Our FAQ document will provide you with brief and clear answers to questions our customers usually ask us. Should you be interested in finding out more about living in a leasehold flat and more then please review the documents below. You can find these on your portal. You can log in to your portal via this link; https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/

Documents:

• What is a lease?
• Your guide to leasehold
• Who is who in block of leasehold flats?
• Who has responsibility for what?
• Common misconceptions about leasehold
• The money
• What costs do I have to pay each year?
• Reserve and sinking funds
• Living in a leasehold flats

Links

• https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/living-leasehold-flats-guide/
• https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property

GENERAL

Q. What is Leasehold?

A:

Almost all ‘owned’ flats in England and Wales are leasehold, as are many houses. Leasehold is based on a legal agreement with the landlord (sometimes known as the ‘freeholder’) called a ‘lease’. As a long leaseholder you have bought the exclusive right to live in your property for a fixed number of years (“the Term”, this is usually 999 years). The ownership of the property returns to the landlord when the lease comes to an end unless you extend it.

You don’t own the bricks and mortar or the land on which it is built; you have bought the right to live in the property for a long time. The lease tells you what you can and can’t do, what your landlord must do, the services that must be provided and the amount you must pay for them. The wording of leases can vary from property to property and you will always need to refer to the specific wording of your own lease which details what you have agreed.

The ownership of the bricks, mortar or the land as well common parts of a building containing flats is usually retained by the landlord. The landlord retains the obligation to maintain these areas but also has the right to recover the costs from you, incurred as service charges. Communal living includes collective responsibility for shared costs.

Q. What are Service Charge and Service Charge Budget?

A:

The ownership of the bricks, mortar or the land as well common parts of a building containing flats is usually retained by the landlord. The landlord retains the obligation to maintain these areas but also has the right to recover the costs from you, incurred as service charges. Service charges are monies collected to maintain the structure of the building and common parts and cover the cost of any services provided. These include; repairs, cleaning, lift servicing, gardening, on-site staff, utilities, buildings insurance, managing agent’s fees, in fact any service that is provided under the lease. Service charges cover the actual cost and provide no profit. The lease will dictate what service charges cover, when they are requested and how they are accounted for.

Most leases state that a budget should be produced at the start of the service charge year. This is an estimate of what is likely to be spent during the course of the year and is prepared by the Managing Agent, Residents’ Management Company or landlord; depending on the lease. The amounts you pay will be a proportion of the total budget – total cost forecasted to run your building in the next financial year. The lease will set out what percentage you are responsible for and the frequency of payments.

At the end of the service charge year, accounts should be produced to show how the money has been spent and whether it was higher or lower than originally estimated in the service charge budget. The lease will say how any underspend/overspend is to be dealt with.

Q. What is the Ground Rent?

When you purchase a leasehold flat, you purchase the right to live there for a given number of years (“the term”). Ground Rent is charged by the freeholder (landowner) as rent for the land on which the block is built. The amount of Ground Rent payable, will be set out in the lease. It may be annually, half yearly or quarterly and will be demanded by the Freeholder using a prescribed form of words.

 The ground rent may be a nominal amount sometimes referred to as ‘peppercorn’ or it may be something reasonably substantial. The lease will also set out how the Ground Rent is to be increased over the period of the term. These increases are called rent reviews.

Q: What is a balancing charge?

A:

If the service charge accounts at the end of financial year end report that we spent more money throughout the year than originally forecasted in service charge budget – we refer to an overspend. This results in additional invoices to all leaseholders/flat owners who need to contribute towards this overspend. Your lease will say what your contribution towards the service charge expenditure is (your contribution usually depends on the size of their property however some leases say that flat owners need to evenly contribute). We will send you the cover letter together with the overspend invoice which will explain in more detail how this balancing charge occurred and what the breakdown of this charge is.

If the actual money spent (reported in service charge account) throughout the year is lower than we originally estimated in service charge budget and we collected more money via service charges than we spent, we refer to an underspend. The lease will say how the underspend should be dealt with. Usually, by crediting the leaseholder’s service charge account. A ‘balancing charge’ is usually calculated after the year end accounts have been finalised. The period for which the charge relates to should be listed on the invoice received. It usually relates to the previous financial period.

Q: What is a levy and why am I being charged for it?

A:

Levy is an interim request for money to cover the unexpected expenditure in relation to the management or safety of the building that has not been originally budgeted for and cannot be funded by the reserve fund (e.g. the lease does not allow for this type of the expenditure to be funded by reserve fund or the reserve fund is simply not sufficient to cover the cost). The levy request is usually accompanied by the Section 20 consultation, which means that we will consult all leaseholders on the planned expenditure as well as the process of choosing the contractor.

Q: Can I pay the levy via a payment plan?

