Small business claims

What are the criteria to qualify?

1. A clear loss of gross profit as a direct result of our gas street works and not other factors such as economic downturn, loss of key staff, a new competitor opening, an act of God etc.
2. The business must depend on direct custom to the premise to enable normal trading
3. The business has remained open for trade for the duration of the gas street works
4. Our gas street works must have taken place for more than 28 consecutive days
5. The business must have an aggregate annual turnover less than £1 million, as at 1996 prices (Aggregate annual turnover threshold is currently £1.777 million as of March 2017)
6. The loss of gross profit must be more than 2.5% of the aggregate annual turnover of the business, or group, for the financial year ending before the completion of our gas street works (minimum £500 claim also applies)
7. Written intent of your initial intention to claim must be submitted within 3 months of the completion of our gas street works
8. Required information must be submitted within 6 months of the completion of our gas street works (this includes all required supporting information to support the claim)

What supporting information is required for my claim?

1. Previous annual accounts (preferably audited accounts if available) for the three years before the claim. If the business has been trading for less than three years, accounts from the beginning of trade will be required along with a business plan to demonstrate forecasts
2. Accounts for the year in which the disruption occurred to support the final settlement
3. If the business is not required to produce audited accounts, the original figures as submitted to HM Revenue & Customs will be required, and also copies of the VAT returns for the periods in (1) and (2) above should also be provided
4. Balance sheets for three years before and during the claim period
5. Breakdown of the sales and number of transactions per week for the three years before and during the claim period, or alternatively enclosed within the Small Business Compensation Claim Pack is a data sheet example. Please contact the Loss of Business Customer Care team if you would like an electronic version to complete. If weekly figures are not available, monthly figures may be accepted
6. Business statement of losses incurred and how the business has calculated the loss
7. Confirmation whether the business is registered for VAT purposes and whether the sales figures provided are inclusive of VAT or not

We reserve the right to complete additional investigations, request additional information to support the validation of the claim, or audit any original books or documentation to verify the claim. Where appropriate, we may also request copies of licenses, permits, or certificates you hold.

The information you provide may be shared with our independent third party claims consultants who we may appoint on our behalf to validate claims and any information will be treated as strictly confidential.

It should be noted that the HM Revenue & Customs and our regulator have a right to request details and audit any compensation payments.