Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

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Comments

  • HI
    Thanks i followed your process even though my house is unique and hard to compare with others . But i did it on the purchase price and compared to the nearest like houses near by.
    i got my band lowered form F to E and pay back to the date i moved in 1999! total £2100:beer:
    to skellett
    the letter comes from the valuation office and the refund comes from your local council tax office . As soon as i received from the valuation saying band was lowered i chased the refund with the council tax the refund arrived by cheque a fews later.
    .
  • Not sure if this is where I should be posting this, but I just wanted to warn everyone out there who have been getting their tax bands lowered, that the VOA can still come back and up your banding in a few years time. I have been in my house for 10 years, the banding as far as I am concerned was correct but suddenly out of the blue my band has been increased. My neighbours who had appealed against and won their case against their banding some years ago (they were higher than me) have also been told that their bands will increase. We will of course be appealing but I just wanted to warn you all.
  • Hi, Even if they up the banding they wouldn't back date it would they?
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,510
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    No, if band increased because previous band was inaccurate, then cannot be backdated.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • Have just received letter from VOA informing me of a band change - from E to D. Very pleased because that's about £1000 refund for last 4 years and up to £300 a year savings from now on. Wouldn't have done it without this forum focus - quick tip - be very polite and use the guide from this website - I backed-up my claim with a very clear table of current prices of all my neighbours houses and calculations of what they were worth in 1991 - clearly put me in band D with the others.

    Now all I have to do is chase for the refund...watch this space...:T
    'Proud To Be Dealing With My Debts' : Member number 632
    Nerds rule! :cool:
  • It isn't the council who have lowered your band, it is the Valuation Office Agency. The VOA don't deal with money side of Council Tax but do notify council of band reduction. Depending on council and time of year it can sometimes take 6/8 weeks to get refund, often if it is (relatively) small amount then payments for either current or following CT year are reduced, rather than actual cash (cheque in fact) refund.

    No I know the VOA changed my banding but the council tax office wrote to me saying that it was changed to a band A but they never mentioned back pay to me :(
    They have just readjusted my council tax bill for next year thats it?? Im confiused :(
  • arunadasi
    arunadasi Posts: 1,237
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    Hooray! Got my letter today. I have been rebanded!
    From C to B. I haven't got the figures yet, my letter was from the Valuation Office Agency. When the Council gives me more info I shall post the details.

  • Refund has gone straight to my bank £1112 - not bad - has gone straing to my HSBC card and cut it down by 50% - df date slashed to just 12 months now!
    'Proud To Be Dealing With My Debts' : Member number 632
    Nerds rule! :cool:
  • scarfie wrote: »
    Local Borough Council: Wirral Borough Council
    Council Tax Band Before: B

    Council Tax Band After: A
    Amount refunded: £1,666


    sport-smiley-001.gifFollowed Martins guide, did my homework on the bands in my road and the 1991 value of recently sold properties then made the phone call to the valuation office. Simply told them that, I thought I was in the wrong band, didn't even have to reveal any other info other than some details of the house, when we bought it etc. One week later I got a letter from the valuation office, rebanding me and two weeks after that I got a letter from the council advising me that they would be refunding £1,666 in overpaid council tax since 1993. They have also reduced my remaining three months payments and of course next year I'll be paying Band A . One phone call and I'm now £1,666 better off. Thanks Martin - excellent tip.
    Have just passed Martins top tip:money: on to my father and he has now contacted the valuation office - hoping for a rebanding down to a B....to be continued.

    (3/2/09) Success for my little old Dad too - he made a quick phone call to Wirral Borough Council and even though half the houses in his road where band B and half band C he got re-banded down from a C to a B and got a refund of over £1,000 too.
    :T
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,510
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    skellett - depending on how long you've been in property and effective date of new band, council can just adjust next year's payments rather than give refund. This is the norm for many councils, but I understand it may be possible to have refund rather than adjusted payment.
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
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