A: We only offer monthly payment plans for the service charge invoices (and providing all other payments are up to date). Every other invoice will have the terms to pay listed on it.

Q: What is your end to end finance process?

A: The finance functions at urbanbubble are supported by an extensive in house finance team working alongside the property management team. We manage all service charge payments and funds via our property management system Qube, which allows us to track all incoming service charge payments, debtors, and also payments to contractors. Qube has an extensive suite of reports that allows our team to see real time data relating to the finances of the site, and it also allows us to quickly produce any finance reports our customers wish to see.

To produce accurate budgets, we use the 3^rd quarter (financial year as per the lease) finance report along with the expenditure vs heading report as well as contractor costs and insurance renewal cost reports. 1^st draft of the budgets is completed by the general manager, and reviewed by the Head of Residential at least 2 months before the financial year end which gives enough time to collaborate on the final version with the client. Once the final version is approved by client, the general manager prepares the cover letter for leaseholders explaining the new budget overall as well as details any major expenditure increases. Once completed,  our finance team start processing the billing so that our leaseholders receive their service charge invoice for next financial year at least 1 month in advance as per the ARMA guidelines and to meet urbanbubble’s KPIs

The reserve fund is included as an item in our service charge budgets and this is further split out into individual expenditure areas. When planning the reserve fund contributions we are guided by the lease and if it is allowed, we always propose for the reserve fund to be implemented from day 1 of the development. The reserve fund calculation is based on the anticipated lifespan of the specific item, the frequency of the renewal or replacement (as per the requirements of the lease) and the approximate cost of such a replacement. This will provide us with an annual contribution needed for funding the replacement or the renewal. The review of the reserve fund calculation is linked with the service charge budget preparation process on an annual basis and we use our reserve fund contribution forecast for this purpose. An example of the calculation is, if the usual lift’s lifespan is estimated to be 20 years, and  the approximate cost of replacement is £156,000, the yearly reserve fund contribution should be £7,800.

For all invoices that we receive for services procured, we have a robust process in place for their approval before payment, and operate a monthly supplier payment run. The invoices are checked by our finance team and loaded onto our system Qube, these are then checked, coded and approved by the Community or General Manager. Any incorrect invoices are sent back to the contractor to change or dispute. We operate a 30 day invoice payment system. For utility invoices, especially electricity, we check that the invoices are always based on actual readings, and that they have the correct 5% VAT applied to them. We use a broker to make sure that our utility contracts are always the most competitive and always in contract.

All the documents and invoices needed to produce the service charge accounts are sent to our 3^rd party accountants Azets so that they can produce the 1^st draft of accounts. Once received, this is reviewed in detail by our finance team and general managers. They resolve any discrepancies or issues in cooperation with Azets. The general manager then prepares the commentary which explains all areas of note, so that leaseholders can easily understand the accounts. (We listened to the concerns of many our clients and leaseholders who found the standard end of year accounts very difficult to understand which made them feel like they didn’t have transparency of how their finances are being managed. Due to this we have always produced a leaseholder friendly accounts commentary so that any leaseholder can understand the end of year finances.) The version with commentary is passed back to Azets who produce the final version of service charge accounts. Part of our service charge accounts is the Statement of movements on reserves which shows the reserve fund balance and any contributions made for the past financial year. This process is completed within 3 months of the financial year end.

Q: What is a change of sharer?

A: A change of sharer e.g. removing or/and adding tenant(s) to an already existing tenancy agreement. If you wish to submit a change of sharer then please contact your Front of House team who will be happy to provide you with a Change of Sharer form. You will need to complete this and return it back to us. Please note that there is a fee of £50.00 payable to tenants for submission of a Change of Sharer form.

TENANT PORTAL

Q: What is the tenant portal and how do I use it?

A: The tenant portal is part of our website, designed to give our customers access to services and information you may find useful.

You can register on our tenant portal using following link https://urbanbubble.co.uk/form/

 Once registered, you can access your tenant portal at https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/. You will need to select ‘Leaseholder Login’ before entering your login details.

The following documents can be accessed via your portal:

• Annual Budgets
• AGM minutes
• Insurance Documents/Policies
• Financial Documents – such as invoices, statements etc.
• Service Charge Accounts
• Fire Risk Assessments
• Management Agreements
• Building Specific Information (if applicable)

SERVICE CHARGE PAYMENTS

Q: Where can I find my service charge balance?

A: You can find all information in relation to Service Charge on our online portal. Please follow this link to log in to your portal,

Q: How do I make a payment for service charge?

A: You can make a payment via our online Portal, by Standing Order or BACS Transfer. The bank details and unique customer reference number you will need to make a payment can be found on the front page of your invoice. All invoices can be accessed via the online portal here, https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/.

