Is this unreasonable conduct by a company?

[mikejgk]

I am embarrassed to raise this as it involves such a small amount but I suffer from MH issues and threats tend to have an exaggerated effect on me! In brief:

 

1. I am a lessee with a share of freehold in our block of flats. I applied for some company records for which the statutory payment was £5. I authorized our managing agent to pay this and any postage to the company secretary from a surplus on my service charge account. I got no answer.

 

2. I was subsequently advised by the company secretary the total inc. postage was £6.17 and asked for a cheque payable to himself personally. To avoid any confusion I therefore electronically sent that additional amount to my service charge account and authorized the agent again to transfer the amount to the company's client account. No response.

 

3. I advised the company secretary that it would not be appropriate to pay him personally as the fee was payable to the company, the Companies Act set out that this was the case and any out of pocket expenses he should get from the company, not me.

 

4. After obtaining some very unpleasant emails, I re-stated my position the money was due to the company but offered to pay the company by cheque or electronic payment if he provided the payee and (for electronic payment) sort code/account number details. He continued to demand payment.

 

5. By this time the matter was getting to me psychologically. I therefore wrote to the chairman of the company (with whom I have recently had arguments about whether the company was properly run - so he is not exactly on my side) asking whether payment could be made personally to the company secretary. He said yes.

 

6. I issued a cheque to the company secretary personally.

 

7. He has just written back returning the cheque and now demanding payment to the company threatening legal action if I do not pay promptly. I have offered to pay if the payee or other details are provided as requested on 9/9/14. There has been no response.

 

8. I believe the company and company secretary have behaved totally unreasonably. Payment is still available from the service charge account for which it would be easy to arrange transfer. I have bent over backwards to arrange payment. I believe the threat of court action is intended to cause harassment actuated by personal malice because I raised difficult issues with the company and also brought a motion to replace the company secretary.

 

9. Do I have a defence if a court claim is issued? Can I get it dismissed on grounds of payment made or other unreasonable conduct?

 

Any advice would be welcome as I feel the company officers (who should be acting in the interests of all the owners of the block) are abusing their position and the resources of the company. Unfortunately a lot of the owners are non-resident, so it is difficult to hold them to account.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Conniff

[steampowered]

I think we need to know what his letter says. In particular, what are the reasons why the cheque was rejected? What other form of payment is being requested? What reasons are given for threatening a court claim?

[Conniff]

Do you have copies of all correspondence ?

[mikejgk]

Yes. The point is that he had been demanding payment to him personally for weeks. When payment was given, he returned the cheque and asked me to pay the company - which I had offered to do for weeks. In fact the money is still on the company's agent's account - all they have to do is transfer it.

[steampowered]

I don't understand how it can be that the cheque was already returned, yet the money has already been paid to the company's agent? How did this happen and who is the company's agent?