Refusing to pay out of principle

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

disclaimer it's highly likely I'll pay anyway, just want thoughts

I live on an estate that is managed by an external company as the council haven't adopted the roads yet.

Back in January dh and I recieved a letter informing us of a refund for £12odd for the months July 2019 to January 2020 as works in the estate and the reserves pot wasn't equal to payments. The money was returned to our account.

Yesterday I recieved a statement letter saying we owe £5.47 for July 2019 to January 2020 as we had underpaid. But we've only underpaid because of an accounting error (I assume as this hasn't been noted on the statement)

Part of me wants to call them on Monday and tell them I won't be paying as its their own fault for miscalculating the refund

The other part of me is thinking its not even £6 just pay it.

What would you do in my position? DH said just pay it when I told him.

Pay it for goodness sake! Someone made a mistake, be decent and just pay it.

You have already paid the bill once.

They returned some of the money (in error?) so I‘d ask them for more information before deciding what to do.

If you’d bought goods in a shop and they undercharged you, they have to live with the error. I don’t see how this is any different?

I would just pay it. Obviously the refund in January was a mistake. Now the tax year has ended, the current calculations will be more likely to be correct.

And it’s not like buying goods in a shop. It’s more like HMRC making a mistake on your taxes. I had one year in U.K. because I have French income where I had two letters from HMRC saying I’d overpaid and was due a considerable (over £3k) refund. I was immediately this is too good to be true, threw away the first letter, but when second one came asking for my bank details to deposit the money, I called and questioned it and asked them to take another look at my return. They then recalculated and said I actually owed them an additional over £2k, which I questioned again because it appeared they had made another mistake and deleted my foreign tax relief credit. They bumped it up to a better auditor and the third time they calculated that I owed £18. Which I accepted and paid.

I'd just pay it

I would pay it without quibble but I would be very annoyed to receive a statement demanding any sum of money because I’d underpaid when, in fact, the mistake was theirs. A simple ‘very sorry, we’ve miscalculated and need some of your refund back’ and it wouldn’t have even been an issue for me.

I agree it’s not like paying for goods in a shop. It’s communal work that needs to be done for you and all your neighbours, and collectively you’ve outsourced the job. The person in charge of adding up and dividing has made a mistake, but it’s still your responsibility to pay your share.

Assuming that they have to balance the books and all costs are paid by the residents this year or next I'd just pay it. Else the cost of the postage alone is going to increase the running costs of the estate.

Just pay it. What principle are you using to not want to?

To me the principle of it is that I've already paid the charge once and the letter wasn't a "we miscalculated and refunded too much, there is now a balance of £5.47 to pay" it was literally a statement that says "July 2019 to January 2020 underpaid by £5.47 please make payment by X date"

But like I said at the beginning there's a high chance I'll pay it anyway. I just wanted to know where other people stand on it.

I agree though, the letter should have said "we have found an accounting error and apologise for the inconvenience" .

Yeah the wording would get my goat but I'd happily pay it.

They should give you an itemised breakdown for the full period (including your payments and the refund), they can't just tell you that you've underpaid now. They have to explain why there is a balance still to pay.

I'd pay it.

The wording is irrelevant IMO. You owe the money so you should pay it.

I would call on Tuesday and act dumb saying you are a little confused about the letter as you had already paid and then had a refund. You just want to check that this is in fact correct before you pay again.

Apart from anything else, you do want to check they're not going to do this again and demand more money at a later date. It will also make clear that they've made a mistake.

That's what I would do anyway.

They sound highly incompetent. What happens when they randomly decide to charge you another sum of money? They could do with some basic accounting training

Out of what principle are you refusing to pay?

All the to-ing and fro-ing will cost them more than the amount they're asking.

Probably just pay it.

I suppose if it's a big estate and every property owed that much it would soon add up.

I wish that was the only problem we had with the management company on our estate, they charge thousands for almost nothing at all.

Good grief! Just pay it and stop being difficult. Mistakes happen and you haven't got a legal standing reason for not paying.

Lockdown really is bringing out the worst in people isn't it.

I wish that was the only problem we had with the management company on our estate, they charge thousands for almost nothing at all.

They are pretty useless regarding the flats and maintaining appearance tbh.

Lockdown really is bringing out the worst in people isn't it.

Are you for real? I've already said twice it's highly likely I'll pay. I'm just asking what other people would do!!!

I’m a bit surprised you’re considering not paying.

I mean seriously of all the hills to die on this might be the pettiest...

"Are you for real? I've already said twice it's highly likely I'll pay. I'm just asking what other people would do!!!"

So why keep posting then? facepalm