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

Conel

Sorry, also how would I kindly ask them to review their decision? Surely they will only say no again?

lincroft1710

Conel wrote: »

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.

It's quite easy for the caseworker to look at a map and a computer which has the sales details, but he/she may not have a great knowledge of the area where you live and price differences between neighbouring roads.

It would therefore be reasonable to ask VOA to look at sales in less prestigious streets as you don't consider the comparison fair because of the differences between your road and the other roads. Also emphasise your purchase price in 1997.

lincroft1710

mumof21wcf wrote: »

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:)

In the examples I gave, the reductions should never have been given in the first place, the caseworker did not know the area that well and did not research the evidence properly.

The VOA is legally obliged to to find the correct band for each and every dwelling in England and Wales, so if errors are found they should be corrected by either decreasing or increasing the band.

However not every case is straightforward and for many dwellings there be little or conflicting or even misleading evidence and in such cases it will be a matter of opinion as to what the correct band should be.

nat49p

We have just got our letter back from the voa to say we are in the correct band as they`think`our house was worth over £120,001 in 1991 to be put in a band f.
Despite all our paper work to prove otherwise(we really done our homework on this)how can the only thing to backup their claim is to `think`!!!!Surely they should of answered our questions to prove we were wrong!!!????
How can all our neighbours be banded a `E` (other than maybe 2 others down our street)and we be put in the same banding as the BIG houses down our road!!!!
Whats our next step to `apeall`????

lincroft1710

If you asked for a band review because you were outside the 6 months time limit for making a formal appeal, VOA will simply reply saying they think the band is correct. In such case there is no obligation for them to give reasons or provide evidence to substantiate their view. They have details of virtually every property sale in country and use this info to arrive at the band.

Not knowing what info you gave them, it is difficult to suggest how you can make a winning case.

nat49p

we are now goint to get a review!!!!
The voa on our case was from Norfolk so knew nothing about the area!!
They are now going to come down to measure the square footage of our house and compare that to other houses of the same size!Which seems daft to me!!!!When we asked him the square footage of two BIG houses down our street that are XACTLY THE SAME he gave us totally different figures!!!!We are `apparently` something like 5ft bigger than our neighbours!!!!Surely that percentage doesnt qualifys us for a higher band!!!!

lincroft1710

nat49p wrote: »

we are now goint to get a review!!!!
The voa on our case was from Norfolk so knew nothing about the area!!
They are now going to come down to measure the square footage of our house and compare that to other houses of the same size!Which seems daft to me!!!!When we asked him the square footage of two BIG houses down our street that are XACTLY THE SAME he gave us totally different figures!!!!We are `apparently` something like 5ft bigger than our neighbours!!!!Surely that percentage doesnt qualifys us for a higher band!!!!

Measuring your home and comparing it to houses of the same size which were sold in 1991 is logical and the correct thing to do. VOA have been using metric measurements for about 40 years now, so was it 5 sq metres larger (54 sq ft approx). Depending on sales evidence the size difference could affect the band, e.g. 130 sq m house sold for £119K, but 135 sq m house sold for £122K.

Are you certain the 2 houses are exactly the same and one hasn't had an extension.

sgianthebard

I had an assessor look at my house a few months ago. He agreed that the banding was incorrect and dropped me down a band. He said that we would be refunded from Oct 1997 - the date we bought the house. A month later the letter stating this duly arrived, but since then I have had a bill from the council for my council tax, but no sign of a refund. What do i do now?

lincroft1710

Only thing you can do is contact council and ask them (politely) what is going on?

denz1968

I have just followed the well documented council tax rebanding information, and yesterday got a letter from VOA saying I was being rebanded from F to E, and backdated to 1st August 2000. :j:j

I will post on the success thread once I know what size cheque I will be getting.:D