Debt Recovery Procedure
You should be aware that you share a financial responsibility with your fellow homeowners to the extent that failure to meet your common charges invoices will reduce the float held for the property which in turn could compromise the proper maintenance, repair and servicing of the property and potentially put buildings insurance, if involved, at risk.
When considering debt, we are committed to treating all customers fairly, with forbearance and due consideration, providing them with time to comply with payment requests. You should be aware that free and impartial debt advice, support, and information on debt solutions is available from not-for-profit debt advice bodies. Citizens Advice are one such group, details of which can be found here: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/. In addition, organisations and information on formal debt relief and management products, such as bankruptcy, protected trust deeds, and the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) are available on the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s website: www.aib.gov.uk.
To help protect you and your fellow homeowners against the depletion of the float and the negative consequences which can follow from this, we have in place a strict debt recovery procedure which operates as follows:-
Following issue, each common charge invoice is due for immediate payment.
Reminder Statement
Approximately 28 days from the date of issue, if any invoice remains outstanding a reminder, warning of possible court action unless payment is received within a further 7 days, is issued.
Default Notice
If the debt remains unpaid, we, or our appointed legal agent, will issue a Default Notice to you seeking recovery of all outstanding common charges.
Debtors still have the opportunity at this point to make settlement and avoid court action and are urged to do so. Under certain conditions we may be able to agree settlement by reasonable instalments.
At this stage of the process, an administration fee, details of which can be found on our Schedule of Fees (available on your My H&P portal or on request), is charged to you for the additional administration involved in the recovery of your debt.
Final Notice
If no response or payment is forthcoming, a Final Notice, intimating notice of court proceedings is issued by us, or our legal agents with a further administration fee, details of which can be found on our Schedule of Fees (available on your My H&P portal or on request), is charged to you for the additional administration involved in the recovery of your debt.
The case is then referred to court, through our legal agents, and a decree for payment, including all expenses, sought against you, the defaulter. Depending on individual circumstances, further diligence may follow with associated legal costs.
NOPL
With any debt, consideration will also be given to the recording of a Notice of Potential Liability for Costs against the title of the defaulter’s property. This provides a degree of security that the debt will be met in the event of a sale of the property and is a process we often implement in the interest of the homeowners collectively where the proper maintenance, repair, servicing and/or insurance of the common property is being compromised by an individual homeowner’s debt.
There is a financial consideration involved in this legal process and an overall administration fee, details of which can be found on our Schedule of Fees (available on your My H&P portal or on request), is charged to you for the additional administration involved in the recovery of your debt, where it is considered necessary to take this step.
Legal Costs
You are liable for all fees and charges (“legal expenses”) relating to the recovery of outstanding debt. All legal expenses which are incurred as a result of any legal action are payable by the homeowner and are not settled by Hacking & Paterson Management Services Limited.
Recovery of legal expenses is not limited to any judicial award of expenses allowed by the Court and will include all pre-action legal expenses and legal expenses falling outwith any judicial award, where applicable. In the event of failure to recover such legal expenses, then such sums will fall to be paid by the homeowners of all of the other relevant properties within the development.
Impact of debt on our services
In extreme cases, where a debt, either singular or collective, has the potential to impact, or is impacting, on our service delivery we will notify all homeowners accordingly.
Disputed Sums
Where a dispute relates to a specific element of a common charges invoice, the charges relating to the items not in dispute must be paid.
If you are in dispute with any element of the common charges invoice, it is imperative, in view of the above procedures, that you intimate specific details of the dispute to us. We will endeavour to resolve any such dispute as soon as practicable after notification.
