Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

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  • eden37
    eden37 Posts: 89 Forumite
    I did this a few years ago and reclaimed about £600 (as I'd only been in the house 3 years). I went from band B to band A as I had all the documents from my solicitor when I purchased the house detailing how much it had been sold for in the past. This showed that the house had changed hands for about £20,000 in 1989 - and I argued that house prices didn't double between 89 and 91 when the valuations were taken. This meant my house wouldn't have been worth more than £40,000 (band B) in 91. If you've kept your solicitors documents when the property was purchased, this can be a useful piece of evidence. Especially if it's changed hands several times.
    Murphys no more pies club member 275:j
  • April 2007
    Council - South Lakeland District Council
    5 weeks after making appeal, got letter advising that council tax band had been rebanded from E to D. Got refund for 5 years overpayment - £1400+ and next door neighbour got 9 years refund of £2400 (she had recieved single persons discount) What a result.


    My next door neighbour had been on at me for years saying that we were in the wrong band but at 87 she didn't know how to start appealing. After reading article in The Daily Telegraph and on this website, I did some investigations and found that at the time of valuation in 1991 we should have been band D. Phoned the local valuation office - very hopeful for a rebanding and refund. The lady in the valuation office did say that the Nationwide website to calculate prices was very generalised over the whole country - so try this link - https://www.projectanalyser.co.uk/CouncilTaxTool/CouncilReviewCalculator.aspx

    This seems to give a more accurate valuation at 1991 because it uses your actual postcode and local authority.

    As band E is the widest band, therefore capturing the most properties, If you are in E I would definitely check whether you are in the correct band or not.

    Looking forward to hearing back from the valuation office in a few weeks!
  • Wyre Forest Council
    Council tax before: Band E
    Council tax after: Band D
    Refund ££399.95 plus remaining council tax being covered, plus previous owner got the rest of the refund.:beer:


    We only moved in in 2005, and I saw Matin's write up in the Times, so I looked into it, and it worked for me. They did tell me it should have been done within six months of moving in, but you can appeal, so everyone should appeal and get a refund if it is owed. Do do your homework on all the facts before going to the VOA, you do not want your tax band increasing.

    The great thing is that our council have even written to all the other houses in our street and changed their council tax banding since I did mine, not that any of them know it was me, I am just pleased that I did some good for them all.

    Good luck to you all:j :j
  • council tax band before: F
    Concil tax band after: E
    Amount saved:£25 per month

    I have recently appealed our council tax banding to get it from an F to an E.

    At first I was outrightly turned down but then went online and appealed the decision.

    Thanks to the info on this site and some simple research I told them how we had the same no of bedrooms and reception rooms ofthe other half of our semi and we should be valued at the same level.

    My court date came through followed by 4 intimidating letters saying that I needed to tell them if I did not plan to attend the hearing and to prepare a proper representation for my case.

    I have stood firm!!!And not been intimidated to step down!!!

    2 days before the hearing I received a letter saying that they were happy to downgrade us to an E.

    So...the moral of the story is ....sit tight...do your research on other properties in the area....and wait for some results. When they know you mean business I think they play ball!!!

    Good on ya Martin!:beer:
    man who go to bed with itchy bottom wake up with smelley finger!:eek:
  • Local Borough Council: West Lothian
    Council Tax Band Before: F
    Council Tax Band After: E
    Amount refunded: not sure yet


    This was so easy to do. I read the article Martin wrote on this issue about 2 weeks ago and I got an idea what he was talking about. I looked up the house price of my next door neighbour which is a different stlye of house but was more or less identical value to mine. I then looked at their band and they were in E and I was in F. So I appealed through the valuation board in Scotland 2 weeks ago and this morning, I just received an email and it said this;

    Dear

    Having made enquiries concerning the Council Tax Band at the above
    address I now intend to reduce your banding from Band F to Band E with
    effect from the date you became liable at the above address.


    RESULT.. and thanks to Martin & Co. for pointing this out.
    :money:
  • MSE_Archna wrote:
    This thread is especially for reporting your successes in getting your council tax rebanded plus refunds.


    The aim is to show others that it works.

    Please report your successes here, if possible in the format:

    Local Borough Council: BROMLEY
    Council Tax Band Before:B
    Council Tax Band After:A
    Amount £1050refunded:
    Annual saving going forward:£70

    Plus if possible a few details on your experiences.
    It was very simple. I contacted the adjudicator with the reason why my flat should be rebanded (same size as flat below but flat below was band a).
    I got a letter of confirmation about three weeks later. I got my confirmation of refun, from Bromly, three weeks after that and then the cheques a month afterwards. IMPORTANT NOTE! This thread is only to report succcesses

    Please note this thread is ONLY for reporting successes/experiences. It isn't for answering questions, discussing what to do, or postulating on the general issues; any posts of that nature will be deleted. If you want to do that please instead go to the Discussion on Council Tax Cost Cutting

    12345678910
  • I check my Council Tax address on my old address, and I was astonsished to find that the hole street had DIFFERENT BANDS. The bands went B, C, B, C, B and so on. All the houses were the same size, so I dont know why the banding was like that.

    BUT because I have moved they are saying that I can not claim. Is this true?

    Caroline
  • Just thought I would point out another way to challenge your tax banding...

    If you dont recall anyone coming to survey your house in the very early 1990's to check your tax banding, then its probable that your house was not specifically checked! Instead, the council *checked a small number of houses in your area and assumed your house is the same*.

    If your house is close to the bottom of a band, then you can argue that you should actually be in the next lowest band if your house is not typical.

    This was the case with my house, and I was able to have my house rebanded down because of it.

    In particular, I argued that a typical house in the areas would have cental heating installed, and I could prove that mine did not have this in the 1990's. I did this by showning reciepts of central heating installation work done in the early 2004 (when I actually moved in to the property).

    This may be the case with many houses; your house is close to the bottom of the band but there is something about the house that makes it atypical (e.g. most other houses on the street have a garage and yours does not, etc). This is a good way of rebanding *even when your house is the same band as the other houses on the same street*. This works because the council did not take account of minor per-house differences when banding.

    S
  • Thanks to this site I have just recieved £2890 council tax refund. it was so easy, I just looked up the other houses in my street, spotted some were lower than mine, wrote to the valuation office, filled in the forms, got my refund and now booking the tickets to Florida courtesy of Martin and Derbyshire council.

    Go on, have a go, if I can do it anyone can.

    Yinny
  • After seeing Martin on TV last week, I applied online against my council tax banding. I followed the instructions on this site, and found that my property had a value of band B back in 1993 (currently charged as C) and my next door neighbour with the exact same flat is Band B after appealing in 1993. I had a very swift response telling me i should have appealed within 6 months of moving in and my appeal has been rejected. I moved in in 1996 but had no clue that I could do this until a week ago. I have written back asking to get this taken to tribunal also citing 24 neighbouring flats that are band C like mine, but are larger and have more bedrooms.

    I don't hold out much hope but would like to hear from anyone else with the same experience. Do we have any influence on the tribunal and is it the end of the argument if they reject your appeal?

    Thanks
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