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

Zebedeee

vivatifosi wrote: »

... If property valuations are about location, location, location, then rebanding valuations are about evidence, evidence, evidence. The more you can provide the better. It took me 20 hours of research and compilation to pull together my evidence.

First of all, MANY CONGRATULATIONS! It is rare indeed to hear of a winner in these cases, but I'm absolutely sure it is because of all the hard work you put into finding evidence. When you look on the VTS website almost everybody loses their case and very often they have presented very little or no evidence. The whole experience can be very daunting (I know, my tribunal was yesterday) but you've got to be in it to win it. If you have stacks of evidence and are sure of your facts you have got to be in with a better chance.

Now I'll be looking out for the postman every day!

Zebedee

Zebedeee

missy321 wrote: »

I appealed against my council tax band in january, I have received a Notice of Hearing which is to be held on 24/07 - do I just wait & attend the hearing or should I chase it up by phoning or emailing?

The reason I ask this is because I remember someone once posting that their band got reduced before the hearing due to them complaining!

Thanks

missy321, is it an Invalidity hearing, or a proper hearing where you can put your evidence for a rebanding? If it is the full tribunal then it is still worth corresponding with the VOA, in fact the tribunal expects you to have done so. You also need to be working VERY hard collecting and compiling your evidence. You will need to have pictures and facts about other properties by way of comparison as your evidence. You can also ask the VOA to give you their evidence in advance of the tribunal (they have to do this) and you have to give them your evidence. You then hope that having read through your evidence they see that your case is a good one and they throw in the towel before the tribunal as it would save them the hassle of having to go!

HTH!

Zebedee

PS. If you need any other ideas, please pm me and I'll try to help.

Daisy_Bell

Hi Missy, Is your hearing for an Invalidity Notice Appeal? If so, it's just for you to say why you are out of time. Mine is on 27th June. I first appealed in January also. Have they also sent you a form to withdraw your proposal to alter the Valuation List? If so, don't send it in. Attend the hearing and tell 'em why you didn't appeal sooner!

bill2b

I just got a letter from the VOA rejecting my claim to be rebanded !
It also states at the bottom I have no right to appeal!!

My House is currently Band "C" so £52,001 to £68 k in 1991!

I bought thie house in 1997 6 plus years later for £52,000

Todays letter makes no mention of this and also mentions the internet valuation things are not accurate!

He does mention that all the other 11 properties in my street are also band C and nobody has desputed this so far.

Any suggestions what to do now?
He is apparently phoning me back tomorrow (Friday)

I phoned him in the end and he said that my house was valued in C band in 1991 and there was a slump in house prices afterwards, so he said that my house actually went down in price (to the tune of £1) over the six year period from 1991 till 1997
"Has anybody stepped in something?"
Anyway I have been told to write another letter and it will go higher

antonduvall

I've just received a letter from my Council's Assessors saying my band has been reduced from C to B. But there's no other info on the letter about refunds, etc

The 'effictive date' of the rebanding is Feb 2007...? I had hoped this would have been Feb 2002, when I bought the property....

Can anyone advise what I should do next to claim a backdate? I'm in Scotland, if that makes a difference.

Mark-W_2

i had my tribunal on thursday and it seemed to go reasonably well.
The VTS panel were impressed with the sheer level of evidence i had, 60pages with 22 similar properties in comparison.

The VTS didnt have time to go through 10% of my evidence so were going away to read through it properly.
Hopefully they will agree with my evidence as it was far stronger than the voa's evidence.

vivatifosi

Thanks to everyone who sent me their best wishes on my successful tribunal, but especially good luck to everyone else waiting for their response. Can't wait to hear how you got on Zebedeee, MinMoz and Mark W ... wishing you all the very best of luck!

Youngy

Zebedeee wrote: »

It is rare indeed to hear of a winner in these cases, but I'm absolutely sure it is because of all the hard work you put into finding evidence. When you look on the VTS website almost everybody loses their case and very often they have presented very little or no evidence.

This is a little worrying. We followed Martin's info and found 2 neighbours with larger detached properties were in band G. We are a semi in band G, have lived here since prior to 1991. We live in a small village where the houses are all individual. We appealed on the grounds these 2 neighbours are in lower band G (1 of which is a larger new build detached) and have been told no grounds for appeal, have since carried on following it through and this week received a letter from the VTS confirming the appeal is registered, and that they aim to list the appeal for hearing within the next 6 months.

I am hoping these neighbours in lower band, especially the new build which must have been recently banded, are grounds enough for appeal. What other information can I use to support my claim? Seems quite difficult when the neighbours houses are all different. Obviously we are currently in the highest band and stand to make quite a saving/refund so am anxious to aid the process as much as possible.

Thanks for any help you can offer

Maisie

vivatifosi wrote: »

I am posting here rather than on the successes board because I've been posting here for a couple of weeks regarding my tribunal. I have just received my judgement and am very pleased to say I won.

This is in spite of the fact that there was a property the same model as mine that the previous tribunal upheld the decision on, AND that the Listing Officer suggested that I drop my case on that basis. If property valuations are about location, location, location, then rebanding valuations are about evidence, evidence, evidence. The more you can provide the better. It took me 20 hours of research and compilation to pull together my evidence. A long time, but I will get about £300 back and save £300+ pa going forward (until they change the bands again no doubt!)

If you think you have a case and are within the six months period that an appeal is allowed, then go for it. I so nearly listened to the Listings Officer and withdrew my appeal, and when I went to tribunal he mentioned that many others had done the same, and was using this as part of his evidence to uphold the banding.

If you are outside of the six months you can still look for a valid reason to appeal. If there is good reason to appeal on the grounds of a material reduction of the value of your home you can do so after the six months. This is generally because part of your home has been demolished (eg an extension), but can also be due to a material change in the local physical environment or due to adaptation for use by a physically disabled person. You can see the full grounds for appeal in the Council Tax Manual at:

http://www.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/council-tax-manual/CT%20Manual%20(Sep%2006).pdf

Good luck everyone!

vivatifosi. Very well done. Good to hear of a winner from this thread.

Your post gives hope to many others.

Maisie

Maisie

Zebedeee wrote: »

Woo yes, I'm at Lincoln too! Getting more nervous by the minute:eek:

Zebedee. Wishing you all the very best and hope the postman brings good news.

You deserve it for all the help you give others.

Maisie