Posted by otto on January 22, 2008, 7:30 pm

Dear Ms Higgins, I have been advised by the BWFL to ask you questions regarding the service charges. Can you tell me why the budget for directors insurance is £1800 when the cost is £700? I know that you can get this insurance for £475 which is considerably less than £700. Why is your cost so much and when was the last time you sought competitive quotes? I note there is a budget amount of £15,000 for surveyor’s fees. Can you tell me why since there is survey cost of £20,000 in 2007? You have budgeted £1500 for H&S the same as previous year. Is this an H&S audit and if so why do you need it every year? You have a PLA and radio license. Why do you need this? I understand that the £200 increase is due to the addition of the radio license from “sundries” last year but why have one at all? You have expenses for gardening and decoration but you have a full time gardener and handyman. How do you account for these costs? The audit and accountancy fees seem quite high. This is £3000 for the estate and in addition there is a charge for each block as well, £500 for slipway in 2007. When was the last time you sought alternative competitive quotes? The staffing costs are high and I would like to know how they occupy their time, what’s the time and motion data? What would be the comparative costs of using a security firm? There is a budget for CCTV camera of £6000 this and last year. We recently spent £52,000 on a new system and you also have expenditure on cameras from the reserve of £15,000 (2006) £1700 (2007) Why this expense? If these cameras are breaking all the time it is not acceptable. You have a budget of £1000 for induction of the gym. Not everyone uses the gym so how does this work? I as a landlord do not think it reasonable that I should pay my tenants induction fee. I have not received the budget statement for slipway house, only the estate. When will I get a copy? Yours truly, Otto Melbye

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