Once you have logged in, select the documents tab and then your name. You must use the customer reference as your payment reference so we know which account to allocate the receipt to.

We do not issue Standing order mandates (we are all for reducing paperwork!) so if you are setting up a standing order you must ensure you set up equal payments to clear the balance.

Q: Can I spread the cost of my service charge and pay monthly?

A:

We offer the monthly payment service as a goodwill gesture to help our customers manage their finances but we can only offer this if your service charge account is up to date with no outstanding arrears. As long as your account is up to date and you set up equal instalments to reach the property bank account by the 10th of each month, urbanbubble is happy to offer monthly payment terms. If your statement shows you have a previously outstanding balance, a one off payment must first be made to bring the account back up to date before a monthly payment plan can be setup.

You then must send an email to the property team using the email address on the invoice to confirm what date a monthly standing order has been set up for. Only then can we note this on your account to ensure you do not receive reminder letters chasing the full invoice payment.

Q: Has my payment been received?

A: All payments received will show on your statement which can be found on the tenant portal at https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/.  Please allow a minimum of 2 days for us to process these payments. If you believe there is a payment missing or an issue with your statement, please contact your property team via email providing evidence or details of the payment so we can investigate this further.

Q: Can I change the date of my direct debit payment?

A: Yes, a request will need to be sent to our credit control team creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk

Q: When trying to make BACS transfer, the account name and number couldn’t be matched, what should I do?

A: The bank we use is not registered with all other banks for the approval software which is why you are experiencing this issue. You should be able to proceed with the payment anyway, this should be only a warning message to ensure that your bank is not taking any responsibility for the transaction. If you click “Ignore” on any similar option, you should be able to proceed. If not – please contact your bank.

Q: Why have I received a payment reminder despite already making the payment?

A: It can take up to 5 working days for the payment to show on our bank account, however you can log in to your tenant portal and select the ‘Balance due’ tab to show the accurate balance due and the breakdown of all payments. https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/

Q. I have not received my invoice/email/letter.

A: It is very important that your contact details are correct and up to date at all times. You can check your details by logging in to your tenant portal at

Q: We sold our apartment but we are still receiving service charge invoices, what do we do?

A: If you have sold your property but are still receiving service charge invoices, our legal team will be awaiting information from your solicitor. To be able to update our system to show that the property has been sold, the lease requires that the Management Company is served with the completion documents. Could you please get in touch with your solicitors and chase the completion documentation?

SERVICE CHARGE BUDGET, RESERVE & SINKING FUND

Q: Why has the service charge budget increased so much compared to previous year?

A: The detailed explanation can be found in cover letter accompanying you service charge invoice. The detailed breakdown of the expenditure including notes can be found in Service Charge Budget document uploaded in ‘documents’ tab on tenant portal.

Q: What is ‘sinking fund’/’reserve fund’? /What percentage of Service charge is reserve fund? /What are reserve contributions?

A: Many leases allow the collection of reserve fund or sinking fund as part of the service charge. This is money collected regularly towards major works which will be due over the years, for example, external redecoration or lift replacement. It is collected over several years so that there is not a huge spike in the amount needed in the year when the works are carried out. The lease will say whether we can set up a reserve / sinking fund and what the money can be spent on. It is best practice to have a five or ten year major works plan (for larger developments this may cover a much longer period) against which contributions are collected. You can request the copy of this plan from your property team.

INSURANCE

Q: What does the insurance cover?

A:

The building insurance covers the repairs for the fabric of the building if it is damaged by the insured risks, e.g. fire, storm, flood or subsidence. There is a different insurance excess for the different types of damage, e.g. a building with a history of leaks will have a higher excess amount. The insurance for the building must cover all risks as requested in the lease. You can find the insurance certificate or/and the building policy schedule on your urbanbubble portal – https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/.

The above building insurance does not replace the need for the contents insurance for individual apartments (e.g. damage to carpets, sofas and kitchen cupboards would not be covered under the building insurance if the leak originated in your apartment).

Q: What is the Insurance excess?

A:

Insurance excess is a pre agreed amount of money that the insurance provider charges in the event of a claim.  There is a different insurance excess for the different types of damage, e.g. a building with a history of leaks will have a higher excess amount (If there was a leak and the cost of damage to your apartment was £1500.00 and the insurance excess for the leak was £500.00, you would be able to recover only £1000.00 if the damage originated within your apartment.)

It is sometimes the case that the excess amount exceeds the damage costs, in which case it would not be beneficial to claim against the insurance. On other occasions it may be that the damage costs are only slightly higher than the excess amount in which case it would not be desirable to claim through the building insurance because this will increase the insurance premium and the excess in the future.

