I read your posting about the Independent Auditors Report on the annual accounts for your development.

I got in touch with our Head of Client Accounts who has provided a detailed response from our auditors:

“The auditors report included within the service charge accounts is an ‘Independent Auditors report on Service Charge Statement’. An audit opinion is given to ensure the service charge accounts are a fair summary of the income and expenditure for the period, and is sufficiently supported by the relevant documentation and that the accounts are prepared in accordance with section 21 (5) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

This report is written in accordance with the Auditing Practices Board (APB) Practice Notes and is reproduced in the Institute of Chartered Accountants auditing and reporting standards manual. The report is specifically written for Service Charge accounts only. As the audit report details, the work undertaken did not evaluate the overall adequacy of the presentation of the information which would have been required if the auditors were to express an audit opinion under International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practises Board. An ISA audit is mandatory for Limited companies with turnover above £6.5million or Gross Assets of over £3.26million and generally these thresholds are far in excess of the largest service charge accounts; hence specific procedures and guidance has been written by the APB which is applicable to leasehold residential properties only.

The APB’s guidance indicates the auditors report should be addressed to the Landlord or Managing Agent with whom the auditors engagement letter is held. The engagement letter between the auditors and Peverel OM Limited is clear in that the work is not an audit in accordance with International Auditing Standards (as required by the Companies Act 2006 for companies exceeding the mandatory thresholds) but an audit of the Service Charge Statement (in agreement with APB practice notes) applicable for work under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as required for flat management entities.”

As always I endeavour to respond directly to as many posts and comments as possible.

Thanks

Andy
Solitaire Online Feedback Manager

I read your posting about your Solitaire development. Whether you have posted previously on another website doesn’t matter – what does is that you still have a problem that we want to help resolve.

The comments you make about your personal situation clearly need to be investigated by our senior Property Management team. Once we know the location of your development they will be able to follow up on the information and get back to you with a response.

If you’re comfortable with letting me know the details please feel free to email me directly at andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk.

Thanks

Andy

Solitaire Online Feedback Manager

So, what’s next…???

But at the beginning of this year Peverel OM, decided to charge us £4,900 to upgrade our aerial, when I challenged them they said, we are up grading all of our estates.

I told them we had been up graded three years ago, and why are we still paying £1,200 per annum, did we not get any warranty on the new aerial,

After showing then there error of their ways they decided after a long argument to reimburse us the total amount of £4,900, but we are still arguing over the previous money’s for the so called up graded aerial three years ago, Peverel OM are trying all the tricks to get money out of us.

You must challenge all of their accounts, because they will if they can, be warned

The other thing is digital signal strength. By chance the week Peverel sent me the answer as to why the TV ‘rent’ was going to double (digitalisation etc) they decided to give us loads of signs pointing to the staircase as a fire exit, like we don’t know how to leave the building everyday. The guy who did it used an illicit power drill and tripped the circuit breakers for the block. I live in London and I spoke to the Interphone engineer who had to come to restore service. This was before I knew that it was another name for Peverel. I asked him what happens on digitalisation and he told me that when the analogue signal is switched off at the Crystal Palace transmitter then the power of the digital signal will be multiplied (10x?)

I see that there is a test page on Teletext (page 284, says “all four channels”, so presumably that’s BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and C4…???), which gives an indication if the existing aerial is suitable for digital, or needs upgrading. I’ll be checking on my 2 TV’s when I get home as well. If it turns out my aerial is already “fit for purpose”, I’ll be straight onto my Property Manager…!!!

Whilst I’ve seen plenty of adverts relating to the digital switchover, this is the first I’ve heard about the Teletext test page. Have I missed something, or is this a facility that hasn’t been advertised…???

Couple of interesting statements within the advisory leaflet on the Digital UK website:

“Any roof top aerial in good condition is capable of receiving
analogue and digital TV services. You don’t need to have a ‘digital
aerial’ for switchover. If you have good analogue reception now it
is unlikely you will need to replace your existing aerial.”

And:

“In some areas a new aerial may give better reception however we recommend you wait until after switchover to avoid having unnecessary work done.”

I wonder if anybody has mentioned these little matters to Cirrus Communications / Interphone / Peverel…???

I’m sure the links between Cirrus Communications, Interphone & CBG have previously been discussed (and confirmed) on this website. From what Neil states, his particular estate seem to have been well & truly done – how else do you refer to rent totally thousands of pounds, for an aerial worth £85…??? Perhaps “Andy” can provide some justification for us…???

So, in recent weeks we’ve come to realise the extent of the over-charging in relation to buildings insurance. Is the renting of TV aerials the next big scam…??? And anyway, how many people even rent a TV set these days, never mind renting the aerial…???