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

Maisie

geoff1057 wrote: »

can anyone give me any info please

Geoff. You can't go on the Nationwide calculator alone. Look at my post #1581 to Pip. You'll have to find some other evidence. ie archived library house sales for 1991 etc.
If you look back on the thread there's loads of information and excellent advice from posters who've been through the review/appeal system and you should find something to help you.

Maisie

geoff1057

Maisie wrote: »

Geoff. You can't go on the Nationwide calculator alone. Look at my post #1581 to Pip. You'll have to find some other evidence. ie archived library house sales for 1991 etc.
If you look back on the thread there's loads of information and excellent advice from posters who've ben through the review/appeal system and you should find something to help you.

Maisie

Thanks Maisie for the advice ,will research a bit more thanks Geoff:beer:

Maisie

geoff1057 wrote: »

Thanks Maisie for the advice ,will research a bit more thanks Geoff:beer:

Geoff . You're welcome.

Would suggest to anyone starting the review procedure to look back at the posts on this thread. There's loads of good advice and information. Most from experience!

Hope it goes well for you Geoff. If you're really stuck someone will help.

Maisie

SUGARSPICE

Hi

Just worked out that we are in Band C and should be in Band B (England).

How do we work out how much is to be refunded?

Im confused

Thanks In Advance.

Maisie

SUGARSPICE wrote: »

Hi

Just worked out that we are in Band C and should be in Band B (England).

How do we work out how much is to be refunded?

Im confused

Thanks In Advance.

Sugarspice. Have you been successful in an appeal to voa? If so they will inform the council and they will work out how much rebate is owed to you.

If you're just looking at the calculator and think your banding should be different it's not as easy as that. You'll have to check your banding against the neighbours with similar properties. If there's a difference you can ask the voa for a review. It helps if you've been in the property less than 6 months otherwise they will turn you down and you will have to provide further evidence as to why you should be in a lower band.

Read the previous posts there's a lot of information that will help you.

Maisie

valleymatt

I've recently asked for my banding to be re-assessed as I am the only flat in a block of 6 that is classed in Band C. 4 others are in Band B and 1 is in Band A. The council have sent me a form to fill in which I have done, but they also state that 'if no alteration is appropriate you will not be able to appeal against my decision'. Can they do this? I thought an appeal against no alteration would be allowed and do not see why it wouldn't.

Regards,
Valleymatt

guppy

valleymatt wrote: »

I've recently asked for my banding to be re-assessed as I am the only flat in a block of 6 that is classed in Band C. 4 others are in Band B and 1 is in Band A. The council have sent me a form to fill in which I have done, but they also state that 'if no alteration is appropriate you will not be able to appeal against my decision'. Can they do this? I thought an appeal against no alteration would be allowed and do not see why it wouldn't.

Regards,
Valleymatt

Have a look at Maisie's post at the top of this page

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=5829369&postcount=1581

Daisy_Bell

We started the ball rolling with the VOA some time in January and it took about six weeks for them to send us the standard letter saying that they did not agree with our assertion that our banding was incorrect and sending us an Appeal Against Notice of Invalid Proposal Form. We sent it off and it took a further month for the Clerk to the Tribunals to acknowledge receipt of the Appeal and to tell us that it would be listed for hearing within the next six months. (This was around the middle of March) They were so certain that the Tribunal would be a waste of time (which it was) they also sent a form for us to complete stating we would not go ahead with our Appeal (which we didn't send in) However, our Tribunal was eventually set for towards the end of June. We did attend it, knowing it was a waste of time and sure enough, today, one month later, we have received a notification saying the Tribunal had dismissed our case for the reason that we were 'Out of Time' with our Appeal!) What a surprise! We can now only wait for the VOA to carry out a further review of our banding (which they agreed to do in May and we have not heard anything from them since!)
So Caris, since the VOA have been so inundated with people protesting about their bandings since Martin's two programmes, it's pretty obvious that everything will have now slowed down considerably while they struggle to deal with them all. I can't see them employing extra staff can you? :rolleyes: Anyway, the next people you'll be hearing from will be the Tribunals Office itself, rather than the VOA. They (the VOA) never acknowledged receipt of the forms, only sent us a letter saying they had 'Looked' at our reasons for thinking our banding was incorrect and disagreeing with them! It was only when we sent them photographs of the different properties in our road and evidence of sales (calculated only I'm afraid) and also pointing out that they had a duty to keep their records accurate, that they agreed to carry out a further review. As I said, this was back in May and we have heard nothing since!

SUGARSPICE

Maisie

Thank you for getting back to me.

Im Band C and it shows I should be in Band B by doing the calculator.

Ive been living in a 1 Bedroom Flat for 4 Years (Feb 2004 - Present)
Everyone else in the flats are also Band C.

Does this make a difference?

What about if the Flats are a mixture of 1 & 2 Bedrooms?

Thank you.

guppy

Hello,

First of all, if you think your band is wrong, just phone up and ask for it to be reviewed. You don't need to prove anything just to query it.

Generally, your best bet in getting a reduction will be if the VOA made a mistake back in 1993 when the bandings were first done. This is most obvious if your home is banded differently from identical flats/houses in the same road/block. When you phone up, they may also find they have the wrong details recorded for your property.

If this isn't the case then things will be harder. If they say you are in the correct band and you disagree you can go back and try again. You will have to try and convince the VOA that they have valued your property, and any other identical flats in the block, incorrectly.

As the VOA are likely to tell you (and the calculator itself says), house price calculators aren't very reliable. So you will need to try and get actual sales evidence.

There's tonnes of advice on this thread from people who have been through the process, but you needn't read it before putting in an initial query.

Good luck!