Please read this first. It summarises the most important points; the full terms below apply.
1.1 BusinessRateChecker ("BusinessRateChecker", "we", "us", "our") is a trading name of Mirror Mountain Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 15478792, whose registered office is 166 Dalling Road, London W6 0EU.
1.2 Mirror Mountain Ltd is not registered for VAT. It is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under number ZB834320.
1.3 You can contact us through our contact page or at support@businessratechecker.com.
2.1 These terms apply to your use of businessratechecker.com (the "site"), our free reports and alerts, and any full report you buy. Our developer API and data products have their own terms.
2.2 Our Privacy Policy explains how we use personal data and forms part of these terms.
2.3 By using the site you accept these terms. Before you can pay for a full report, you must tick a box at checkout to confirm that you have read and accept these terms, including the risks in section 7. If you do not accept them, please do not use the site.
2.4 If you buy on behalf of a business or other organisation, you confirm that you have authority to accept these terms for it, and "you" includes that organisation.
3.1 The service is designed for businesses and organisations that pay business rates on property in England and Wales, and for their advisers.
3.2 If you are a consumer (an individual acting wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession), the clauses marked "consumers" apply to you as well, and nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Valuation Office or VO | The Valuation Office (formerly the Valuation Office Agency), part of HMRC, which sets rateable values |
| Rating list | The VO's published 2026 list of non-domestic rateable values |
| Free report | The report on a property shown free of charge on the site |
| Full report | The paid report on one property, viewable online and as a PDF |
| Comparables | The similar properties our comparison uses |
| Energy certificate (EPC) | An Energy Performance Certificate: the government's public record of a building's energy rating, produced by an accredited assessor. It includes the floor area the assessor measured, which we compare with the VO's floor area. It is not issued or checked by the VO |
| Enrichment data | Other public datasets we add to the VO's data, such as company, map and business-register records, for example to show a business's name or location |
| Indicated saving | Our estimate of how much a property's annual bill might fall |
| Check, Challenge and Appeal | The statutory steps for changing a rateable value: a Check and Challenge with the VO, then an appeal to the Valuation Tribunal |
| Alerts | Optional emails telling you about rating changes near a property |
5.1 It does: compare a property's rateable value with similar properties in the rating list; indicate whether its rate looks high; estimate the possible saving; and, in a full report, set out the valuation line by line, the comparables, allowances given nearby, floor-area cross-checks, valuation history and published outcomes of similar cases.
5.2 It does not:
5.3 We are not a firm of chartered surveyors and are not regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
6.1 Everything we show is an estimate. Verdicts, suggested rateable values, indicated savings, expected bills, the value of allowances and similar figures are produced automatically from published data. They are indicative only.
6.2 We do not guarantee any outcome. We do not promise that a rateable value is wrong, that a Check, Challenge or Appeal will succeed, or that you will receive any reduction, refund or saving. The VO decides on the evidence it accepts. The actual result may be higher, lower or nil.
6.3 Your rateable value can go up. A Check reopens the valuation, and the VO can correct facts or change the valuation upwards as well as down.
6.4 The decision is yours. You decide whether and how to act on a report. Where significant sums are at stake, you should take advice from a qualified rating surveyor before acting.
6.5 Track record figures are not success rates. The VO publishes only the Checks and Challenges that changed the rating list, so the figures we show about past cases cannot tell you how often cases succeed.
6.6 Bills are illustrative. We show bills before reliefs. Your council applies multipliers, reliefs and transitional arrangements, and your actual bill may differ.
6.7 Deadlines are your responsibility. Using our service does not start any formal process or extend any deadline set by the VO, the Valuation Tribunal or law.
7.1 What the estimate is based on. Every estimate is based only on public data: the VO's rating list, published Check and Challenge outcomes and published Valuation Tribunal decisions, together with other public sources such as energy performance certificates. It is not based on an inspection, your lease, your rent or how your business trades.
7.2 It assumes the facts are right. The estimate assumes the facts in the rating list are correct. It also assumes that anything you tell the VO is truthful, accurate and complete. If the facts differ, or what you tell the VO is wrong or incomplete, the outcome may be very different. You may also face penalties (see clause 14.2).
7.3 Your bill could go up. A Check or Challenge reopens your valuation. The VO may find facts that increase your rateable value, and so your bill, rather than reduce it.
7.4 The decision may differ from our estimate. The VO, the Valuation Tribunal and your council make their own decisions on the evidence before them. Their decision may differ from our estimate, and the saving may be smaller than we indicated, or nil.
7.5 Policy can change. Government and councils change multipliers, reliefs and thresholds. These changes can alter your bill and the value of any saving, whatever happens to your rateable value.
7.6 You carry these risks. If you choose to act on a report, you do so at your own risk. Clause 18 sets out the limits of our liability.
8.1 Our reports are built from public sources used under licence, mainly the VO's rating list and change records, published Valuation Tribunal decisions and the energy performance certificate (EPC) register. We enrich this with other public datasets, such as Companies House records, OpenStreetMap, the Food Standards Agency's register of food businesses and Office for National Statistics data, for example to show a business's name, its location or its local area. These sources are used as published; we do not verify them.
8.2 We take reasonable care in processing this data, but we do not check it against the property itself. Source data can contain errors, and the VO's own website may show newer figures than its published data files.
8.3 Figures are accurate at the date and time the report is produced, which is shown on every report and PDF. They may change after that, for example if the VO updates the rating list, or if government or councils change multipliers, reliefs or other policy. We may refresh our figures during your access period, so a later view may differ from an earlier one.
8.4 We do not promise that the site or any report will be error-free, complete, up to date or available without interruption.
