Rogue business rates agents are reeled in

I’ve reported in the past about some sharp practices of rogue agents making bold and unsubstantiated claims. Many of which claim to have some sort of endorsement from the Valuation Office Agency or HMRC, officially appointed to hand back refunds via the local authority. Many make incorrect statements about how buildings area valued for rating purposes.

We have received an example only today where a rogue agent has been to see one of our industrial clients, attempting to sign them up by arguing that first floor offices in a warehouse should be valued at a lower rate and that stairs and kitchens should be deducted from floor areas – all blatantly wrong.

To try and counter this, the VOA published ‘agent standards’ in January, setting out expectations in relation to agent behaviour, professional practice and basic standards of the service they provide to their customers.

The aim is stamp out sharp practices and ensure that ratepayers get the right service. There are consequences for those that don’t comply, including temporarily blocking access to the VOA’s services, referrals to appropriate partners such as HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service or the Advertising Standards Agency and ultimately refusal to deal with an agent altogether.

I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I expected this to be immediately ignored by the rogue agents who would continue as usual. I am very pleased to report that I’m wrong.

The VOA provided an update last week, which shows that they have acted in instances where breaches of the misrepresentation standard have been substantiated and warning letters have been issued to the firms involved.

 This seems to be the first step in dealing with examples I have written about previously, where false claims have been made about the VOA or HMRC endorsing a particular agent or their services. The VOA will continue to monitor these agents and will escalate and action as appropriate. It’s not very often I say this, but: good on you, VOA.

I’ll repeat the offer I made previously – if you think you have been caught out by false claims or paid a substantial upfront fee, please get in touch, we may be able to help.

You can contact me via richard.roberts@rvwcs.co.uk or call me on 07881 503540.