Time for a crackdown on rogue rating advisers

The upheaval caused by the closing of the 2017 rating list at the end of this month and the new rating revaluation from 1 April has increased the number of rogue agents who claim they can help businesses alleviate rate bills, but often just take up-front fees, fail to deliver and disappear without trace.

This situation will only get worse when the government brings in ‘annual notification’ and “the duty to notify” as part of its business rates ‘reforms’ later this year, since these will pass a significant administrative burden on to the rate payer. This confusion will play further into the hands of rogue ‘advisers’ who will ‘help’ them.

We are increasingly being contacted by businesses that have been approached or burnt by unscrupulous advisers – or even being asked to pitch against them. Recently we pitched against a new rating adviser firm set up by two people with no rating experience, who had previously been in prison.

Rogue advisers are spamming companies urging them to act with a sense of urgency as the 2017 list comes to a close, promising to find them savings, for a fee. Often no such savings are available and the fee is non refundable. We see businesses tied into contracts for all lists indefinitely, and reputable firms cannot then help them.

We also see well-known rating scammers, including those exposed as rogue traders, setting up subsidiaries to spam businesses under new names. A number of new ‘rating companies’ do not have any members qualified in rating.

The problem is the industry is totally unregulated – anyone can set up and claim to be experts. That is why we call on the RICS, or even government, for regulation. We need a register of rating advisers, similar to the Financial Conduct Authority, to keep the cowboy and criminal element at bay. Until business rates are properly reformed, businesses need the best, honest advice if they are to navigate the complex system.

John Webber, head of business rates, Colliers