help please with claim!!!

[alligator]

I am posting this on behalf of a friend. He purchased the flat he now lives in 22 months ago. 2 days ago, he received a claim form from banbury county court for service charge arrears. The arrears amount to 2000 but the are asking for 3000 to include legal charges.

He insists he had not received any correspondence of service charge fees to pay until 11th sept 2009 asking for 1064 and that he had not yet paid it because he intended to rite to them asking them to outline the charges as he had not received any previous correspondence. however, as he had been in and out of the country on business had not gotten around to it.

he has spoken to the people living in the flats around him who have received invoices and who have been paying.

I wondered if he should write directly to the claimant offering to pay the arrears but not the legal costs and clearly apologise for the confusion.

any suggestions?

thanks!!

[Amethyst]

Re: help please with claim!!!

the people in the flats around him that have been receiving invoices, have they only received the 11th Sept one or had they been receiving them prior to that ?

is the service charge one which should have been being paid monthly from the date he took over the flat ?

Is the 11th Sept invoice ALL he has received on this since purchasing the flat ?

[alligator]

Re: help please with claim!!!

apparently the people in the flats around him received 2 invoices a year and have been receiving them over the last 2 years.

it does not appear to be a monthly invoice as far as he can tell.

yes, the 11th sept invoice is the only one that he has received although the company say they have sent others. he has checked through all his paperwork and does not remember receiving them.

thanks!!