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

lincroft1710

Hertsaver - no, where a valid appeal is received as opposed to enquiry/request for band review then a full investigation would be carried out and band should be reduced if incorrect. Tribunal work should always take precedence so preparation should be done properly.

eldiego

ive looked into the banding of my house and it seems that i may be 1 higher than i should. i live in scotland and according to the SAA the valuation of band 'B' was between £27000 and up to £35000.

myself and all other houses in my post code are currently in council tax band 'C'. but after checking my house and the 2 next door to me with the nationwide house price calculator all three houses were valued at between £27000 and £34000 in 1991, which would put me in band 'B'.
does this give me a good basis for appealing?
any help would very gratefull

fortunecookie_2

Thankyou Lincroft1710

That makes a bit more sense. Will just have to wait and see what they do with it all in the next few weeks. I just really wish these agencies would take the time to explain the process in their correspondence.

Thanks again.

lincroft1710

eldiego - house price indices are inaccurate, so although it's a basis, it's not a good basis. Definitely worth a try though.

mariachi

I paid my monthly Council tax bill lately, normally my wife pays it for us, but this time on waiting in the queue to pay I started to read the accompaning notes leaflet that came with the tax bill.
I read the section that appears to offer a rebate / discount to persons looking after a disabled member of their family.
Sure enough I was correct and we were granted a tax re band ( down one band )
On receiving this reduction, which took the council some six weeks to resolve, I also asked ( at the same time of my first application ) for it to be backdated to 1993 as seem to be the date from whch claims can be backdatedd to.

My question is, have any members had experience of this type of case, and if so, were they successful in receiving a rebate for all the years entitlement ?
mariachi

lincroft1710

mariachi - I assume that rather than your band being reduced, you're paying one band lower than your actual band, e.g. if you're in Band D, you're paying the amount for a Band C dwelling.

stuarta99

Just been looking at mine. Currently I'm sat in Band B (£40,001-£52,000). Worked out from what I paid for the house using the Nationwide calendar and back in 1991 it would of been worth £36629or in 1994 when it was actually built, £33493.

I've emailed the local valuation office and hopefully I should get something back successfully.

stuarta99

I've just read on here about a 6month time limit, but unsure what that is suggesting.

lincroft1710

stuarta99 - house price calculators are inaccurate. In area where I worked (I'm ex VOA) and in most parts of country, 91 to 94 price drop was around 20/25%, so figure of £33,493 in 94 would suggest over £41K in 91. VOA should have actual 94 purchase price though and 91 prices of similar houses. We saw 1 bed cluster homes which had sold for £42K or more in 91 drop to as low as £28K in 95.

If you've been in house for more than 6 months you cannot make valid appeal, you can only ask for band review and so have no recourse to an independent tribunal hearing if VOA say Band B is correct.

System

Having been to triubunal do not underestimate the amount of work needed to be able to present an effective case!! I dread to think how long I spent planning my case, and I am waiting on the decision to see if it was worth it!