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

losgiganteskid

If anyone could be of assistance I would be obliged - basically I applied for a council tax review and gave many reasons why I considered I was in the incorrect band. My initial letter met with a standardish reply saying no. I then phoned the VOA office and was told to write in again requesting a second review.

I have now received another letter mostly ignoring the evidence I have given and stating they do not consider me to be in the wrong band and ended their letter by stating ".....there is no right of appeal when a review of this nature is undertake. The law provides limited opportunities for a formal challenge to a council tax valuation list entry. The reviws I have undertaken are not the result of formal challenges and cannot be appealed. I am sorry if this further review does not reassure you on this matter. I am satisfied that the council tax valuation list entry is correct and do not intend to review your banding again".

Does this mean that I now have to give up the ghost ? - is there any other route open for me, as I really do believe I have a good case, and I am fearful I have been given basically a fob off letter in the hope I will go away. Any help much appreciated.

CSL_2

I need to get in lots of practice when I fight my case with them on the Second Review front.

If you wish to send me a private message with a copy of your letter and their reply then I will gladly try to re-jig your text.

I am only offering to do this just to help me sharpen up my own arguements before I post off the Second Review text the Lambeth VOA. Difficulty that I face is finding another four of these:

http://journals.aol.co.uk/clivesteuk/convincing-the-voa-listing-offic/

CSL
London SW4
[EMAIL="Clivesteuk@aol.com"]Clivesteuk@aol.com[/EMAIL]
Tuesday 11th December 2007

Zebedeee

losgiganteskid, just a couple of suggestions, if you haven't tried this already. I assume you have presented other properties to the VOA with which you belive your property is comparable and asked for a rebanding on that basis? Have you also mentioned to them that they are obliged to maintain their lists fair and accurate without discrepancies? It might also be a good idea to send a copy of your letter to your MP, and inform the VOA that you have done so. Your MP probably won't do much more than get their secretary to send the VOA a letter asking them to look into it, but it may make them move, knowing that someone is looking over their shoulder.

One more thing, if you can find a Valuation Tribunal Decision in your area for a property simillar to yours, with a favourable decision, then the VOA are obliged to re-open your case and cannot deny you the right to a tribunal, which is probably the best bet in your case. It worked for me!

Hope that helps!

Zebedeee

moneyspider

I have received a letter after my initial email challenging my council tax C band which gives the standard reply Martin outlines (you should have made proposal within the period laid down by statute. If you wish to appeal, blah de blah..)

However the letter does a rather schizo about face and then says, "however in this particular case, I am prepared without prejudice to alter the entry in the Council Tax list from C to B from 1 April 1993" and asks me to write promptly to accept this "offer", after which "a formal notice will be issued and the Direcor of Financial Services advised."

It makes no mention of any refunds, but can I assume that this is a success and not some cunning council ploy to make me accept something in writing that doesn't involved cash back?

I know the simple answer is, call them, but I don't really want to jinx it at this stage! Has anyone else had this nearly-too-good-to-be-true response?

Thanks.

losgiganteskid

Thanks Zebedeee for the info - I was just wondering whether a letter to my MP (together with copy correspondence sent to and received from the VOA would really be worthwhile.) Isn't the MP more than likely just to reply stating there are procedures in place for enquiries of this nature and say what I am doing is the correct route and he/she cannot intervene. I was hopeful that there might be a tribuneral available to me in my case, but it appears not. So one could have a copper bottomed case iron case for a banding reduction/decrease but if the VOA office say "NO" what can you do. ?

moneyspider

Re my previous message - I decided just to phone them - and yes, I will get paid. Apparently they need to use that schizo format to flag fact they are over-riding the system. So that was easy! Will post my "winnings" on appropriate messageboard once known.

Zebedeee

losgiganteskid wrote: »

Thanks Zebedeee for the info - I was just wondering whether a letter to my MP (together with copy correspondence sent to and received from the VOA would really be worthwhile.) Isn't the MP more than likely just to reply stating there are procedures in place for enquiries of this nature and say what I am doing is the correct route and he/she cannot intervene. I was hopeful that there might be a tribuneral available to me in my case, but it appears not. So one could have a copper bottomed case iron case for a banding reduction/decrease but if the VOA office say "NO" what can you do. ?

I just figured that it wouldn't do any harm to get the MP involved. As I said, don't expect your MP to do any more than send a letter to the VOA, but it makes them accountable to one more person.

As regards the relevent tribunal case acting in your favour, you could keep an eye on the Decisions page on the VT website. More will be added every month. One day there is bound to be one which helps you. As I said, it worked for me!

Zebedeee

moneyspider wrote: »

Re my previous message - I decided just to phone them - and yes, I will get paid. Apparently they need to use that schizo format to flag fact they are over-riding the system. So that was easy! Will post my "winnings" on appropriate messageboard once known.

Lucky for some! You really are a moneyspider, aren't you? Well done, anyway:)

CSL_2

Very good idea. Will cc my MP when I send off the paperwork to Lambeth VOA.

http://journals.aol.co.uk/clivesteuk/convincing-the-voa-listing-offic/


CSL
Wednesday 12th December 2007

takoo

Hi Pingua and Zebeedee
Re # 1888 and #1889
It is correct to say that council tax is based on open market value (see Statutory Instrument SI 1991 No 1934.)

However the assumptions given in regulations in SI 1992 No550 require the physical aspects of the dwelling to be taken into account, including:

• size
• lay0ut
• character.

This is subject to conditions...

Takoo