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

smk77

kelloggs36 wrote:

I don't agree. If they say they need x amount to provide the services, then cut them, they should refund the difference.

lol...the admin cost involved in refunding such a small amount to thousands of people (it would be a small amount as the total amount of your CT that goes on collecting your bins is minimal) would have to be met by the CT department which would increase their costs.

The point still remains, if they are collecting x amount to provide a service (waste management) and they cut part of this service (bin collection) then why are they cutting it? Probably because there is a need to re-allocate the funds elsewhere within the department. More than likely this is re-cycling which in my council area is visible through the brown garden bins, boxes for card/paper and boxes for glass/plastics.

christineperseus

I want you all to cross all your bits for me.
The Valuation Officer is coming tomorrow - to see if we really are the same as the matching semi next door.
We differ by two bands and £571 (this year)!

Maisie

Christineperseus. I wish you much good luck and hope it will be another successful rebanding and rebate.

Two bands is a big difference and doesn't seem right.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and any others in the process of appealing.

Let us know the outcome.

Glad my original post on the closed thread has helped many get rebates and rebanding.

The running total must be well into hundred thousand by now.

Good luck everyone.

Maisie OP

jamesiebabie

christineperseus wrote:

I want you all to cross all your bits for me.
The Valuation Officer is coming tomorrow - to see if we really are the same as the matching semi next door.
We differ by two bands and £571 (this year)!

Christineperseus,

Good luck, if you need any help or advice please just ask. I am currently helping a few people with their cases, one more would not hurt.

Good luck to everyone who is trying.

J

jamesiebabie

baileysbattlebus wrote:

Hi

As a Newbie (but lurked for a while) I hope I have posted this correctly.
having read the article on Council Tax Cutting, I followed the instructions and imagine my surprise when I realised we were in a higher tax band than the rest of the houses in our street. Got in touch with the valuation people in November, they said it would be about 8 weeks before we heard from them, between Xmas & New Year we had a letter telling us that we were in the wrong band and that the letter was being copied to the loca council. Last week we heard from the council, who have put us in a lower band and back dated the overpayments to the date we moved in, 1993. £2650 - bonus !!! The councils letter itemised each year of overpayment and the amount of the overpayment for that year. They also gave us the choice of being council tax free until we had used up the over payment or having a cheque or the payment made directly into a bank account. No Interest payments though, I did wonder ...........
I would like to say what a great site and we would never have received this money without it.:j

baileysbattlebus,

If I was you now I would write to the Group Customer Service Manager for the VOA and ask for compensation. The VOA have the abilty to pay out compensation if you are out of pocket and they were proven to be in the wrong. Obviously, they were in this case as they reduced your band. Knowing that the rest of the houses in the street were all in a lower band except for yours shows that the V?OA's policy of doing consequential changes did not work and you have subsequently been out of pocket. I am aware of several people who have claimed compensation on this basis and won.

It only takes another letter and you could yet be even more better off. If you need some help please PM me.


J

Gnasher04_2

Yeh !!!

We got our Council Tax refund through today, £591 has been credited to our 'Council Tax' account, which means that for this years Council Tax we will only have £300 pounds left to pay !!

Also the previous Occupier has been notified of a credit to their 'balance' , I know because it was sent to our house. Luckily it is my Wife's Aunt, so we will be able to forward it to her

But it does make me wonder what happens to the Previous Occupiers money if the current Householder does not forward the letter on ?

Also how have others received their refund ? by Cheque ? Credit to your account ?

Maisie

That's great news Gnasher04. Perhaps some of the other successful applicants can answer the payment query?

Glad my original post helped get your rebanding and rebate.

Are you going to be on Martin's filming?

Pass the word. Check council tax banding at https://www.voa.gov.uk.
Hundreds have and had success.

Maisie OP

Maisie

christineperseus wrote:

I want you all to cross all your bits for me.
The Valuation Officer is coming tomorrow - to see if we really are the same as the matching semi next door.
We differ by two bands and £571 (this year)!

Christine.. Did the VO arrive?

What's the outcome.? Hope it's another success story.

Maisie OP

Zebedeee

I'm a bit mystified as to how everyone is getting their refunds and rebanding (but good luck to all who do!). We have had our proposal for a rebanding thrown out purely on the basis that we are outside the 6 month time limit. The fact that we seem to be incorrectly banded doesn't even come into it. We have been offered a tribunal, but that is only to dispute the fact that we are outside of the 6 months, a fact we cannot deny. Also, we cannot say that the area has changed substantially since the original valuation. It was just wrong in the first instance.

Any ideas where we go now, anyone?

christineperseus

Maisie wrote:

Christine.. Did the VO arrive?

What's the outcome.? Hope it's another success story.

Maisie OP

The Officer did come - said we would have their findings by the end of next week.
The Officer did say that perhaps we were the correct banding and our neighbours were the wrong banding!
So difficult to prove something from 1991
I wait for the postman daily.