Westminster licensees urged to claim PEL refunds

Licensees in Westminster are being urged to reclaim thousands of pounds of overpaid licence fees.

The trade association claims a rebate is due on public entertainment licences (PEL) held under the old licensing regime.

These were renewable on an annual basis and automatically expired on November 24, 2005 when the new Licensing Act took effect.

The rebate will not be paid automatically and licensees are being urged to make sure that they do not miss the deadline of 13th February 2006 for applying for it.

Westminster City Council wrote to all late night licence holders at the end of January, but to date many qualifying premises have yet to receive their application for a rebate.

Kate Nicholls, secretary of the Westminster Licensees Association, said: "A large number of our members have yet to receive their application forms. It may be that the council's list is incomplete or that letters have been sent to the wrong individuals. We are very concerned that the council has chosen to impose such a tight and arbitrary deadline for claims."

"This is money which our members are due. Many licensees simply cannot afford to lose this type of money and should act now to claim what is rightfully theirs."

She went on to urge all businesses which previously held Public Entertainment Licences to contact the Ian White at Westminster's Licensing Service (020 7641 8549) to ensure their premises are listed and to stake a claim for a refund.

Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, said: "We have contacted all our members in the capital to make sure that they do not miss out on this rebate through ignorance or inertia. There has been precious little publicity surrounding the ability to reclaim this money.

"We would strongly urge former PEL holders in other local authority areas to check the status of any unexpired portions of their licences - Westminster may simply be the tip of the iceberg".