9.1 BusinessRateChecker is an independent service. The Valuation Office (VO, formerly the Valuation Office Agency, now part of HMRC) does not endorse or back this site, our comparisons or our estimates. Official rateable values and formal decisions come only from the VO.
9.2 We hold VO rating-list data, including how a valuation has changed over time, for as long as we have a business need connected with the purposes of the VO's licence: enabling ratepayers and their advisers to review the valuation of a property they have an interest in. We review what we hold when the VO publishes a new rating list and delete anything we no longer need for that purpose.
10.1 Price. The price of a full report depends on the property and the saving we indicate. It is shown on the free report and again at checkout before you pay, and that is the price you pay.
10.2 The price is a fee for the report. It is not a success fee and does not depend on what happens if you act on the report.
10.3 No VAT. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is charged. The price shown includes all our charges.
10.4 Payment. You pay by card through our payment provider, Stripe Payments UK Ltd (Stripe). We do not see or store your full card details.
10.5 The contract. Our contract with you for a full report is formed when your payment is confirmed and we send you an email confirmation.
10.6 One property. Each full report covers one property assessment on the rating list. Please check you have chosen the right property before you pay; contact us if you have not.
10.7 Pricing errors. If a price shown was obviously wrong (for example, a system error), we may cancel the order and refund you in full.
11.1 You can view your full report online for 12 months from purchase, using the link we email you, and download it as a PDF.
11.2 Anyone with your link can open the report, so keep it private.
11.3 What you may do with it. We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the report for your own purposes in connection with that property. This includes attaching it to a Check, Challenge or Appeal, and sharing it with your professional advisers, your landlord or tenant, your lender or your council.
11.4 What you may not do. You may not resell or publish the report, use it to offer a competing service, or use it to build a database.
11.5 Only you may rely on the report. Anyone you share it with relies on it at their own risk (see clause 23.4).
12.1 When you can have a refund. You can ask for a full refund by emailing support@businessratechecker.com within 14 days of buying a full report, on any of these grounds:
12.2 When you cannot have a refund. We do not give refunds because:
12.3 How refunds are paid. We will tell you within 5 working days whether your request is accepted. Accepted refunds are paid to your original payment card within 14 days, and your access to the report then ends.
12.4 Putting it right instead. Where the problem can be fixed, for example by correcting an error or re-issuing the report for the right property, we may offer to do that instead. You can still choose a refund if the request meets clause 12.1.
12.5 Consumers. If you are buying as a consumer, you have a 14-day right to cancel a contract for digital content. You can cancel within 14 days of buying a full report by emailing support@businessratechecker.com, and we will refund you as set out in clause 12.3. Your other statutory rights, including your rights if the report is faulty, are not affected.
13.1 Free reports are provided as they are, without charge, and may be changed or withdrawn at any time.
13.2 If you sign up to alerts, we will email you about rating changes near the property you chose. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can stop them at any time.
14.1 You are responsible for choosing the right property and for any information you give us.
14.2 Check before you submit. Before you send anything to the VO, check the facts yourself, for example by measuring floor areas against your lease plan. It is an offence to give the VO false information knowingly or recklessly, and penalties can apply. You are responsible for what you submit.
14.3 Keep paying your business rates bill while any Check, Challenge or Appeal is under way.
15.1 We may list or introduce independent rating surveyors. If you instruct one, your contract is with them and on their terms. We are not responsible for their advice or work.
15.2 We do not receive any fee, commission or other payment from surveyors we list or introduce.
15.3 Links to other websites, such as GOV.UK, are provided for convenience. We are not responsible for their content.
You agree not to:
17.1 The site, our reports, their design and the BusinessRateChecker name and branding are owned by us or our licensors.
17.2 Underlying public data remains the property of its owners. Our reports contain VO data © Crown copyright and public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
18.1 What we do not limit. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
18.2 Losses and expenses we are not responsible for. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, for:
18.3 Our maximum liability. Our total liability to you arising from or in connection with a full report is limited to the price you paid for that report. Where you have paid nothing (free reports, alerts and other free use of the site), we have no liability to you, to the extent the law allows.
18.4 Consumers. If you are a consumer, nothing in this clause removes your statutory rights, including your rights if a report is not as described or not supplied with reasonable care and skill. Subject to those rights, clauses 18.2 and 18.3 apply to you.
18.5 Why these limits. Our prices are low because we provide automated estimates from published data and do not inspect properties or give advice. The limits in this clause reflect that, and the fact that you decide whether to act on a report.
18.6 Time limit for business claims. If you use the service for business purposes, you must bring any claim against us within 3 months of the date you bought the report concerned, or for free services, the date you used them. After that, we have no liability to you for that claim. This time limit does not apply to consumers or to anything in clause 18.1.
We are not responsible for delay or failure caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as a failure of the VO's data feeds, our hosting or payment providers, or the internet.
20.1 If you are unhappy, please contact us at support@businessratechecker.com. We aim to reply within 5 working days and to resolve complaints within 14 days.
21.1 We use personal data as our Privacy Policy describes. Mirror Mountain Ltd is the data controller.
22.1 We may update these terms from time to time, and we will change the date at the top when we do.
22.2 The terms in force when you buy a full report apply to that purchase.
23.1 Whole agreement. For business customers, these terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about their subject. You have not relied on any statement that is not in them.
23.2 Transfer. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. You may not transfer yours without our written consent.
23.3 Severance. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.
23.4 Third parties. No one other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
23.5 No waiver. If we delay enforcing these terms, we can still enforce them later.
23.6 Notices. We may contact you by email at the address you gave us.
24.1 These terms, and any dispute or claim arising from them or their subject matter, are governed by the law of England and Wales.
24.2 The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.
BusinessRateChecker (a trading name of Mirror Mountain Ltd), 166 Dalling Road, London W6 0EU. Email: support@businessratechecker.com.