Problems paying your service charges?

If you don't pay your service charge, we may make a claim in the county court for the debt. This could lead to a county court judgment (CCJ) against you.  

Once this happens we can no longer arrange a payment plan with you. You will need to seek independent legal and/or debt advice.

If you receive a CCJ claim

To avoid a CCJ you should pay the full amount of the claim by the date stated.

Make a payment

When you pay

If you have paid the CCJ within 30 days, your CCJ can be marked as cancelled. This will remove the CCJ on your credit file. 

If you pay the debt after 30 days, you can have the CCJ marked as satisfied. This updates the credit file to show that the CCJ has been paid but will remain on your credit file for up to 6 years. 

If you would like a certificate of cancellation or satisfaction you will need:

• a letter from the council which you must include with the application
• to pay a fee of £19 to the court

Request a letter from the council

If you don’t pay 

Do not ignore the claim form. If you take no action: 

• the court will issue a judgment against you without any further notice
• you will need to pay a judgment fee and additional interest
• the court will enter your name on the register of judgments

How we might recover the debt

If you have a mortgage

If you're a leaseholder with a mortgage, we will tell your mortgage lender about the outstanding debt, as they have a financial interest in the property. The lender may choose to pay the debt on your behalf and add it to your mortgage. 

If the CCJ remains unpaid by either you or your lender, we may take further legal action, which could lead to the loss of your home and additional legal costs. 

Order for Sale

We may apply to the court for an order to sell your property. If the court grants this order, your property will be sold at auction. The proceeds from the sale will first cover any charges against the property and legal costs. Any remaining funds will be refunded to you. 

Forfeiture

If we are granted a CCJ or a decision from a tribunal that you are in breach of your lease, we may apply for your lease to be forfeited. This means that you will be evicted and lose all rights to your home. The property will be returned to us, but you will still be responsible for any mortgage debt. You will also have to pay the legal costs.  

Charging order

We can apply to the court for a charging order to be placed against your property. This means the debt will be secured against your home, and you won’t be able to sell or transfer the property until the CCJ and any legal costs are fully paid. 

More information about charging orders.

Once the debt has been secured against your property, we remove the debt from your service charge account and open a new account for your charging order debt. We will write to inform you once the account has been opened.  

You can: 

• request a balance or statement
• request a refund if you've paid off your debt but have paid too much
• make an online enquiry about your charging order debt account
• contact us about an invoice under litigation proceedings
• make a payment online for up to £10,000

Once you've paid we will write to confirm:

• your account has been closed
• the charging order has been removed from your property