FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need your service?
Business Rates are notoriously complicated and we have the expertise and skills to help identify how to reduce your business rates charges.
Business rates case law is constantly evolving. Properties are affected by different circumstances through time which affect their valuation.
Why should I trust LHL Property Auditors? Are you regulated by any governing bodies?
We are organisational members of the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV) and conform to their code of conduct. We will never charge you for future years and never before you have received a refund. Check out our many great reviews.
How much does this cost? Will I have to pay anything in advance?
If we are not successful – nothing! If we do secure a refund, our fee is based on a percentage of the money we recover, which is only payable once you have the money in your account. We do not charge for any appointments or visits. We would advise strongly against paying anyone before they get you a refund or submit an appeal form on your behalf.
How long does it take?
Most of our work is completed within 6 weeks, but more complex cases may take much longer than that. Either way, we will work to get your refund without delay – we do not get paid until you get paid.
Do I need to meet with you?
Most of our clients like to meet with us for their reassurance and we will travel to meet anyone at no cost wherever they want to meet.
Alternatively we can always answer any questions and organise an audit by phone and email.
Are you too good to be true? What’s the catch?
Not quite, unfortunately we do have to charge a fee for our work if we get a client money back. Once instructed we are successful about 90% of the time, and where we are not successful it is because we have found a potential problem which could increase charges. We work hard for our clients and we are very proud of the kind testimonials we receive for our service.
Where do you get your information about business rates from?
We subscribe to information from the Valuation Office Agency on all business rates properties. We collate information about ratepayers available in the public domain and via subscription services such as Creditsafe. We combine all this information using our bespoke software and knowledge to identify potential opportunities to help.
My accountant handles my business rates
It would not be fair to expect an accountant to have full knowledge of business rates. The area we deal in requires specific knowledge of rating legislation.
Does your work involve inspecting my property?
Most of the time there is no need to inspect but we will inform you if we think it may be necessary. Part of our process is to make sure your property is fairly assessed and neither overvalued or undervalued. If we believe there may be a problem, we will inform you before proceeding.
Could my business rates go up?
As part of our process we review the valuation of your property to determine whether it has been fairly assessed. If we believe there could be a problem and your rates could go up we would not continue the claim unless you were aware of the risks and happy to proceed. For our client’s peace of mind we have Professional Indemnity Insurance of £1,000,000 in place (which we have never used!).
Can you guarantee my refund?
No reputable firm can guarantee getting a refund but our success rate where instructed is over 90%. If we are working on a portfolio, we expect to find mistakes on 1 in 10 properties.
I’ve tried to reduce my rates before, I have an agent/someone who deals with my business rates.
The work that we do is more specialist and different to most agents and we often succeed where others have had no success. We are not rating agents and do not carry out any appeal work.
How do I instruct you?
Usually just sign a no-win no-fee agreement that we will supply and provide us with a copy of your latest rates bill. Sometimes we may need details of your lease or when you moved to the premises and any empty periods.