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Bought a house almost 4 years ago on a Redrow estate built ca. 2005. Was advised by family there might be a monthly service charge which I hadn't taken into consideration, not having any previous experience of such. I enquired on several occasions during the conveyancing period regarding this, and received written confirmation from my solicitor that there was no management company in existence.
18 months later a management company sent a demand for ongoing monthly service charges plus 18 months of arrears. I asked my solicitor what was going on and it took almost a year of back and forth communication before they finally concluded it was the seller's solicitor's fault for telling them there was no management company, but offered nothing in the way of redress and stopped communicating with me.
So i complained to the Financial Ombudsman and after another long delay they have sent a detailed report concluding that my solicitor was indeed mis-advised by the seller's solicitor; that the seller had paid the service charge up until the date of handover and so will have known unequivocally of the existence of the management company, but as they were only acting upon the information provided are only at fault for providing shoddy customer service after I complained to them upon receiving the service charge demand. They recommended a compensatory sum of £250 be paid to me, to which i begrudgingly agreed to. My old solicitor is now asking me for a copy of my bank statement as proof of ID so they can pay the £250, (which I don't see why I should have to do this, when they know quite clearly who I am, as they already have several forms of ID for when I was a client of there's etc.).
More importantly I have not paid the service charge since moving in almost 4 years ago, and they are stepping up their communication with letters and emails.The monthly service charge has increased by 30% in this time, and I can categorically state I would not have purchased the property had i known about it.
Whilst arguing with my old solicitor as to why i should have to send them a copy of my bank statement to receive compensation from them for their abysmal service and general lack of client empathy etc. I enquired as to whether they thought it was acceptable and what should now be done about it. They said that i should instruct a litigation lawyer to take the matter up as 'breach of contract'.
With absolutely no experience of such matters i am now in the position of trying to decide whether to go down this route, or whether to accept defeat, pay the demand and substantial arrears, accept the impact it will undoubtedly have on resaleability, and allow the seller and their solicitor to have gotten away with basically lying. I am concerned that taking further action as my solicitor suggests may prove very expensive and unsuccessful, as well as dragging the issue out for another couple of years and being chased continually by the management company with the added threat of them taking action against me.
Sorry it's so longwinded, but if anyone can be bothered to read and offer any advice it would be greatly appreciated!
18 months later a management company sent a demand for ongoing monthly service charges plus 18 months of arrears. I asked my solicitor what was going on and it took almost a year of back and forth communication before they finally concluded it was the seller's solicitor's fault for telling them there was no management company, but offered nothing in the way of redress and stopped communicating with me.
So i complained to the Financial Ombudsman and after another long delay they have sent a detailed report concluding that my solicitor was indeed mis-advised by the seller's solicitor; that the seller had paid the service charge up until the date of handover and so will have known unequivocally of the existence of the management company, but as they were only acting upon the information provided are only at fault for providing shoddy customer service after I complained to them upon receiving the service charge demand. They recommended a compensatory sum of £250 be paid to me, to which i begrudgingly agreed to. My old solicitor is now asking me for a copy of my bank statement as proof of ID so they can pay the £250, (which I don't see why I should have to do this, when they know quite clearly who I am, as they already have several forms of ID for when I was a client of there's etc.).
More importantly I have not paid the service charge since moving in almost 4 years ago, and they are stepping up their communication with letters and emails.The monthly service charge has increased by 30% in this time, and I can categorically state I would not have purchased the property had i known about it.
Whilst arguing with my old solicitor as to why i should have to send them a copy of my bank statement to receive compensation from them for their abysmal service and general lack of client empathy etc. I enquired as to whether they thought it was acceptable and what should now be done about it. They said that i should instruct a litigation lawyer to take the matter up as 'breach of contract'.
With absolutely no experience of such matters i am now in the position of trying to decide whether to go down this route, or whether to accept defeat, pay the demand and substantial arrears, accept the impact it will undoubtedly have on resaleability, and allow the seller and their solicitor to have gotten away with basically lying. I am concerned that taking further action as my solicitor suggests may prove very expensive and unsuccessful, as well as dragging the issue out for another couple of years and being chased continually by the management company with the added threat of them taking action against me.
Sorry it's so longwinded, but if anyone can be bothered to read and offer any advice it would be greatly appreciated!
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