Council Credit Check

For UK limited companies, LLPs and plcs

Your company could be owed a business rates credit

  • We do everything.
  • You sign once.
  • Nothing to pay unless you get money back.

Some councils publish lists of business rates accounts that are in credit and haven't been refunded. Tick one box and we check the lists, tell you what your company could be owed, and claim it. The refund is paid straight into your company's own bank account, never to us.

You can claim it yourself, free, by asking the council's business rates team. Or let us do all the work.

We are independent. We are not part of, or acting for, any council. The amount on a council list can change: the council may have refunded it already, or may set it off against other money your company owes it.

Check my company, free

Takes 20 seconds. We do the rest.

Nothing to pay unless a refund is confirmed. Then 15% (capped at £3,500), or 10% if paid within 48 hours. No VAT. The refund goes to your company's bank, never to us. Please don't enter bank details. Privacy.

How it works

Tick the box

Or reply "yes" to our email. We check the council's list and Companies House and tell you what your company could be owed. Free.

A director signs one page

We send a one-page authority, already filled in. That is the only thing we need from you.

We deal with the council

We ask the council to repay the credit to your company and to copy us on its reply. The council checks your bank details with you directly.

Refund confirmed, then you pay

The money goes to your company's account. When the council confirms it, we email one invoice: 10% if paid within 48 hours, otherwise 15% within 7 days.

Fees

You can claim this free yourself from the council. If you'd rather we did it, this is the whole price. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added.

10%if you pay within 48 hours of the council confirming the refund, capped at £2,333.33
15%standard, payable within 7 days of the council's confirmation, capped at £3,500

Of the amount actually refunded, per company per council. Nothing to pay if nothing is refunded. We never take money before a refund is confirmed.

  • Worked example. The council refunds £1,732.83.
  • Pay within 48 hours: £173.28 (10%). You keep £1,559.55.
  • Pay within 7 days: £259.92 (15%). You keep £1,472.91.
  • Refund lower than the list? The fee is a percentage of what's actually refunded. No fee on anything the council sets off against money your company owes it.
  • Lock in 10% now Coming soon: set up a card or Direct Debit authority when you sign. Nothing is taken unless the council confirms a refund; we then email you the 10% amount before collecting it.

When you pay, step by step

  1. TodayYou tick or reply "yes". Nothing to pay.
  2. Within daysA director signs the one-page authority. We write to the council. Nothing to pay.
  3. Council confirmsThe council confirms the refund to your company's bank account (it usually copies us; if it writes only to you, please forward it). We email the invoice the same day with a pay link and bank details.
  4. Within 48 hoursPay the 10% price.
  5. Within 7 daysOr pay the 15% price.

Where the figures come from

Only from the council's own published list. We quote the list's name, date and line so you can check it yourself. These are some of the lists we use:

Questions

Can I do this myself for free?

Yes. Contact the council's business rates team, quote the property and ask for the credit to be refunded. Many councils will do it on request. We exist for companies that would rather not chase it.

When do I pay, and how much?

Only after the council confirms the refund. We email one invoice that day: 10% of the refund if you pay within 48 hours (capped at £2,333.33), or 15% within 7 days (capped at £3,500). On a £1,732.83 refund that is £173.28 or £259.92. Nothing is payable if nothing is refunded. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is added.

Why is there a credit?

Usually an overpayment, a move out part-way through a year, a reduced rateable value or a backdated relief. In England the council must repay an overpayment if the ratepayer asks (regulation 9(4), Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989). Otherwise it can keep it as a credit against future rates.

Do you ever receive the money?

No. The council pays your company's own bank account. We act only as your company's agent; we never take over the claim and never handle your bank details.

Why do you ask the council to copy you in?

So we know as soon as the refund is confirmed and can send one invoice straight away, and so you don't have to chase anything. If the council writes only to you, please forward it.

Is there a deadline?

Older credits can be harder to recover. In Scotland, repayments of rates paid in error generally have to be applied for within six years of the year paid. So it's best to ask soon.

Are you the council?

No. We are an independent service operated by Rikard Radmussen, a UK sole trader.

Get in touch

Email
rikard@councilcreditcheck.co.uk
WhatsApp
WhatsApp +44 7984 098516
Free call
Book a short call if you'd rather talk it through first.

Book a free call

Prefer to write?

Email is usually fastest. Tell us the company name and, if you have it, the council. We'll check the published list and come back to you.

Please don't send bank details. You give those to the council directly if a refund is due.

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