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Who is the PM company ?.
The PM company is RMG (Residential Management Group) Been with them for years and they manage a LOT of properties London way...
I think I will email and ask for a breakdown.
You might have to pay up and accept it. £30 as a one off charge to process your proof of insurance is nothing if you get a decent amount of work off them, and they are a client you want to work for. It's like bank charges, you don't seem to get anything back but you have to pay it. Most property companies are in serious trouble, with the housing market being in deeep recession for years now, and they are using their lettings and management divisions to support the loss-making sales side.
I've not had this specifically, but have had to fill out long forms for some agents. Hamptons were one who were particularly awkward with paperwork and I ended up stopping working for them. It's like them making you wait for payment; if you don't like it they have plenty more contractors to choose from.
If they are an otherwise good client then treat it like buying them a couple of bottles of wine at Christmas. Keep the customer happy and life is good, bite your lip and don't get in to adding the charge on to a job in order to "get back" at them.
I would just swallow this charge and pay the fee. £30 is a small amount to pay considering the amount of work you either have or potentially have with them.
Yes its not particularly nice to pay for something when you don't even know where the money is gone. But if you don't pay it, they will just find a contractor that is willing to pay it and will remove you from site. Especially a company the size of RMG.
These large management companys do it a lot and is a good way for them to make a bit of bunce on top of the fees they already charge.
With a couple of companies we deal with we have to pay a yearly fee to be on their approved contractor list. Do I like doing it? No. But the fees are small enough to swallow.
Definitely pay it, in my opinion.
Bit of a sharp practice, I guess...Also noted they charge their clients a fee to pay their charges by plastic. A bit of having the cake and eating it ?
If they are important to you or you see more work coming down the line, I would swallow it after querying it.
If they belong to one of the large management 'trade associations' I am sure their rules prohibit the practice under a code of conduct, but I don't see any 'Association' badges on their website.....
Sometimes we have to deal with companies that don't trade fairly, but if you are in business to make money and ensure long term profitability you do sometimes have to put your principles to one side and just get the head down and work onwards.
You can potentially look to save some cost somewhere on the contract. That £30 might only equate to an hour that you can save and fill with another job at some point during the year.
depends if you still want the work i assume there is a contract in place? you want to reword your contract to them to include this. Insurance companies have it for missed payments and resending documents so im sure you could do the same. Proberly just out to increase there costs/ profit
Well I've asked the question, but I think your right, I'll just suck it up and pay. It just seemed a little out of the blue....
I hate little squeezes like that. The amount of £30 is enough to annoy you, but not enough that you will refuse to pay it. Wise words from Dan I think
Dan Frazer Gardening said: