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Council Tax Dispute – Liability After Student Moved Out
Hi everyone, hoping for some advice. I appreciate we are not reclaiming Council tax but couldnt find another suitable category for this post. My son was a full-time student living in Liverpool in a shared flat. He started university in Sept 2024 and had to leave in November, he left the property on 25 November 2024 due to…
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Probate - Council Not Issuing Final Council Tax Bill/Invoice
I'm the executor for my late father-in-law's estate. The probate process has been time-consuming but mostly without any major problems. The property has been sold and all bills paid with the exception of one. I cannot get any response from the Council for a final council tax bill. (I think we owe about 5-6 weeks of council…
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Mortgage Search Fees
If a mortgage falls through before searches are completed are the search fees refundable if they have done no work ie done any searches. If they refuse to refund as a service hasn’t been supplied would section 75 refund apply?
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Council Tax Challenge Comparison Advice
I'm trying to help an elderly neighbour to decide if she should challenge her CT Band. She is in Band C and the second part of Martin's pre challenge check is easy, the 1991 value suggests an A or B. She lives in a 2 up 2 down terrace. It's the first part I'm struggling with, comparing like for like. Our Street is full of…
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Council Tax re-banded down - but refund impossible to obtain
I successfully challenged my Council Tax Band from F to E, which took the VOA 17 months to respond to! I've had our revised Council Tax bill, but thats where it stops. We're owed almost £4k and yet there is no guidance, no form and no response at Basildon Council to figure out how I get our money back. I'm absolutely…
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Council Tax Band Appeal
Hi The house that I own is a 2-bed bungalow that was built in the late 1960's and extended/altered in 2001/2 to provide additional space on the ground floor and a bedroom and a bathroom in the former loft. I purchased in August last year. In late December the VOA notified me that it had moved the property from Council Tax…
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Unsure if I should appeal my council tax banding decision
I purchased a two bedroom cottage last September. As part of the conveyancing process, my Solicitor suggested I should challenge the band (it’s an E). I did this in November and received a rejection today. I feel slightly out of my depth and am not sure whether to appeal or not, but I struggle to understand how larger…
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Council tax exemption F and will trust
Could anyone advise on who is legal owner / liable for council tax? Joint Owner 1 (mum) died 2018 and created a will trust for her share, held as tenants in common with owner 2 (dad). Owner 2 became a life tenant. Owner 2 died August 2025. They paid council tax in full as owner and trustee until date of death. Class F…
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Compensation for new road - Loss of property value?
Hi everyone, Apologies as new here and not sure which is best section to post this query. Has anyone had experience of the Land Compensation Act please? A little background; we have lived for over 30 years in a rural spot, surrounded on all sides by pasture farmland. A few years ago, plans surfaced to build a by-pass…
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Currently not paying council tax for new build property, need advice
Hi All, I have moved into a new build last November and since moving in I have not been charged council tax, I have called my local council and they deferred me to the VOA (Valuation Office Agency), upon speaking to them they never received something called a "Billing Authorisation report" and suggested I speak to the…
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Council tax on second home
Apologies if this has already been answered. I did look but couldn't find a situation exactly the same. A friend has a main residence in Europe and a small house in the UK where he stays for a couple of months a year. He is being charged double council tax on his UK home as it apparently counts as a second home. My…
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Double payment?
My council tax bounced for the first time in the seven years I've been paying it. At the moment it is heavily reduced due to personal circumstances. I borrowed some money and have since paid it on the bank holiday and it said it had gone through. Forgot to get a reciept but meant to and I do have the payment recorded on my…
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Check My Group Ltd HMRC refund
HI everyone I feel a bit silly but i must have signed up to this company on facebook. I have received a letter from HMRC saying they have sent a cheque to Check my Group Ltd for a refund. I've been trying to find a number for this company and can't and trust pilot reviews many people are saying they've received a letter…
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Can we get our council tax band changed?
Hi everyone, We’ve been doing some searching in regards to council tax bands. We moved into our current home 3 weeks ago and our council tax band is E (Cheshire east) since Council tax came into effect in April 1993. The property was built in 1932, our query is in regards to local improvements. A large shopping complex…
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South Lanarkshire Council Tax Appeal
I’m trying to appeal our council tax banding, but the SAA won’t accept a valuation using the Nationwide back-calculator. The flat has been in the family since it was built mid-1800s, so has never been on the open market. My dad bought his brother out in 2003 after a valuation by a couple of estate agents and using the…
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Should I appeal VOA decision?
I posted a fair while back, regarding appealing my Council tax band decision. For background, I live in a development that was built in 1999, and most houses sold in early 2000's. Prices paid at the time, when using the terrible indices method indicate the band for my type of property (there are 3 identical ones in the…
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Council Tax - Single Persons Discount Review
Hello folks I have lived alone in a flat I own in the Epping Forest District Council area and been claiming my single persons discount for many years. My girlfriend is Taiwanese and been over here studying for her PhD as a full time student. She moved in with me in the autumn of 2020 but, as a full time student, would not…
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Mis-sold life insurance?
Hi This is a strange one, I was sold life insurance with L&G through a broker. However the broker was a friend and I felt bullied into buying it, this happened to many more ‘friends’ who since cancelled their policies. I recently realised that the policy is only for 20 years, I maybe naively thought life insurance was for…
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Council Tax
I had a property which i was renovating following separation with my wife. I was contacted by the council to be informed a premium would be applied as it had been empty for over 12 months. in essence doubling my council tax. I was living in my motorhome so i advised them i would move into the property whilst i undertook…
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Band challenge in new development
We moved into our new build about 4 months ago and only recently received our council tax banding. As expected, all properties of the same style on the development are the same band. The banding seems high to me and I am going to challenge it. I've done research and found plenty of other houses within 1/2 mile of ours that…
