Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

Jim_Ewan

Local Borough Council: Wokingham
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: £3500+
Annual saving going forward: c. £200

I thought I was on a loser as my property has been extended. However another (differently) extended house was in the lower band so I decided to take a chance. Bingo!! Now ... can I claim interest on the overcharge??

lincroft1710

Jim Ewan - as there is no provision in Council Tax law for claiming interest on overpayment councils will not pay interest.

In very exceptional circumstances the VOA may pay interest, but you would moreorless have to prove they had been aware for a long time that your band was incorrect yet did nothing about it.

nandscroy

Croydon Council
Council tax band before D
Council tax band after C
Refunded £1457
Savings going forward £161

Having heard about the possibility of my council tax being wrong, I checked the VOA site.I was the only one of six converted 2 bedroom flats, paying D band, so i phoned the VOA. They said that they had the measurements of the flats and mine was in the right band .I persisted saying that mine was much the same as the rest.During one conversation, they mentioned my 3rd bedroom.( which doesnt exist), so I knew I was on to a winner. After they visited the flat, I got a letter to say they had changed the banding to C and it was backdated to 1993.
A week later , Croydon told me not to pay anything else this year, and sent a cheque for £1039. :j. Thanks

pinkyfish

Hello
Im new to this site and was wondering if you can help me please?
My my house was valued @ £155,000 in 1999 and this was when the house was built approx, how would one calucate the house valuation for 1991 (if this is possible) please when it comes to calculating the council tax banding or would i use this figure shown above?

lincroft1710

pinkyfish - both the Halifax and Nationwide have house price indices where you can put in a sale price of a house and calculate what its sale price might have been in 1991. HOWEVER neither index is particularly accurate and if you are using a valuation as opposed to an actual sale price as your start point, the inaccuracy will increase depending on the type of valuation.

The Valuation Office Agency usually calculate CT bands by looking at 1991 sales of dwellings as near as poss to the subject dwelling in age, type, size, character and location.

hypno06

Our house was built in 1991, so easy to find the value at that time, as we were still in touch with the people who bought it from new. Several of the same "style" of house were built on the estate and all but two of them seem to be in band D...ours was band E.

So, armed with the required information, and listing those houses exactly like ours that are band D, I wrote on 26th August requesting a rebanding.

They replied the following day saying they would have an answer for us within two months, and today we got the letter saying that they have rebanded us to band D and will backdate this to 1st April 1993.

I don't yet know the amount we will be refunded, but going forward, it is a saving of £324 a year, so is quite a significant saving.

We didn't have to follow up our initial letter, or fight in any way - I was very impressed with the speed in which it has been done!

Thank you :money: for the template and list of required info.....:T

I await my refund with glee

Turia

wow!

congrats thats brilliant news

marmatdav

Area : Durham
Previous Band : C
Current Band : B
Amount Saved : Approx £170 per year

When I moved in I checked my immediate neighbours banding and found they were a C so never thought any more of it. A friend at work asked if I had checked other houses the same style as ours on the same street so I did via this website.

To my amazement I found that 11 residents in very similar houses were only banded as a B so I appealed. 6 weeks later the VOA have reduced my banding to a B and are currently liaising with my council so that my refund can be arranged. Should be entitled to 5 1/2 years worth of refund which is about £800. :T
Just goes to show, dont just check your immediate neighbours, have a look at ALL the houses similar to yours on the same street.

Have told next door and they are now appealing.

newlint

Borough - Richmond -upon-Thames
Band before - E
Band after - D
Refund - £3200
Annual saving - £350

Took about 8 weeks in total and 3 or 4 phone calls. I had been over paying for 11 years. Its that easy!!!

Thanks Martin.

leigh14

hi i'm looking for some help if possible - i,m in band B other houses the same are band A, i have already put in a proposal & my appeal is on 28th oct but is an invalid proposal because i moved in to the house in 2001. Assessor says that band B is correct because new kitchen & bathroom was installed in 1993 & i have since bought the house in 2006 & it is an improvement. is it still classed as resold if i was a tenant in the house before i bought it from fife council.