Business rates rebate-getters

myrnahaz

I keep getting phone calls from various Rates Advice organisations offering to get me a rates rebate on our business premises. I always tell them I'm not interested but I don't want to miss out if I AM entitled to some discount. So, I contacted the local rates office (South Wales) and quoted what these people had said (that I'd never had a rates review so what was my entitlement etc etc).
The very nice lady I spoke to said I was perfectly at liberty to go along with these organisations, but that they (the rates office) get dozens of calls each month from ratepayers who feel they've been ripped off by these organisations, because the loophole used by them relates to English law and can't be applied to welsh properties. She even said that I should report these people to the police for harassment (I'd told her that I can't get myself removed from their contact lists).

I have no intention of ending up paying these Ratings Beaureaux to rip me off, but how do I know for sure that I'm not eligible?

The other issue I have is that, when I tell them to stop calling (I'm registered with TPS etc) or ask them to remove my name from their lists, I get told a load of cobblers. Some of them have even been a bit abusive. Fortunately, I'm not a shrinking violet, but they still infuriate me.
It doesn't matter how smart I try to be, or how bad tempered or strict - there is just no getting rid of them. One guy told me that the local council had contacted him to tell him that we hadn't had a rates rebate and, when I told him that that was a lie, he admitted that he'd downloaded the info from some website.

Monty_Carlo_2

These organisations, along with the Data Protection Act "registration agents" and "European City Guides", are the biggest liars and conmen out there.

My advice is to simply put the phone down on them as soon as their spiel starts, since they don't take no for an answer. Yes, they get abusive, but I can live with that. Yesterday I got two further "silent" calls immediately after cutting them off- I know it was them as I have Caller Display. How childish!

I'm in a block of four identical-sized units and pay £8k pa rates. Our neighbours were curious, as you are, and went for reassessment. (The council discovered their new mezzanine, which increased their rateable square footage, and so their bill went up...) That is how I know my bill is accurate and the bureaux' claims that I am due a significant reduction is total rubbish.

Savvy_Sue

You can of course try reporting them to the TPS, but the amount of information you need to have in order to do this makes it a bit complicated. There's a form on their website, but frankly I find it faster and easier to hang up than ask "Who are you calling from, what number, what is your name?" etc and then fill the form in.

myrnahaz

Thanks, both. I've already told them that I'll report them to TPS, but they're youngsters who have no idea what I'm talking about, so I think that hanging-up is probably the best option.