Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

Skippy2roo · 31 July 2007 at 1:06PM

Hy
I too read Martins post about claiming back council tax and when i visited the VOA website and lodged my banding appeal i should have realised then it was too good to be true.
This is from the VOA website and unless i read Martins post too quick he fails to mention this

"[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]If you think you meet one of the limited circumstances by which a valid proposal can be made - for example, if you have moved into a property within the last six months and you think the band is wrong - you can complete a proposal form online."[/FONT]

I refer to the following on the limited circumstances link

10. If you become a new Council Taxpayer for a dwelling, you have a period of six months within which to challenge the valuation band of your property. You may do this as long as the Valuation Tribunal or High Court has not previously considered a challenge by a previous occupier on the same facts.

When you click sumbit to lodge your appeal you will get a letter back from the council stating

" I do NOT consider your proposal meets the limited circumstances and i must treat it as INVALID "

You then have to compile a covering letter effectively grassing other residents up as you have to give examples on your street of the same style of housing as yours but in different bands..........This does not bother me but it may others.

I apologise if i have miss read Martins report but i thought it may be of some informative input.

guppy · 31 July 2007 at 11:11PM

Skippy2roo,

Its true that you can only go through the formal appeal process in limited circumstances, but the VOA still have a legal duty to ensure bandings are correct. If you raise a query at any time they have a duty to look in to it.

If you've received the "invalid proposal" letter its just a legal formality, they will still have raised a query to look at your band. Unfortunately you do have fewer rights in these circumstances, you can't appeal to a valuation tribunal or see confidential sales data of other people's houses.

You don't necessarily have to write in with any further evidence. That said, unless you are one of the lucky ones and there is an obvious error, you may get a swift (or not so swift) rejection.

Writing out all your arguments is probably useful, I would say it is vital if they have already told you your band is correct once. (This is different from simply saying your appeal is invalid).

If you write in you can also draw their attention to things that might help your case. The VOA should be objective (some may disagree) but they are unlikely to go out of their way to look for reasons to reduce your band.

Comparing to neighbours is a tactic that can work well, the VOA are supposed to ensure council tax bands are "fair and consistent". That said, occasionally it can backfire, so you need to be careful its definitely yours that is wrong, not their's. Personally, I don't see it as grassing anyone up...its all public information, and you're certainly not trying to get them penalised (I hope!).

If you are rejected but are still unhappy I'd recommend phoning the person that dealt with your case and asking them to explain their decision. You may find they have made incorrect assumptions about your property or others nearby etc. which you can use in your own arguments second time around.

Good luck, if you do decide to take things further there is loads of relevant advice further back on this thread.

Guppy

hedgewitch_2 · 1 August 2007 at 7:43AM

About 3 years ago all properties here were reassessed and my council tax band was lowered from D to C. At the time my husband was very ill and I wasn't thinking straight. Now I realise I should have claimed for overpayments in previous years. Would I still be able to do this or is it too late?
Joan

cooksfen · 1 August 2007 at 10:59AM

I went to a tribunal sometime ago and I have only just received the decision.

I argued two points:-

Firstly, we should have been banded C as all like for like properties are banded C.

Secondly, Agricultural land less than 1/4 mile from us had a change of use after 1992, with subsequent planning permissions for motor sports which results in over 200 events per year and activity every weekend without exception, the banding should be reduced again!

I was only given a copy of their notes and comparisons on arrival at the tribunal so didn't really get a chance to look through their arguments. The paperwork given to the panel was incomplete with pages missing - they forgot to double side copy – which included copies of the planning permissions.

The properties they presented were all in another area and benefit from mains elec/drainage and associated benefits of village life etc and is not impacted by the motor sports activity. One property is quoted as having 3 bedrooms and they have 5.

Not surprisingly they have rebanded to C which of course is a victory.

However there is no mention of the material change and they imply that this was in existence prior to 1992 – not so. Also 2 of the properties I highlighted they argue should not have been D but should have been D/E and F!! Another property has been left off the list entirely.

Can I appeal and if so how and to whom? Or should I just shut up and put up!

PeteW · 1 August 2007 at 11:45AM

Student Discount

Hiya, for the last 2 years my girlfriend, who I live with, has been doing a masters degree. At first she was doing it full-time and now she is doing it part-time.

I believe that now she's only part-time, I'm not eligible for the discount, but I did not realise I could claim the discount while she was full time.

Am I able to reclaim the excess tax I paid whilst she was working full time?

Thanks

Pete

Shimla · 1 August 2007 at 1:38PM

Hi Skippy2roo and Guppy

Your advice is valuable.

I have read as well as heard Martin’s video about making a claim. His advice is very clear and here is what he said in that video:

Make an Appeal not request to Local listing office. They have a legal imperative that they must maintain the integrity of the council tax-banding list. Write them a letter that “I do not believe that the council tax banding list is correct. I know you have a legal duty to maintain the integrity of that list. And under that duty I would like to ask you to investigate my property because I believe it is misbanded.”

What I wanted to know is that should I write a simple letter as above or should I write it as if I am appealing because the tax banding is incorrect giving them details why it is wrong. As I said in my previous post that I know what I paid for my property way back in 1985 and also I know the banding of similar houses/flats in my street that are banded C. Mine is banded as D.

I am being very cautious here as being older person I am nervous of going to attend tribunal etc if it happens.

Please advise how should I proceed:o .

Shimla

italia · 1 August 2007 at 6:33PM

what if you dont live in the house anymore but overpaid for 20 yrs can you claim it back?

vivatifosi · 1 August 2007 at 7:18PM

hedgewitch wrote: »

About 3 years ago all properties here were reassessed and my council tax band was lowered from D to C. At the time my husband was very ill and I wasn't thinking straight. Now I realise I should have claimed for overpayments in previous years. Would I still be able to do this or is it too late?
Joan

Go to the VOA website (www.voa.gov.uk) and look up your property. You should see an 'effective from' date. This is the date that your council tax rebanding was backdated to. In my case, my house was rebanded back to when the house was built, and the council was trying to track down the former owners too. If your house was rebanded due to a change in the local environment the 'effective from' date may be more recent and you may not be entitled to any additional refund. I don't think you would be too late to claim if you are entitled to additional money, I think the statute of limitations is longer than this, hopefully someone will clarify that point.

vivatifosi · 1 August 2007 at 7:29PM

cooksfen,

With your decision you should have received a copy of the leaflet 'Notice of Decision', a copy of which can be seen at:
http://www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/guidance-notes/Notice%20of%20Decision.pdf
This outlines the reasons you can appeal and the timescales in which you need to do it. It may be the case that you can appeal on the grounds of a clerical mistake, but I would check, and do it quickly. The key thing is to make sure that you don't leave it too late as the timescales are not long.

guppy · 1 August 2007 at 7:29PM

Hi Shimla,

The video sounds a bit misleading. Check the VOA website to see if you have any grounds to make a formal appeal. If not you need to take the "informal" route. If you mention "appeal" and aren't eligible you'll probably get the same letter Skippy2roo got.

Only the formal route can end up at a Valuation Tribunal. With the informal route you don't have that option. If the VOA say "no" and you you disagree, your only hope is to try and persuade them they are wrong with your own evidence.

Either way, the more evidence you can provide, the better chance you have. That said, some lucky people just phone up and get their band reduced immediately. It all depends on the circumstances of your case.

Good luck

italia, the short answer is no. The people living there now have to do it. If it was reduced, you'd get your share of the refund.

Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

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