Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Swoop at alarming rate
Faced with tough conditions, many small firms grab what they think is a lifeline to get their business rates slashed. But far from helping, some supposed rates reduction specialists have been accused of everything from misrepresentation to fraud
RATINGS agency RVA Surveyors claims to be able to help firms get reduced business rates, and charges hefty fees for its service.
But it sues so many of its own clients who dispute their invoices that it should have a loyalty card for the county court.
The latest client it has taken to court is Steven Snell, who has run his East London window company, Advanced Woodford Glazing, for 31 years.
RVA Surveyors sued Mr Snell when he refused to pay its demand for £610, saying his signature on a contract had been forged.
RVA charged 45% plus VAT of the saving it said it had achieved for Mr Snell, claiming that the fee had to be paid each year of the five year contract.
Mr Snell paid the bill for the first year, but would not pay the second year, insisting that he would never have signed a five-year contract – not least because his business premises face demolition.
He claimed that RVA sales rep Andrew Crostin had told him the contract was for one year only.
RVA’S case was fatally undermined when Mr Crostin ignored a witness summons and did not appear in court to dispute Mr Snell’s account.
It also wasn’t helped when Mr Snell produced documents, including his passport and driving licence, which showed a different signature to the one on the contract.
Anne Hogarth, representing RVA, told the court that there had not been any expert evaluation of the signatures and insisted: “This is most likely a case where the defendant simply has not read the contract.”
Deputy District Judge Lynds, sitting at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch county court in London, threw out RVA’S claim.
He ruled that although he found it “quite remarkable” that a salesman ((SPECIAL on business rates rogues. First story with pic of Steve Snell with or without family)) might forge a signature, the contract was not signed by Mr Snell.
Since the sales rep did not appear in court, the judge accepted Mr Snell’s version of events, saying: “The defendant’s evidence is quite clear, so I take the defendant’s evidence today together with this document and I accept that it’s not his signature and he did not sign this contract.”
“From start to finish I’ve told the truth,” Mr Snell told the court.
“This company that’s made me come here are, and have proven to be, a scam company, it’s in the Daily Mirror a lot of the time.
“I find it appalling that I’ve been pulled through the forest to be here and spent money to defend my company and my name because of a scam company.”