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

jamesiebabie

GPR wrote:

I have just managed to have my council tax banding reduced due to being on a higher band than all similar properties in my road. Very good! and received cheque from council around 8 weeks after complaint to voa.The council tells me that they cannot give me back any interest on the money as they are forbidden my government legislation to do so.Is this true-does anyone know? The council say that i might be able to claim against the VOA however as this was due they say to a clerical error i was wondering if this is likely. Believe you need to prove negligence to be able to claim.
Can anyone shed any light on this aspect to council tax refunds?
Great site and excellent that i have managed to get £1800 back even if i dont get the interest!

GPR,

You can claim interest from the VOA in certain circumstances, where you can prove that the VOA could have known that they should have reduced the banding earlier due to a very similar [if not the same] property in your locality was reduced earlier. The VOA have a duty to maintain an accurate list and if they reduce one property and that there are identical properties in the locality then they should all be reduced a s a matter of course.

It is a bit more difficult to prove, but it can be done and I am aware of several people reaching agreement with the VOA.

If you need some help PM me.

I hope this helps.

jamesiebabie

dodds wrote:

Hi all I checked my street half are band D and other half band E Im in E. Ive found out how much my house cost new and when it was built (1985).If I do a voc from 1985 to 1991 it takes me into band E just. However if I do the voc on it from present to 1991 it puts me into band D by a lot. So im a bit confused how will it be worked out anyone know. I’m also going to have a look at all the houses down my street to see why we are different.

Dodds,

If you need help, please PM me.

misty

jamesiebabie wrote:

Misty,

What you need to do is phone up your local Valuation Office and ask to speak to the Council Tax department and tell them that you have been in your property for 10 months and that you beleive that you are in the wrong band. At that time try and help them with the addresses of those properties that you believe are the same as yours. You should also take note of whom you spoke with and their direct telephone number for future reference. You can even request that they write to you to acknowledge your call, that way you will have everything documented.

I hope that helps. Keep me informed.

Thanks. I appealed online and heard nothing. I phoned to see what the status was and the man I spoke to did have a record of the appeal but said they had 3 months to respond - which would be DEC. I still haven't heard but will phone again as I think 3 months was probably some arbitary figure plucked out of the air. Thanks again

asandwhen

I went through all this last year thanks to the original op (maisy) I recieved a cheque which helped pay my wedding.

IT DOES WORK!

Maisie

asandwhen wrote:

I went through all this last year thanks to the original op (maisy) I recieved a cheque which helped pay my wedding.

IT DOES WORK!

Asandwhen great to hear the rebate helped pay for your wedding. I remember you on the other closed thread and glad you benefited. Thanks for being in touch again.

All other MSEs going through the appeal system look at asandwhen's posts (on closed thread) and take heart. It can be done.

Let's have some more success stories to encourage others.

Happy Christmas everyone and keep appealing.

Good luck.

Maisie OP

pbfhpunk

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

So happy, just called the valuation office after not hearing at the end of last week, and have been told that yep I've been reduced!! It went through to my local council and she said they're normally quite quick at sorting it but it due to xmas it may take a bit longer.

Ok so now my next question is can I request that I'd rather have a refund rather than it being adjusted to my council tax bill in the future?

I'm guessing that there's around £20 difference between 2 bands normally per year so 20 x 10 x 8 should be around £1600, I'm owed!!

Thank you so much to Maisie for the original post and the other that have helped me and answered queries I've had.

Helen


EDIT: ok my initital 'YAY'ing has now gone, I called the council to say I'd prefer a refund rather than it put against future concil tax and she said that I don't pay council tax until next year now, and then on Tuesday they'll be a refund of 619 going into my account. so about 700/800 less than I thought with January's payment not going through.

I thought my calculation was right! Anyway the council are going to look into it and call me back today.

Will keep you posted!!

ANOTHER EDIT: they called back and because of my single person reduction for the majority of the time there the difference has often been less than £100 but still I guess it's better than nothing, plus I don't have to pay Dec/Jan/Feb payments, and when I start paying them again they'll be lower, so I guess I should appreciate it more!

Helen

530PMA

Hi, I telephoned my local Valuation Office eight weeks ago because I discovered that my neighbour, who has a larger house, is in band F whilst I was in band G.
Earlier this week I received notice of a change to band F followed a day later by a cheque for £2087.88 refund from the local council.
Many thanks Martin.

jamesiebabie

530PMA wrote:

Hi, I telephoned my local Valuation Office eight weeks ago because I discovered that my neighbour, who has a larger house, is in band F whilst I was in band G.
Earlier this week I received notice of a change to band F followed a day later by a cheque for £2087.88 refund from the local council.
Many thanks Martin.

That's great news. Pass the word and have agreat Chrstmas and New Year.

J

misty

Hello – does anyone have any advice for me as to what to do now? I appealed online and today received this reply - below. They haven’t sent me any appeal form or any guideline or timescale. I appealed on the grounds that nearly all of the houses on my cul de sac are in a lower band – including the house next door which is a mirror image of mine as before I moved in the house it didn’t have central heating – I can’t imagine it was in any way superior to any of the others. The other houses in the higher band aren’t the biggest – in fact the ones in the higher band are all those that were sold more recently – in the last eight years or so. The biggest house is in lower bracket.

“I refer to my recent letter concerning your proposal to alter the council tax valuation band of the property shown above. In that letter I said I was unable to accept your form as valid proposal but undertook to review the banding of your property. (I didn’t actually get this letter but however)

I have reviewed the evidence of values in your locality and any representations you may have made. In the light of this I am satisfied that your band is correct and I don ot intend to alter it.

As you may know the basis of the valuation for council tax is laid down by law. Briefly, the band of a dwelling is based on the amount which the property might reasonably have fetched if it had been sold on the open market by a willing vendor on 1st April 1991. this is the date of valuation applied to all properties for council tax purposes, irrespective of whether the property actually existed at that time. If you require more detailed information on the basis of valuation for banding purposes, a leaflet “How property is valued” is available form this office.

I realise this is not the outcome you wanted. I hope you appreciate that I have considered all the points you have raised and I remain of the opinion that the band is correct.”

Maisie

530PMA wrote:

Hi, I telephoned my local Valuation Office eight weeks ago because I discovered that my neighbour, who has a larger house, is in band F whilst I was in band G.
Earlier this week I received notice of a change to band F followed a day later by a cheque for £2087.88 refund from the local council.
Many thanks Martin.

Thatr's great news 530PMA. Enjoy the refund.

Have a great Christmas.

Maisie OP