Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Angry
The semantics of the billing cycle are irrelevant. The legal stand point is, as you pointed out, the terms and conditions the customer agreed to when they joined. Those terms and conditions are governed by consumer contract law which states that penalty fees, specifically late payment penalty fees, are unenforcable.
There is a very distinct difference between exercising ones right as a consumer who is party to contract law and trying to trying to change the terms of a contract to suit oneself.
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However the company does have the legal right to charge a fee to cover its costs in enforcing the payment of the bill, and these costs must be reasonable. You'll notice the credit card companies have started using £12 as a ballpark figure after the recent rulings, therefore it's a fair bet that £10 would be equally deemed reasonable to cover the increased costs involved in chasing a debt.
Having said that, as has already been pointed out, if the charges DO turn out to be illegal, there is only one alternative...doing what the credit card companies do and printing a "payment must be RECEIVED by" date on the bill, which would be 14 days after the bill date (it did used to appear on them at one time). If payment is not RECEIVED and CLEARED by that time - the services go off, no warnings, no negotiation, and will NOT be reinstated until the money is received.
THAT would be 100% legal and if these companies' hand is forced, that is what we'll get.
At the end of the day, people should pay the damned bill and stop trying to take the mickey. If they can't afford to pay, then cancel the services. Late payments simply put up MY bill, which I object to! Why should I subsidise loafers and shirkers?