Letting Agent for business premises - charges for reminder letters.

[Kabatwa]

Hi, can anyone advise on this please. I rent a business premises through a letting estate agent, we are slightly in arrears with our rent - one letter was sent out by agent with a charge of £30 + vat, ( saying our rent was in arrears, they sent the letter out the same day I paid the rent.) Now we have a second letter, £30 + VAT, this time relating to a figure of rent increase that had been overlooked by us both. I guess the real question is, are they allowed to charge these extortionate amounts for sending out a letter - ( their office is 200yds up the road from my shop). If the banks are acting illegally are too the agents that collect on behalf of landlords?
Can anyone advise please. K

[Aequitas]

It depends on what is in your lease/tenancy agreement.

I suggest asking them what authority they have for making the charge.

[Kabatwa]

Hi, thanks for reply, I have re read the lease and there is nothing that mentions agents rights or authority to charge for late payments.

[Aequitas]

In that case, tell them you are not paying.

[Esio Trot]

For a large organisation £30 will be too much, as their systems are almost always computer based and mostly operate automatically. For any small business the chasing of arrears and delinquent accounts is time-consuming.

For us, as an example, if we receive payment by cheque and it bounces, it takes a good hour to reverse the entry on our account ledgers and to raise a letter to the sender (plus we get charged by the bank).

I'm sorry to say that £30 plus VAT is probably a fair reflection of the costs to their business of dealing with these issues.

[Aequitas]

Irrespective of whether the charge is a fair reflection of the cost or not, it cannot be charged to the tenant if the lease does not permit it. I think it has to be accepted that a routine part of managing property includes chasing arrears. Many leases provide for a charge to be made and often allow a few days grace.

[Kabatwa]

Thank you both for replies, I have decided to write them a letter stating I am not prepared to pay these penalties and the reasons why - as discussed not authorised within the lease agreement, and, the estate agent is considered a ' large' business' - there is no way the admin work being charged can be anywhere near £30 + vat. Thanks again, K.