Q: Why is insurance billed separately?

A: The insurance is sometimes billed separately from the service charge because if it is requested within the lease.

Q: Could I please have a copy of the insurance quotation? How do we know you have provided us with the insurance cover that offers the best value for money?

A: When arranging the insurance cover, we deal with insurance brokers who always provide us with two/three like for like quotes from different insurance providers. The lease will say what risks the building needs to be insured against. If you wish to see a copy of the insurance quotation then please contact your Community Manager directly who will be able to obtain this for you.

DEBT COLLECTION

Q: What is your debt collection process?

A: Please find below our Debt Collection process broken down into four stages:

Stage 1 – We will send a first reminder if we have not received the payment within 14 days of the date on your invoice.

Stage 2 – We will issue a final reminder via letter if we don’t hear from you within 7 days from the date on your first reminder.

Stage 3 – We will send the final notice If we don’t receive a response within 7 days from the date on your final reminder. When issuing the final notice, a £90 fee is charged against your leaseholder service charge account. The final notice is issued via 1^st class delivery and the proof is saved via Docmail file.

Stage 4 (Legal stage) – If we don’t hear from you within 7 days from the date on your final notice, we will send the debt to our solicitors to chase. At the same time, a £60 fee is added against the leaseholder service charge account. After this stage the account is handled by the solicitors until the arrears are collected. Urbanbubble team members cannot discuss any financial issues related to your account during this stage.

You can see a copy of these reminders by logging in to your online portal at https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/

Q: Why have I been sent to debt collection?

A: Once your account is sent to solicitors to chase, we are not allowed to discuss any service charge or debt enquiries. If you have any queries or wish to dispute the arrears please get in touch directly with the relevant solicitors who will have reached out to you already to let you know they are dealing with your case. If you have not heard from the solicitors then please send an email to our credit control team; creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk  and they will be able to advise which solicitors will be dealing with your case.

Q: Why was I sent to legal debt collection but haven’t received any communications prior to that?

A: Once your account is sent to solicitors to chase, we are not allowed to discuss any service charge or debt enquiries. If you have any queries or wish to dispute the arrears please get in touch directly with the relevant solicitors who will have reached out to you already to let you know they are dealing with your case. If you have not heard from the solicitors then please send an email to our credit control team; creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk  and they will be able to advise which solicitors will be dealing with your case.

Q: I cannot afford to pay/I am behind with my payment plan. What do I do?

A: Please contact our credit control department on email address creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk and they will assess your unique situation to assist you further.

HOW DO I CONTACT URBANBUBBLE?

Q. How and who do I contact at urbanbubble if I still need your help?

A. You can contact the Front of the House via the telephone or email. Please find below the phone numbers and email address’ for all our LOCAL buildings and our finance department:

LOCAL Blackfriars

Email: blackfriars@localmanchester.co.uk

Telephone: 07951328701

LOCAL Burlington

Email: burlington@localmanchester.co.uk

Telephone: 07957312542

LOCAL Transmission House

Email: transmissionhouse@localmanchester.co.uk

Telephone: 07957312510

LOCAL The Press

Email: thepress@localmanchester.co.uk

LOCAL Crescent

Email: crescent@localmanchester.co.uk

Telephone: 07394422321

Finance

Email: creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk

Q: What is the security check and why do you have to pass to enable us to help you?

A: At the beginning of each phone call and sometimes even during our email conversation, we need to check that you are the account holder and that we will not be in breach of releasing the confidential information.

You will need to answer 3 security questions (these may vary depending on the nature of your enquiry and your customer status e.g. full name, email address, first line of the address with postcode, date of last payment and amount, date of last invoice, proof of completion/ownership as to last option) in order to progress with the enquiry. If you fail one question, we will ask you an additional security question.

If you fail the security check, unfortunately, we won’t be able to help you over the phone and we will have to kindly ask you to put your enquiry in writing.

It is very important that your contact details are correct and up to date at all times. You can check your details by logging in to your tenant portal at https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/.

Q: How do I change my contact details?

A:

If you need to change your name (e.g. due to marriage) you will need to contact Sarah from our Legal Department as this change needs to match records on the Land Registry. legal@urbanbuble.co.uk

If it is anything else – for audit and legal purposes, most change requests will need to be put in writing. Alternatively, our customer support team member can amend details on Qube only once successful security check has been completed.

Q: What if I am still not happy with how my enquiry or issue has been dealt with?

A: We are committed to providing a professional service to all our customers. We welcome you to tell us if things go wrong in a respectful way. This will help us to resolve issues as soon as possible and improve our service going forward. If you have a complaint, please put this in writing (letter or email) to us. We will acknowledge receipt and respond in line with the timescales and stages set out in our complaints procedure.

