Fee for late payment of utility bills. How to calculate late payment interest

According to the housing legislation of the Russian Federation, every citizen receiving housing and communal services should pay their cost not later than the 10th day of the month following the expired, unless another period is stipulated by an agreement concluded with the management company or the HOA. If the payment is not made in time, you are liable to charge penalties for late payment of utility bills.
Considering that everything around becomes more expensive every day, with such an unpleasant phenomenon as fines, penalties and fines, one has to face more and more often. Therefore, it is worth asking how to correctly calculate the penalty for late payment, and maybe even avoid this unpleasant phenomenon.

For all you need to pay

As you know, the relationship between public utilities and consumers of services was a byword in all times. The growth of debts for payment of utility services can sometimes bring the relevant organizations almost to bankruptcy. This question is especially topical today, in conditions of a total increase in prices for everything. That is why enterprises that provide public services to the population try to encourage their clients in every way, to make them pay on time, and even better - ahead of schedule. One such instrument is the payment of late fees.

An urgent question

According to independent experts, only slightly more than 6% of irresponsible consumers have debt on a communal. However, even this seemingly insignificant number does not pay significant amounts to service providers. And only about half of the debtors really do not have the financial ability to pay bills on time, while the second part of the malicious defaulters is fully capable of "pulling" the communal burden, but for various reasons does not do so. Someone deliberately does not pay for light, gas and sewage, hoping for some ghostly "maybe", someone brings a basic forgetfulness. It is for such clients suffering from "financial sclerosis" that the penalty measures of influence exert the best influence. The amount of late payment penalty is often such that, after substantially overpaying once, in the future, "forgetfull" begin to carefully monitor the timeliness of payment.

Do not pay? You need to blame!

In the general case, the deadline for payment of receipts for a communal is the 10th day of the month following the settlement, although sometimes some other HOA contracts may have a different date in some contracts. Nevertheless, if by the hour of "X" your receipts remained unpaid, then from the next day the penalty automatically starts to be charged. Therefore, the penalty for late payment in the end is the greater, the longer you evade the full repayment of the debt. In principle, there is no need to calculate the amount of the fine yourself, you will still receive a receipt in which the penalty will be indicated, but knowing the principle of its accrual, you can recheck the result. If you disagree with something, you can challenge the actions of the management company in court and provide your calculation, as well as evidence that you had a good reason for late payment.

How else to influence the debtor

In addition to late fees for late payment, utilities may apply other measures of influence. If you do not pay your bills for at least three months, be prepared for the "cut off" light, water and gas, in general, everything that you do not pay for.

After six months, the supplier company has the right to file a lawsuit with the court to enforce the debt. In this case, the decision will most likely not be in your favor, and you will have to meet with bailiffs, who will try to seize your property and bank accounts.

If the main debt and fines for the delay in utility payments exceed the threshold of 10 thousand rubles, the defaulter will have problems with traveling abroad, and it will not be possible to sell real estate burdened with debts.

Well, the most extreme measure of impact for malicious defaulters is forced eviction. If the debtor lives in the municipal housing, then by court order, he can be obliged to vacate the living space, giving another in exchange, at a rate of 6 m ² per person.

How are penalties charged for overdue utility payments

Those who are unconscious of their financial obligations to the management company, you need to know that the penalty is charged for each day of non-payment of the due payment.

To calculate late payment interest, you need to know 3 indicators:

• Amount of debt;
• Number of days overdue, including the maturity date;
• The refinancing rate of the Central Bank of Russia (it is also accounting) at the time of the calculation.

Until now, the size of the interest was defined as one-hundredth of the Central Bank's discount rate for each day of payment delay. In order to understand how to calculate late payment interest, you need to enter all the above-mentioned components into the formula:

P = Cs x D x Cp / 300

• П - the size of the penalty (penalty);
• Сз - total amount of debt for this type of payment;
• D - number of days of overdue payment;
• Wed - the refinancing rate of the Central Bank in shares (i.e., you need to divide the interest rate by 100%); At the present moment it is 8.25%, which means that the coefficient used for the calculation is the following: 8.25% / 100% = 0.0825.

Attention! If the discount rate (refinancing rate) has changed during the period of the debt, the calculation should be carried out separately for each period - before and after the change.

Financial "key"

Before calculating the late interest, it is worthwhile once again to clearly delineate the two rates of the Central Bank - accounting and key. If the former is used to calculate a variety of fines and penalties, the latter serves to stabilize the banking system as a whole. Starting from 2016, the Central Bank of Russia plans to equalize these two concepts, and until then they have absolutely different meanings.

It was the unstable indicators of the key rate that gave rise to some excitement - it was rumored that it was precisely because of this that the fines for those who failed to pay for light, garbage collection and water in a timely manner increased significantly. However, such conversations have no basis. But this does not mean that "forgetful" can breathe easily.

What "will please" the current year

According to the statements of Russian officials, in 2015 the calculation of late fees for late payments will be made in a new way. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation will be amended regarding the refinancing rate of the Central Bank. Now to calculate the penalty will be used not one hundred and three hundred, but one hundred and seventieth of its value. Thus, the amount of penalties and fines will be increased almost twice, and those who neglect timely payment of utility bills will additionally pay over 17% per annum of the amount of debt, which is quite comparable to the average bank loan.

However, in the new amendments to the law there is also a positive moment - now deviators are given as much as 3 months to voluntarily pay the debt. Penalties will be paid not from the first, but from the 91st day of delay in payment.

How to avoid penalties for late payment of utility bills

The first and most logical answer arises by itself - pay the bills on time. But sometimes there are situations where it is not possible to do so. If you do not cope with the communal burden because you have been reduced in salary or if you have lost your job at all, you can apply for a subsidy. And if such compensation is not due to you by law, you can conclude an individual contract or an additional agreement with the service provider that provides for a restructuring or an individual repayment schedule.

If you are going on a long business trip or just decided to spend the entire summer at the cottage, you can contact the management company with the appropriate application, on the basis of which you will be recalculated. If you do not want to dedicate to the utility company employees that your apartment will be empty for a long time, then recalculation can be made and on return. Naturally, in this case you will have to provide a bunch of documents confirming the fact of your absence. This can be travel documents, a sick leave, a trip to a sanatorium and so on. At the same time, it is worth remembering that it is possible to recalculate only that part of utility payments that does not apply to housekeeping services and heating, as these payments are accrued irrespective of your presence in the apartment.