Checked against the rating list and the rules in force as at 2026-08-23.
Employment Allowance reduces an employer’s National Insurance bill by up to £10,500 a year. It has nothing to do with business rates. It is claimed through your payroll software, which is precisely why it gets overlooked. Where it was never claimed, it can generally be claimed for up to four previous tax years.
It isn’t on your council bill and it isn’t on the corporation tax return. It’s a setting in the payroll software.
The result is a standoff. Your accountant may assume it is already switched on, you have never heard of it, and the employer’s National Insurance goes on being overpaid year after year.
It’s the largest single recovery we make, because a claim settles several years at once.
A Chinese restaurant in Camden had never had the box ticked. Once found, it was claimed for the current year and for four previous tax years. Finding it took under ten minutes: one look at the employer’s National Insurance line on a payroll submission.
Broadly, an employer with staff and a liability to employer’s National Insurance.
One condition catches people out. A company with a single director and no other employees cannot claim. Family companies and husband-and-wife businesses need to look carefully at the real employment position, and we have seen this misjudged in both directions.
Charities, limited companies and partnerships each have their own detail. Three questions usually settle a given case: who is on the payroll, what the employer’s National Insurance came to, and whether anyone has already ticked the box.
Send a screenshot of a recent payroll submission, or the employer’s National Insurance figure from it. We will tell you the same day whether anything has been missed.
If you are already claiming, we will say so, and that costs nothing.
Every retail and hospitality premises in London has been checked against the official rating list. Enter your address to see yours. No sign-up, no phone number.
Public data only. We do not ask for your rates bill, and there is nothing to upload.
If there's nothing to save, we say so.
Send your address, or a photo of your bill, and we’ll tell you within one working day whether there is anything worth looking at. WhatsApp 07594 933857.
If there's nothing to save, we say so. James replies personally within one working day, usually sooner. We reply by WhatsApp, text or email, never a cold call. No mailing lists.
Sources: Claim Employment Allowance (GOV.UK)
Each borough page carries the spread of rateable values and the value per square metre, by type of premises. It also ranks the most expensive streets in the borough. Those aggregations are ours.
We checked 109,537 London retail and hospitality premises against the 2026 rating list — seeing your street’s figures is free, no sign-up.