IS THIS THE END FOR RVA SHARKS?
A court ruling could mean the end of the charlatans at RVA Surveyors.
I’ve previously reported how it claims to help firms get a reduction in their business rates, then demands 45% plus VAT of any saving and sues those who refuse to pay.
What clients are not told is that they can easily check for themselves if they’re entitled to be zero-rated, simply by writing to their council.
Anuuj Kohli of Oak Furniture House in Didcot, Oxfordshire, said he was tricked into signing a contract by a sales rep for RVA – a common complaint.
“I was led to believe that I was just signing the paperwork so they can come back and measure the property,” he said.
RVA, run from Manchester by 55-year-old director Stephan Hughes, later told him that it had secured a rates reduction of £3,145 and demanded its cut of almost £1,700, suing when Mr Kohli refused to pay.
District Judge Matthews, sitting at Oxford County Court, threw out its claim, saying the firm had broken rules which form “an important part of consumer protection”.
Mr Kohli’s legal representative, William Backhouse, said the ruling could make all RVA contracts unenforceable.
“We are saying that their contracts are damages-based agreements and are subject to regulations designed to prevent profiteering by law firms and claims management companies who seek to be paid from a share of any sums recovered,” he said.
“If those regulations are breached, then the contracts are unenforceable.
“The specific issue decided here is that RVA are in breach of a regulation that says that they must provide a reason for setting their fees at the amount that they do in their contract.
“RVA would never want to do that as, in doing so, the client would most likely realise that they were taking a high percentage of the business rates savings as their fee for simply returning a form to the local council.”
RVA has asked to appeal the judgment.