客户常见问题和答案

我们的常见问题解答文件，将就客户经常向我们提出的问题，为您提供简洁明了的解答。如果您有兴趣了解关于居住在租赁公寓的更多信息，请查看以下文件。您可以在您的专属账户中找到这些资料。您可以通过这个链接，登录到您的专属账户：https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/

文档:

• 什么是租约?
• 您的租赁指南
• 一栋租赁公寓里职能分工?
• 谁负责什么?
• 关于租赁的常见误解
• 各项费用
• 我每年需要支付什么费用?
• 备用款项和偿债资金
• 入住租赁公寓

链接：

https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/living-leasehold-flats-guide/

https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property

目录

1. 常见问题……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

问: 什么是租赁?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

问: 什么是物业费及物业费预算?……………………………………………………………………………………………2

问: 什么是地租?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2

问: 什么是差额税?……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

问: 什么是征款?为何要缴纳征款?………………………………………………………………………………………….3

问: 我可否通用付款计划缴纳征款?………………………………………………………………………………………..3

2. 租户专属账户………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

问: 什么是租户专属账户及如何使用？……………………………………………………………………………………….3

3. 物业费付款……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

问: 我在哪里可以找到我的物业费余额?………………………………………………………………………………….3

问: 我如何支付物业费?………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

问: 是否可以分期按月支付我的物业费?………………………………………………………………………………….4

问: 我的付款收到了吗?………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

问: 我可否更改直接付款的日期?……………………………………………………………………………………………4

问: 当我尝试进行BACS转账时，帐号名和号码无法匹配，我该怎么办?……………………………………..4

问: 我已付款，为何仍收到付款提醒?……………………………………………………………………………………..4

问: 我还没有收到我的发票/电子邮件/信件………………………………………………………………………………4

问: 我们卖掉了公寓，但我们仍然收到服务费发票，我们该怎么办?………………………………………………4

4. 物业费预算、备用款项及偿债资金……………………………………………………………………………………………4

问: 为什么物业费预算比去年增加了这么多?………………………………………………………………………………….4

问: 什么是“偿债资金”/“备用款项”?/备用款项占物业费的百分比是多少?/什么是备用金供款?………………5

5.保险……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

问: 保险包括哪些内容?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

问: 什么是超额保险?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

问: 为什么保险要分开收费?………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5

问: 请给我一份保险报价单好吗?我们如何知道您为我们提供了最物有所值的保险?…………………………….5

6. 债务追讨……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

问: 收债程序是怎样的?……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

问: 我为何被追债?……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

问: 为什么我被追债，但在此之前没有收到任何沟通?……………………………………………………………………..6

问: 我付不起/我的付款计划延误了。我该怎么办?…………………………………………………………………………..6

7. 如何联系“Urbanbubble”?………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

问: 如果还需要帮助，我该如何与urbanbubble取得联系?…………………………………………………………6

问: 什么是安全检查，为什么你必须通过安全检车，才能得到帮助?………………………………………………..6

问: 如何更改我的联络资料?……………………………………………………………………………………………………..7

问: 如果对我的查询或问题处理仍不满意，该怎么办?…………………………………………………………………..7

1. 常见问题

问. 什么是租约？

答: 在英格兰和威尔士，几乎所有的“自有”公寓都是租赁的，就像许多房子一样。租赁权是基于与房东(有时被称为“不动产持有人”)的法律协议，称为“租赁”。作为长期租赁者，您已经购买了在您的物业中居住一定年限的专有权(“期限”，通常为999年)。租约到期后，除非您续租，物业的所有权归还房东。

您并不拥有建造房屋的砖瓦、灰泥或土地; 您购买了在该物业长期居住的权利。租约告诉您，您能做什么和不能做什么，您的房东必须做什么，必须提供的服务以及您必须为此支付的金额。租约的措辞可能因物业而异，您通常需要参考自己租约的具体表述，其中详细说明了您已经同意的内容。

砖瓦、灰泥或土地以及整栋建筑物的公用部分的所有权通常由业主保留。房东保留这些区域的义务，但也有权向您追讨产生的相关物业费用。生活在同一栋公寓的租户需要共同承担并分摊费用。

问: 什么是物业费及物业费预算?

