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

fernandodasilva

I have some question to ask: Do I need to pay Council Tax while receiving Incapacity benefit?? I will be so grateful if some expert can answer my question, please.

juber_2

I applied to my valuation officer and the outcome was that mine would remain the same but that 2 of my neighbours banding would be going up. I thought they couldnt do that until a significant event took place like an extension or sale!

lincroft1710

CT legislation permits the VOA to increase (or reduce) the band of a dwelling at any time if it is considered that its present band is incorrect.

petesp

Does anybody have any experience of how to speed up the process of challenging their Council Tax Banding? I have had a request in for over 6 months and when I speak to them I just get fobbed off with the same" Your case is in the hands of a caseworker who has an exceptionally high volume of cases to deal with" They then usually go on to blame Martin Lewis for letting everyone know that they can challenge their banding!

Any ideas would be most welcome.

mumof21wcf

I've recently called to have my council tax re-banded from E to D stating that one of my neighbours is band D and our property is similar. They said that his maybe incorrect but that they will look into my request. I received a letter today from the VOA saying they were looking into it and who to contact if I had more information. I've since learned that another one of my neighbours is band C but most properties on my road and around me are in band E. I found out that the two neighbours have had their bands changed at some time since 1993. The VOA officer thinks they are in the wrong band. I explained that our houses do not have the extra room that most house on our street have.

My question is can they reverse the band on the other two houses? They had to have good reasons why their band should be changed. What is the chance of the VOA reversing their decision?

lincroft1710

Yes, CT law allows VOA to increase a reduced band if evidence/information now shows that the band reduction should not have been given. I know several instances where caseworker A reduced several bands and some months later caseworker B reviewed the decision and put them back up.

It is impossible to predict the outcome in your situation, it will depend on what info/evidence the VOA now has.

Conel

Hi everyone,

A little bit of help needed.

We are currently in the process of contesting our council tax band. In Band E at the moment.

We bought our property in 1997 for £87,500 so this is under the E band range.

We have had a reply saying they are satisfied we are banded correctly and gave evidence of similiar properties in our area. What they failed to realise was that these properties were in completely different roads (values would have varied massively!). Also one examples I checked out and the only property on that road with a Band E is actually pending review (all other properties on that road are C/D).

I have drafted a letter back stating all of this and asking how I would appeal this, is this the right way to go?

Any suggestions will help me so much!

lincroft1710

You cannot "appeal" the decision, you can only ask the VOA to review it based on any further evidence you supply. The VOA would be well aware the properties were in different roads, it isn't always possible to find comparables in the same road. By 1997 property prices in some areas hadn't increased back to 1991 levels, so the band may be correct.

mumof21wcf

Thank you for the reply.

I'm disappointed with the answer because it seems there is no rhyme or reason but the luck of the VOA officer you draw.

Will post the outcome when I receive an answer. Fingers crossed, it is the outcome I want but it may stay the same. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Thanks again for your help:)

Conel

lincroft1710 wrote: »

You cannot "appeal" the decision, you can only ask the VOA to review it based on any further evidence you supply. The VOA would be well aware the properties were in different roads, it isn't always possible to find comparables in the same road. By 1997 property prices in some areas hadn't increased back to 1991 levels, so the band may be correct.

Thank you for your reply

I know they are aware, but the comparison is ridiculous. The road we live in is a modest, working class road. The other is prestigious and wealthy, not really a fair comparison.

Thank you again.