Carecall Limited v Karen Giles (VO)

Facts

The appellant, Carecall Limited, runs care homes for the elderly. On 19 June 2025 the Valuation Officer served on it a decision under regulation 13 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2009/2268, following a challenge seeking deletion of 124 Carholme Road, Lincoln, from the valuation list with effect from 1 April 2023. The four-month period for appealing to the Valuation Tribunal for England ended on 19 October 2025, but the appeal was submitted on 7 June 2026, 231 days late. The appellant's director, Mr Shiv Ghai, explained that the company had instructed a rating agent to lodge the appeal, that the agent had not done so, and that from September 2025 serious health problems prevented him from monitoring the agent or appealing himself. His last contact with the agent was on 24 September 2025. By a decision of 2 July 2026 the VTE applied the three-stage approach in Denton v TH White Ltd and dismissed the appeal as exceptionally late. It noted that Mr Ghai had returned to work in a reduced capacity, that a second director could have appealed, and that the appeal appeared to have no reasonable prospect of success. The appellant appealed to the Upper Tribunal, which decided the matter on written representations; the Valuation Officer chose not to take part.