答：房屋的砖、灰泥、土地以及公寓的公用部分的所有权通常由业主保留。房东保留维护这些区域的义务，但也有权向你追讨相关的物业费用。物业费是为维修建筑物的结构和公用部分而收取的款项，并包括提供任何服务的费用。这些包括: 维修，清洁，电梯服务，园艺，现场工作人员，水电费，建筑保险，管理费用。事实上，包含任何根据租约提供的服务。物业费覆盖实际成本，并无利润。租约将规定物业费用包括哪些，何时收取，以及如何计算。

大多数租赁规定，应在物业费财政年度开始时编制预算。这是根据租约，由物业管理人、租户的租赁管理公司或业主，对一年内可能支出的估计。您支付的金额将是总预算的一部分——下一个财政年度管理该物业的预计总成本。租约会规定您负责的比例和付款的频率。

物业费财政年度结束时，应编制帐目，说明款项是如何使用的，以及款项是否高于或低于原定物业费预算金额。租约将说明如何处理结余/超支的问题。

问: 什么是地租?

答: 当您购买一套租赁公寓时，你购买的是在该公寓居住一定年限的权利(“期限”)。地租是由土地所有人收取的，作为建筑物所在土地的租金。须缴付的地租金额将列于租约内。它可以是每年，半年或每季度的付款，并由产权持有人使用规定书面格式明确具体要求。

地租可能是一个象征性的金额，也可能是一个合理的实质性金额。该租约还将规定在租期内如何提高地租。这些上涨被称为租金审查。

问: 什么是差额?

答: 如果在财政年度结束时，物业费账目报告表明全年的支出超过了原先的预算，那就是超支了。对于超支部门，将向承租人/业主提供额外发票，请求付款。您的租约会写明物业费支出的分摊比例(分摊比例通常根据公寓的面积而定，但有些租约要求业主平均分摊)。我们会将费用明细连同超支部分的发票一起发送给您，上面会更详细地解释这笔费用差额是如何发生的，以及这笔费用的明细。

如果全年实际支出(显示在物业费账户上)低于物业费预算金额，收取的物业费金额大于实际支出，则为结余。租约将说明应该如何处理余额问题。通常，退款至承租人的物业费帐户。“差额费用”通常是在年终账目完成结清后计算出来的。费用发生所涉及的期间应列明在发票上，通常涉及上一个财政周期。

问:什么是征款?我为何要缴纳征款?

答:征款是一项临时申请，用以支付有关楼宇管理或安全的意外开支。这些开支原本并没有列入预算，亦不能由备用款项支付(例如，租约不允许这类开支由备用款项支付，或备用款项根本不足以支付有关开支)。征款申请通常会附带第20条的相关咨询，即我们会就计划开支及选择承建商的过程咨询所有承租人意见。

问: 我可否通过付款计划缴纳征款?

答: 我们只提供物业费用发票的月付计划(其他付款也是最新更新的)。每一张发票上都要列出付款条件。

2. 租户专属账户

问: 什么是租户专属账户，如何使用?

答: 租户专属账户是我们网站的一部分，旨在让我们的客户获得有用的服务和信息。

您可以通过以下链接，注册您的租户专属账号：https://urbanbubble.co.uk/form/

注册之后，您可以通过https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/，登录您的租户专属账户。您需要选择“承租人登录”，然后输入您的登录详情。

以下文件可以通过您的专属账户访问:

• 年度预算
•  
• 保险文件/政策
• 财务文件，如发票、报表等
• 物业费帐户
• 火灾风险评估
• 管理协议
• 大楼详情(如适用)

3. 物业费支付

问:我在哪里可以找到我的物业费结余?

答:您可以在我们的在线专属账户中，找到所有与物业费有关的信息。请按此链接登录您的专属账户：https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/。您需要选择“承租人登录”，然后输入您的登录详情。登录后，请选择“历史记录”选项卡，以显示所有付款明细。如果您想付款，您需要选择“付款”选项卡。

问: 我如何支付物业费?

答: 您可以登录您的在线专属账户，通过委托代扣或BACS转账付款。支付所需的银行详细信息和唯一的客户参考代码，可以在您的发票首页找到。所有发票都可以在专属账户中找到：https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/。

登录后，选择documents选项卡，然后选择您的姓名。您必须使用客户参考代码作为您的付款备注，以便我们将收据分发到该帐户。

我们不签发委托书授权(我们都尽力减少文书工作!)，所以如果您使用了委托授权书，您必须确保拥有等额的付款来结清余额。

问: 我可否分摊我的物业费，按月支付?

答: 我们提供每月付款服务，是为了帮助我们的客户管理他们的财务，但我们只能在您的物业费帐户更新至最新状态且无欠款的情况下提供这项服务。只要您的账户是最新状态，且您设置了等额的分期付款，在每个月的10号汇至物业银行账户，Urbanbubble乐意提供按月付款的条款。如果您的对账单显示之前有欠款未还清，那么您必须先一次性付清欠款，让账户恢复到最新状态，然后才能设置按月支付。

然后，您必须使用发票上的电子邮件地址，向物业团队发送电子邮件，以确认每月扣款的具体日期。仅此，我们才能在您的帐户上进行相关备注，以确保您不会收到追缴发票上全部款项的提醒信。

问: 我的付款收到了吗?

