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

lozzark

I am applying for a refund due to Banding on behalf of my late father's estate.
I approached the valuation office and they agreed to reassess.
They wrote after about 4 weeks saying the property had been rebanded from C to B.
I notified the council and they sent me a bill including "period adjustments" (ie a refund) back to 2001.
Why did they not go back to 1993, the period the Valuation office said the band change applied from?

lincroft1710

lozzark wrote: »

I notified the council and they sent me a bill including "period adjustments" (ie a refund) back to 2001.
Why did they not go back to 1993, the period the Valuation office said the band change applied from?

Good question!

Can't really give a definitive answer, but one of the following may be the case;

1. Your father did not occupy or was not registered as the CT payer prior to 2001.

2. Your father was paying a reduced CT bill (for whatever reason) prior to 2001, and the band reduction had no effect on the amount he had paid.

3. Council records pre 2001 no longer exist (highly doubtful though)

4. Council set a maximum period of 12 years for refunds (don't know if this is covered by recent legislation)

5. Council have made an error.

The only way to pursue this is to ask the council.

lozzark

Thanks for your thoughts lincroft.

1. Dad was the CT payer. Lived there from 1974.
2. He never applied for a reduced CT.
3. If they don't, I probably have the bills in his papers.
4. Maybe, but when I put the info in the forecaster it returned a significantly higher amount implying it went back all the way. I've not seen any limits mentioned on the tinternet.
5. Council have made an error. I suppose that's possible.
I have written to ask. I'll report what transpires.

lozzark

lozzark wrote: »

I am applying for a refund due to Banding on behalf of my late father's estate.
I approached the valuation office and they agreed to reassess.
They wrote after about 4 weeks saying the property had been rebanded from C to B.
I notified the council and they sent me a bill including "period adjustments" (ie a refund) back to 2001.
Why did they not go back to 1993, the period the Valuation office said the band change applied from?

A friend of mine who I saw for the first time for a year or more last night, had gone through the process some time ago. He says that the first of April 2001 is when councils computerised CT. He received two payments, one going back to 2001 and another for the period prior to that about 4 weeks later.
Blimey why can't they just let you know what they are doing? Anyway I've avoided the trap of getting a solicitor to do it and finger's cross the other payment will come through and I can report full success on the "success" thread.
By using Zoopla and other house price calculators I'd worked out that really the house was plumb bang in the centre of band B, and I was confident is was. I then had a long a difficult conversation with the valuation office. They tried to keep putting obstacles up to prevent them reassessing, but in the end they agreed to do it. About a week later a letter came saying they were doing it, then another 4 weeks later saying they had done it and that they had reclassified from band C to B. But they did not tell me what happens next. I sent an email to the LA and had no reply, but about a week later their "bill" in negative credit of about £1500 arrived, with a reclaim form to fill in. I can't tell if it was automatic or my email prompted the "bill".

lincroft1710

lozzark wrote: »

then another 4 weeks later saying they had done it and that they had reclassified from band C to B. But they did not tell me what happens next.

The VOA's responsibilities and duties end with informing you and the council of the band reduction

obbig

Hi, I'd appreciate some legal advice about the VOA.
My house was put in band D in 1991, In 1993 I appealed against it to the VOA and they reduced it to band C. Then, earlier this year they suddenly changed it back to D again.
1 - Can they revalue a house when there has been no change in the property to justify it?
2 - In doing this they have overridden the 1993 appeal. Can they do that?
As far as I can see from the VOA website they can only revalue a house when there has been some significant change and then only when you sell the house.
Can anyone offer any advice on whether the VOA is acting illegally here?
thanks obbig

lincroft1710

obbig wrote: »

Can anyone offer any advice on whether the VOA is acting illegally here?

CT law allows the VOA to alter the band of a dwelling at any time if they have reason to believe that band is incorrect, So they are not acting illegally.

It may be that the original band was reduced without having due regard to the available evidence or new evidence has come to light. Clearly you should ask the VOA why your band has been increased and if you aren't happy with their explanation, you can appeal against the new band.

I've known several similar cases during my time at the VOA. One minor consolation - if Band D is the correct band, then over the past 20 years you will have probably benefited by over £2000!

obbig

Thanks for your help, Lincroft1710.
I'm going to a Valuation Tribunal on Thursday, so its a bit late to start asking questions! Just hoped I might find a bit of extra ammunition.

lozzark

I'm no expert, but logic dictates that if the 1993 appeal decided on the "correct" band, it must have decided on the value of the house in 1991. If nothing has changed to increase the value of the house that it would have had in 1991, it must still have the same value. What was that value and how do the VOA justify their view that the property value has increased to take it out of the band?
When I talked to the VOA officer he pointed out that properties just inside a band could have their values increased by as little as a £100 improvement and take them into the next the band. So double glazing, garden landscaping, new front door, drive resurfacing, conservatory, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation upgrade could have landed you in the next band even though the improvements seem insignificant to you.

lincroft1710

lozzark wrote: »

I'm no expert, but logic dictates that if the 1993 appeal decided on the "correct" band, it must have decided on the value of the house in 1991. If nothing has changed to increase the value of the house that it would have had in 1991, it must still have the same value.

What was that value and how do the VOA justify their view that the property value has increased to take it out of the band?
When I talked to the VOA officer he pointed out that properties just inside a band could have their values increased by as little as a £100 improvement and take them into the next the band. So double glazing, garden landscaping, new front door, drive resurfacing, conservatory, cavity wall insulation, loft insulation upgrade could have landed you in the next band even though the improvements seem insignificant to you.

Although the true value of the house won't have changed, as probably only 5 - 10% of the housing stock is sold in any one year and the VOA have to work out the values of the other 90 - 95%, their opinion of its value may do. Because of the way sales were recorded on the computer system the VOA were using in 1991, a simple human error could see the sale of 10 High Street, Weatherfield, recorded as 10 High Street Walford.

So if a mistake such as the above comes to light, there now could be excellent evidence as to the values of other similar houses in High Street, Weatherfield. Remember that without sales evidence of the subject dwelling, its value for CT purposes is only an opinion of the person carrying out that valuation using the evidence available to him. I knew of several cases where "Valuer A" would reduce the bands of dwellings, then a year or two later "Valuer B" who was more conscientious and had better knowledge of the area and its prices and reinstate the original band.

The VOA will not say "this dwelling is worth £x" (they are not required to in law), they will merely say "In my opinion the value of this dwelling falls into Band X".

Cavity wall and loft insulation are highly unlikely to affect a CT band and the VOA are largely unaware of such improvements being carried out. Resurfaced drives and landscaped gardens again are highly unlikely to affect a band and most houses are now double glazed. CT bands cannot be increased solely because of improvements by the present owner carried out after Apr 1993.