Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

lincroft1710

Deleted_User wrote: »

well i've sent off a 2 page letter stating about 7-8 reasons why i think i should be in band D, also asked for evidence of houses they are comparing mine against under the freedom of information act and i expect that within 20 days, i am prepared to go all the way as the bands in our estate are just plain wrong, anyway fingers crossed....

FOI does not apply. VOA are actually not allowed to divulge details of house sales unless (as in your case) a valid appeal has been made and then disclosure of such info is usually made nearer to Tribunal hearing date.

Ryiah

Local Borough Council: Aberdeenshire
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: £1500
Annual saving going forward: £315
Time in House: Since 2006

I emailed Aberdeenshire council in August stating I was in the wrong band. As every identical house in the crescent was Band E. They replied saying that I had passed the 6 month period but they would look into it. I didn't hear anything back, so in October I emailed again asking what the progress of my appeal was. Again I heard nothing back; however in December it entered my mind to email them again, I never got round to it, but a couple of days later I received a letter through the post saying that they re-evaluated our Band and we've been moved to band E.
Today (20th Jan) we received a letter stating the amount to be refunded to our bank account account and how they calculated it

Thanks very much!

ModernSlave

Local Borough Council: Richmond Council
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D
Amount refunded: TBC
Annual saving going forward: £354.94

Thanks to MSE advice I was able to check our neighbour's tax bands and find that we were the only property in a row of identical homes on band E. The VOC responded really quickly to the request and has ruled in favour of a decrease. :T

fleabag_2

A few months ago I decided to look into our council tax banding after reading the article on MoneySavingExpert. I discovered that the house next door which is identical to ours (semi) was in a lower band so I contacted Leeds Valuations Office and told them and they said they would investigate. To cut it short we received a letter 5 weeks later saying that they were reducing our council tax from band D to C. Leeds City council finally sent us a letter saying how much they were refunding however it was about £130 short of what it should be, we did contact them again.
Very happy to have been sucessful, but make sure the council pay up in full.

tigeress289

Hello
I am new to the site as my wife mentioned something she had seen on tv on how to claim a council tax reduction, I listened and came onto this site and after reading the advice, I carried out some research as I felt our F band was to high and the bands that were shown.
Today I received a letter from the VOA to say that they are writing to my council to lower it to E. From start to today has been 21 days and I will post when I receive a refund but I have to add that I intend to appeal it to a D?
The reason being is that you can only appeal if you get a reduction, so bare this in mind because if you apply for a reduction and are refused there is no appeal. I live in one of the highest band boroughs in London and believe that the VOA are under instructions not to reduce where possible as it will open the legal floodgates. I proved beyong a doubt that I should have been reduced to a D but happy I got a reduction as the appeal process can start. Without my wife seeing this site, we would never have questioned our band. I for one have had nightmares over council tax for years and had many run in with baliffs over it. I look forward to a more informed update very soon.
all the best

nevakno2much

CORBY BOROUGH COUNCIL
FROM BAND B
TO BAND A
REFUND £459
As I pay by S/O I never look at council tax bills when they come in, did check last year however and yes, wrong band. Checked with neighbours, all on Band A, one neighbour was banded B then had his property re-banded A with refund. I contacted Northamptonshire Valuation Office, 4 weeks later and property was re-banded and I was refunded Yaay result. Do check its amazing the things you don't notice.

lucia85

hello can you all help me out..iv put 3 requests in and every time im getting the same letter back saying they cant use my evidence i have provided, can you tell me where you found the information of sales that you provided to voa???? Hope you can help

getsct

Things might get harder as ive heard of a friend that the VTS has already closed a lot of offices, and the VOA are planning to close 10 offices this year alone!

nokando

We moved to a property last year that was band G ,as it has virtually no garden I appealed and got turned down.Kept going as it was clearly ludicrous to compare us to properties 10 miles away.Got local MP involved and hey presto they think its always been wrong.£330 a year .Really didnt think I'd win again as I won at Tribunal hearing in the early days.Does show that if you've got a case keep going .The interesting issue for me is that the history of banding in the village we live in has been removed almost in its entirety from the Valuation Office website.Thanks to anybody and everybody who has encouraged us.

jacook

Local council: Croydon
Original band: D
New band: C
Amount repaid: £1900
Annual saving now: £170

One Sunday in January I was reading the MSE column in the NOTW, and happened to be sitting in front of the computer...so I followed the advice and looked up the website. I managed to discover that three of my neighbours were in a lower band. Additionally, I had bought my house near the end of 1991 - paying a price in the middle of the lower band. The next day I phoned my local VOA, and they told me what I needed to do, but it would take about 6 weeks to process.

6 weeks later I was credited £1900 to my bank account. I've also told my remaining neighbours that aren't in the lower band, and they are applying too...

Thank you very much!!!!:D