答: 所有收到的款项将显示在您的对账单上，您可以在专属账户中找到 https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/。我们需要至少2个工作日，来处理这些付款。如果您认为有款项缺失或对账单有问题，请通过电子邮件与您的物业团队联系，并提供付款的证据或细节，以便我们进一步调查此事。

问: 我可否更改直接付款的日期?

答: 是的，需要将申请发送到我们的信贷控制团队 creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk

问: 当我尝试进行BACS转账时，账户名和号码无法匹配，我该怎么办?

答: 我们使用的银行，并未与审批软件中的所有其他银行一同注册，这就是为何您会遇到这个问题。您应该能够继续支付，会有一个提示消息，以确保你的银行不承担该交易的责任。如果您在所有类似的选项上单击“忽略”，您应该可以继续支付。如果不行，请与您的银行联系。

问: 我已付款，为何仍收到付款提醒?

答: 付款最多需要5个工作日，才能在我们的银行账户上显示。但您可以登录您的租户专属账户，选择“结欠余额”选项卡，以显示准确的尚欠余额和所有付款明细。https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/

问: 我还没有收到我的发票/电子邮件/信件。

答: 始终保持您的联络资料正确且及时更新，非常重要。您可以通过登录您的专属账户https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/, 查看详细信息。我们要求您检查所有在线保存的详细信息(包括地址、电话和电子邮件)，以确保是正确的。

问: 我们卖掉了公寓，但仍然收到物业费发票，我们该怎么办?

答: 如果您已出售物业，但仍收到物业费发票，我们的法律团队将等待您的律师提供信息。为了能够在我们的系统上更新，以显示该物业已经出售，租约要求向管理公司提供该物业完成出售的所有信息。您能不能和您的律师联系一下，追踪一下相关文件?

4. 物业费预算、备用款项及偿债资金

问: 为什么物业费预算比去年增加了这么多?

答: 详细说明可在物业费发票的随附信中找到。有关开支的明细(包括附注)，可在租户专属账户中，“文件”选项中的物业费预算文件中找到。

问: 什么是“偿债资金”/“备用款项”?/备用款项占物业费的百分比是多少?/什么是备用金供款?

答: 许多租约允许收取备用款项或偿债资金作为物业费的一部分。这是定期收取的款项，用于多年后竣工的主要工程，例如外部装修或更换电梯。该费用是在几年的时间里收取的，以便在该工程进行的那一年内，无需缴纳大笔金额。租约将规定我们是否可以设立备用款项/偿债资金，以及这笔钱的用途。最好的做法是有一个五年或十年的主要工作计划(对于更大的项目，周期可能更长)，以筹集资金。您可以向您的物业团队索取此计划的副本。

5. 保险

问：保险包括哪些内容?

答：建筑物保险包括建筑物结构的修理，如果建筑物因投保的险别(如火灾、暴风雨、洪水或地面塌陷)而受损。对于不同类型的损害，有不同的保险超额。例如，有漏水历史的建筑将有更高的超出金额。这栋建筑物的保险必须按租约要求投保一切险别。您可以在您的专属账户中https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/，找到保险证书或/和建筑保单时间表。

上述建筑保险，不能取代单个公寓的物品保险。(例如，如果漏水源自您的公寓，则地毯、沙发和厨房橱柜的损坏，将不在建筑保险范围内)。

问: 什么是超额保险?

答: 超额保险是保险公司在发生索赔时所收取的预先商定的金额。对于不同类型的损害有不同的超额保险。例如，有漏水历史的建筑会有更高的超额金额(如果发生了漏水，您公寓的损失是1500英镑，而漏水的超额保险是500英镑，如果损坏发生在您的公寓内部，您只能得到1000英镑的赔偿。)

有时会出现超额金额超过损失费用的情况。在这种情况下，向保险公司提出索赔是无法获得赔偿。在其他情况下，损坏费用可能只比超额金额略高，在这种情况下，通过建筑保险索赔也不可取，因为这将增加保险费和未来的超额金额。

问:为什么保险要分开收费?

答: 由于是在租赁期内投保的，保险有时会和物业费分开收费。

问：请给我一份保险报价单好吗?我们如何知道您为我们提供了最物有所值的保险?

答：在安排投保范围时，我们与保险经纪人交涉，他们向我们提供两到三份不同保险公司的报价。租约上会写明这栋建筑需要投保哪些风险。如果您希望看到保险报价的副本，请直接与您的物业经理联系，他将为您查询。

6. 债务追讨

问: 追债程序是怎样的?

