of this. Ideally if the change was done they should have communicated this in writing and what not

Outstanding service charge (they say, but then provide a financial statement showing that it's not) is £711, they're demanding £1,026, so service charge plus their fees, and yes this is direct from the solicitor. If I pay into the normal bank account run by the managing agent then I will be charged £95 for that money to be sent to the solicitor, apparently. So I have had to cancel the standing order that would have paid the service charge as scheduled on the 25th of this month to avoid the £95 fee.

Might be so but a judge will only look at the hard evidence in front of them so if you have your paperwork in order it’s for the MA to demonstrate they changed the payment structure and clearly inform you of this. Ideally if the change was done they should have communicated this in writing and what not

If the judge finds for me, would I be liable for Brady's costs?

I would be quite tempted to pretend they (the solicitor) didn't exist and continue to pay only the (reasonable) demands from the freeholder / MA through the usual mechanism - it's them you have a contract with. Shakedown solicitors tend to be noisy but have no teeth when they realise you won't be cowed.

This has worked for me, but for more trivial matters. I'd hit up someone like https://www.lease-advice.org or CAB to see if they can offer any insight.

What the Freeholder / MA do with your money after they receive it is up to them, but they have to account for it to the leaseholders, who I'd imagine wouldn't be stoked to know that they spend their money on attacking them.

Our service charge is invoiced twice per year, for e.g. in December 2019 for the first half of 2020, and then in July 2020 for the second half of 2020.

For the December 2019 invoice, what was the deadline for payment? Was it clearly spelled out that they required the money by date rather than instalment?

Absolute pricks though. Fucking flats!

No they’ll be out of pocket. It’s going to cost them another £75 to take it to court so ask them on this occasion without prejudice to reconsider their position and formally make the changes in writing going forward.

Like Howard says ignore them and deal with the solicitor and pay what your invoice says and act upon that. If the MA decided to backhand their solicitor mates that’s up to them. Your ‘debt’ is £711. CAB from what I’ve heard are useless in matters like this.

So I have had to cancel the standing order that would have paid the service charge as scheduled on the 25th of this month

Reinstate it, as this.is what they have accepted for the past 10 years