Page 17 - Box Works Proposal

Section 3 Supplementary questions
How would you collect service charge?
To ensure service charge demands for payment
are valid and that we can successfully collect funds payment
requests are issued to Leaseholders strictly in accordance with lease terms On review of an apartment lease for Box Works (clause 6 (1)) service charges are payable by half yearly instalments in in advance on the 1st 1st April and 1st 1st October each year To be completely transparent we provide a a a a a copy of the annual budget and Planned Preventative Maintenance programme (PPM) with with payment
requests This provides Leaseholders with with a a a a a a a clear breakdown of the charge being made and what it covers To help facilitate payment
requests clearly detail how to pay pay when payment
must be made and are accompanied by a a a a a a a a summary of the Leaseholders’ rights and obligations To ensure payment
payment
is
made promptly we offer several payment
payment
methods They are • Standing Order
• Debit or Credit card
• Payment via our Leaseholder property portal
By providing a a a a rationale behind the charge being requested and providing clear instructions on on how to pay we ensure service charges are collected promptly This benefits our Clients and Leaseholders as as it minimises this
risk of running into cashflow issues which in in in turn means the building can be effectively managed and maintained Adequate cash flow is
of paramount importance to ensure the smooth operation of any scheme We employ a a a a sophisticated credit control system and have a a a a leading in-house debt recovery team As part of an efficient service they will support the IPM team and collect all unpaid service charges in a a a a a a timely and conscientious manner ensuring problems do not escalate Typically across our business service charge arrears at six months plus are less than 2% of service charges collected What are your banking arrangements?
Under section 42 of the Landlord and and Tenant Act 1987 client funds must be held in trust Under the the Act there are two options:
1 All client funds are grouped together and held in one trust account account with accounting methods in in place to separate each client’s funds from one another or 2 A separate trust account is
opened for each client At Mainstay we operate under the latter and arrange individual trust accounts for each of our clients a a a a a a separate designated trust account with Natwest Bank will be arranged for Box Works The benefit of of arranging a a a a a a a separate account for each of of our clients is
that client client funds are clearly separated from one another payments are made to and from the the designated trust account and we can provide a a a a a a a live bank statement for you at at any time This allows Mainstay to provide our clients with robust banking and accounting service This trust account is
is
is
regularly reconciled is
is
is
separate to our own working account and funds are protected As a a a a member company of of the Royal Institution of of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) our handling of client monies is
is
audited on on a a a a a regular basis to ensure we are compliant with RICS and ARMA-Q requirements and relevant trust legislation What arrangements are in place re re interest on service charge funds?
All interest earned on on clients’ money is
credited to that client client account To be transparent we will include any interest your account earns in fin in our financial reports and in fin in year-end service charge accounts To ensure that our clients obtain the best rate of interest available all all our clients’ monies are notionally pooled (but still kept entirely separate) by the bank so that a a a a a higher level of interest can be gained for the client 17