答: 以下是我们的追债程序，分为四个阶段:

第一阶段-如果我们在发票日期的14天内没有收到付款，我们将发送第一次提醒。

第二阶段-如我们在第一次提醒日期起计7天内，没有收到您的回复，我们会以信件形式发出最后提醒。

第三阶段-如果我们在最后提醒日期起7天内，没有收到您的回复，我们将发出最后通知。当发出最后通知时，将从您的物业费账户中收取90英镑的费用。最后通知通过一级投递方式发出，证明通过Docmail文件保存。

第四阶段(法律阶段)-如果我们在发出最后通知后7天内，没有收到您的回复，我们会将欠款交给我们的律师进行追讨。与此同时，还会从物业费账户中扣除60英镑的费用。在这一阶段之后，账户交由律师处理，直至欠款付清为止。在此阶段，Urbanbubble团队成员不能讨论与您的账户相关的任何财务问题。

通过登录在线专属账户https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/，您可以看到这些提醒的副本。

问: 我为何被追债?

答: 一旦您的帐户被送往律师追讨欠款，我们不允许讨论任何物业费或债务查询。如果你对欠款有任何疑问或对欠款有争议，请直接与有关律师联络，他们会通知您他们正在处理您的案件。如果您没有收到律师的通知，请发送电子邮件给我们的信用管控团队creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk，他们将告知律师处理您的案件。

问: 为什么我被追债，但在此之前没有收到任何沟通?

答: 一旦您的帐户被送往律师追讨欠款，我们不允许讨论任何物业费或债务查询。如果您对欠款有任何疑问或对欠款有争议，请直接与有关律师联络，他们会通知你他们正在处理您的案件。如果您没有收到律师的通知，请发送电子邮件给我们的信用管控团队：creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk，他们将告知律师处理您的案件。

问: 我付不起/我的付款计划延误了。我该怎么办?

答: 请联系我们的信用管控部门，邮箱地址是creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk，他们会评估您的情况，进一步帮助您。

7. 如何联系Urbanbubble?

问: 如果我还需要帮助，我该如何联系urbanbubble?

答：

客户支持主管

电话: 0161 543 8500

电子邮件: block@urbanbubble.co.uk

应用程序: 如果您已经注册，您可以通过我们的应用程序，直接发送消息给我们的客户服务团队。如果您还没有注册，请点击这里开始。

物业经理

电话: 您可以在大楼内的布告栏上，找到您的物业经理的联系方式，也可以根据上述信息致电CSE团队，获取您的物业经理的最佳联系方式。

电子邮件: 如上

应用程序: 如果你知道您的物业经理的名字，那么您可以通过我们的应用程序，直接发送消息，或在评论中标记他们(@propertymanagername)。如果您不知道他们的名字，那么请通过应用程序直接发送消息给我们的客户服务团队，或使用上述联系信息。如果您还没有注册到我们的应用程序，请点击这里开始。

财务

电话: 我们的财务部门没有直通电话，请使用以下电子邮件地址。

电子邮件: creditcontrol@urbanbubble.co.uk

应用程序: 您无法通过应用程序直接联系我们的财务部门，请使用上述电子邮件地址。

问: 什么是安全检查，为什么你必须通过才能得到我们的帮助?

答: 在每通电话的开始，有时甚至在我们的电子邮件交谈中，我们需要检查您是帐户持有人，且不会泄露机密信息。

您将需要回答3个安全问题(这些问题可能因您查询的性质而有所不同，例如: 全名、电子邮件地址、地址第一行及邮编、最后一次付款日期和金额、最后一次发票日期、最后一个选项的交房/所有权证明)，以便进行查询。如果你有一个问题没通过，我们会再问您一个安全问题。

如果您没有通过安全检查，我们将无法通过电话帮助您，我们将不得不请您以书面形式进行询问。

您的联系详情是正确的并随时更新，这非常重要。您可以通过登录您的专属账户https://portalurbanbubble.co.uk/，查看详细信息。

问: 如何更改我的联络资料?

答: 如果你需要更改你的名字(例如因为结婚)，你需要联系我们法律部的Sarah，因为该更改需要与土地注册处的记录相匹配。legal@urbanbuble.co.uk

如果是其他情况——出于审计和法律目的，大多数变更请求将需要以书面形式提出。另外，我们的客户支持团队成员可以修改Qube的详细信息，只有一次成功的安全检查已经完成。

问: 如果我对查询或问题处理仍不满意，该怎么办?

答: 我们致力于为所有客户提供专业的服务。如果出现问题，欢迎您以相互尊重的方式告知我们。这将有助于我们尽快解决问题，并改进我们的服务。如您有任何投诉，请以书面形式(信件或电子邮件)向我们提出。我们会按照投诉程序所设定的时间和阶段，确认收到投诉，并作出回应。