At Goodman Nash, we are on a mission to identify properties where businesses may have overpaid their business rates. In a recent case, we identified more than 10 years of historic incorrect charging by the council on a property in Sutton that had been owned by advertising company Ron De Young Associates Ltd, but had been demolished in 2018.
When we contacted Ron De Young, he was initially surprised.
“Basically, a call out of the blue which I was at first very dismissive of. However, we agreed terms which were very clear and concise, and clarified ‘No Win, No Fee’ – so nothing to lose.”
With the company’s agreement, we began full investigations. With our unrivalled data, our expert analysts uncovered that a refund was due back many years as a result of the regulations having been incorrectly applied to the rates bill calculations. After presenting the case to the Council, Goodman Nash recovered the overpayment, and the refund was gladly welcomed by the business.
“Indeed, quite the outcome,” explains Ron. “You guys won the case and in turn we won circa £10K (after fees) that we would never have known we were entitled to. Brilliant.”
We were delighted to have been able to investigate and achieve savings for this business, even after the actual building ceased to exist. It demonstrates that even if you’ve vacated a property, or significant time has passed, there could still be business rates to recover.