A ratepayer has secured a large refund of rates by establishing that it was not in rateable occupation when the rates were paid.  Another party was in occupation of other parts of the premises.  In Atos IT Services Ltd v Fylde BC [2020] EWHC 647 (QB) the High Court ruled that this meant that neither party was in rateable occupation, and as such the ratepayer was entitled to a refund in principle (which the local authority subsequently agreed to provide, with costs).  The judgment reviews all the authorities on partial occupation going back to the nineteenth century and is due to be included in the law reports.  

Cain Ormondroyd appeared for the successful ratepayer.