If you do not agree with the rateable value given to your property, or there has been some major change to it that may affect its value, you can appeal to the Valuation Officer to change it. You will need to fill in an application form, which is called "Making a Proposal", and if the Valuation Officer agrees to change the rateable value he will confirm the new one to you and us. We will then send you a revised bill based on the new rateable value.
You can make an appeal to the Valuation Officer if:
- You believe the rateable value for your property shown in the rating list is wrong;
- The Valuation Officer changes your property’s rateable value and you believe it is now wrong;
- There is a material change in circumstances that you believe has affected your property’s rateable value, such as:
- A change in the property’s physical state or use
- A physical change in the locality
- A change in the use of a neighbouring property;
- A residential part of the property (that should be subject to Council Tax valuation) has been included in the business rate assessment;
- The rateable value excludes a part of the property you believe should be included;
- A property is shown in the rating list as more than one entry, and you believe there should be only one assessment;
- A property is shown in the list as one assessment but it has been divided into more than one property that should be shown separately;
- You believe the property address shown is incorrect;
- You believe the property description shown is incorrect.
Appeals need to be made in writing to:
Janet Alexander BA MRICS MCMI
Valuation Officer
Non-domestic Rates East
Valuation Office Agency
Rosebery Court
Central Avenue
St Andrews Business Park
Norwich
NR7 0HS
Tel: 03000 501501
Fax: 03000 505454
Email: ratingeast@voa.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.voa.gov.uk
Making an appeal is free; you can do it yourself, and you do not need to employ a rating advisor. If you do decide to use independent rating advisors we recommend you take care in deciding whom to appoint and suggest you contact mebmers of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation (IRRV). Dependent on the amount of transitional relief you may have received, a reduction in rateable value does not necessarily mean you will have a reduced amount to pay.
Although you may have made an appeal, you need to continue paying your business rates according to the latest bill you have been sent. If you withhold payment we will take recovery action to collect any unpaid amounts, which may result in you incurring court costs . If your appeal is successful and the amount to pay goes down, we will send you a revised bill and a refund of any overpayment, with interest.
Interest will not be payable if a liability order has been obtained at the Magistrates’ Court to recover any unpaid amount shown on the bill based on the original rateable value.
If your appeal to the Valuation Officer is not resolved within three months, it will automatically be passed to a Valuation Tribunal to decide. The contact details for the Valuation Tribunal Service are as follows:
Valuation Tribunal Service
Hepworth House
Unit 2 Trafford Court
Doncaster
Phone (01302) 342 327
Fax: (01302) 321 447
emal: east.midlands@vto.gsx.gov.uk
website: www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk
