Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

HighC

Just received news that our property has been reduced from "D" to "C" and back dated to 1997 !!!!! Don't know the value yet but SO PLEASED!!!!

UPDATE : £ 1,273.26 refund received. £155 PA reduction going forwards.

I was excluded under the 6 month rule and was rudely and abruptly rejected by a valuation office who had absolutely no idea about my property or area and refused to even discuss my reasoning and evidence and told I had no rights of appeal. The arrogance and attitude convinced me that I was right and just being denied because of the 6 month rule :- Red rag to a bull my friend !

I realised that I had demolished a garage back in 1996 which I could evidence - and never replaced the garage, so claimed right to submit a "Valid Proposal". Yet again I was rejected and by now quite bitter so I lodged an appeal and went to the hearing.

It was great to put my case and see the faceless and unprofessional Valuation Officer win or lose - did I feel better !!!

Just to top it all I WON using Martin's logic plus fortunately I had some hard evidence about my property and surrounding properties value as at 1996.
The local valuation office were totally obstructive but at the hearing you are faced with a panel of 3 very experienced but independent private individuals who at least listen to your case with care.

Keep your cool, don't get emotional, feel good about stating your facts and let them decide.


RESULT !!!!!!! thanks again Martin for inspiring me to have a go!

lincroft1710

HighC wrote: »

I realised that I had demolished a garage back in 1996 which I could evidence - and never replaced the garage, so claimed right to submit a "Valid Proposal". Yet again I was rejected and by now quite bitter so I lodged an appeal and went to the hearing.

Very surprised at VOA's attitude as physical change and consequent material reduction (which demolition of part of a dwelling is an example) is an occasion when a proposal can be submitted at any time.

ELM_Herts

Local Borough Council: North Herts
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D
Amount refunded: Nil
Annual saving going forward: £333


I appealed our council tax band using Martin's method. Most of the houses on our road are band E but they are all considerably larger than ours so I was sure we were wrongly banded. The valuation office rejected my first appeal and sent us through a list of houses nearby which were also in band E and 'comparable in size and and type'. Having visited all the houses on this list, they were all larger than our house with additional features (garages, drives, huge gardens etc) that ours didn't have so I appealed the decision. We were due to go the tribunal early next month but I had a call today agreeing that the house should in fact be in band D. We aren't entitled to a refund as we are council tax exempt at the moment while we carry out renovations, but a £333 annual saving is very welcome!

Thanks Martin!

Liceyboy

Local Borough Council: Colchester
Council Tax Band Before: D
Council Tax Band After: C
Amount refunded: £911 so far
Annual saving going forward: £122


Pleased to have been refunded £911 covering last 8 years. Am pursuing further claim from 1993 to 2003 when I owned my house jointly with my father, who sadly passed away in 2003. Bills were in my fathers name over that period but I believe I'm still entitled to refund as we were jointly responsible. If anyone has similar experience perhaps they'd be kind enough to advise.

lincroft1710

As bills were in your father's name, the executor(s) of his estate should apply for the refund as the council can only refund the person named on the CT bill, or if deceased their estate, or person holding power of attorney if this is applicable.

SHFB78

Hi

Im about to embark on a council tax rebanding claim, as the banding calculator suggests im in the wrong band, and having looked on the local authority website, i have a neighbour in a comparable house on an improved banding.

Im going to write to my local listing officer. Does anybody that had any succes with this, have a template letter or any tips for the letter?

Kind regards

SHFB78

joerid

I received a visit today from a company claiming I was in the wrong band and they would get it changed for me. They want 50% of any refund.

I'm reluctant to go with them. I have accessed Martin's guidelines and seen that similar properties have been re-banded.

I have the same problem as the previous poster. There is no real guidance or template of the letter to VOA and no real help as to what to do when the appeal is rejected on 'time-out' grounds.

It is great to read the success stories here, but would appreciate some detailed guidance in joining them!

Thanks

greybob

joerid wrote: »

I received a visit today from a company claiming I was in the wrong band and they would get it changed for me. They want 50% of any refund.

I'm reluctant to go with them. I have accessed Martin's guidelines and seen that similar properties have been re-banded.

I have the same problem as the previous poster. There is no real guidance or template of the letter to VOA and no real help as to what to do when the appeal is rejected on 'time-out' grounds.

It is great to read the success stories here, but would appreciate some detailed guidance in joining them!

Thanks

Hope my experience helps:

Local Borough Council: Harrogate
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: £3,922.45
Annual saving going forward: £343.05


A local firm called claiming that I was in the wrong band too, just after I'd read the MSE article and started work on it. They only wanted 25% but as I reckoned that meant they'd get almost £1,000 of my hard earned cash if I won, so I sent them packing. It might have been worth using them if the case was weak but I'd discovered that most of the similar houses were in band F but I was band G from the Neighbours Check (step 1) and the value was just below band G from step 2.

The challenge is really easy. All I did was ring the local VOA because the Local Listing Officer link in step 4 did not work - get their number from the Contact the VOA tab in the link in step 1. I intended asking if they had a form to fill in but they registered my challenge there and then and asked why I thought the band was wrong. I told them what I had found on their website (they never mentioned the value aspect).

A few days later they wrote confirming they would give a decision within 2 months and notify the council if they agreed to lower the band which, I'm pleased to say, they did. The council sent a revised bill showing the refund year by year back to 1993 ( I bought the house before then) but what I did not expect was that, because I pay monthly, they deducted the rest of this year's instalments from the total refund. When I rang to query this they said that they did not offer a full refund in the first instance but would pay the full amount if I requested it and continue collecting monthly instalments. If that happens in your area its worth asking the question.

I now have the full refund in my bank account so have a go - it's really that easy and it costs nothing but your time. Don't bother asking for interest on your overpayment though - the council state categorically they do not pay it!

Good luck to you and all other challengers

joerid

Thanks for your reply.

I did the same as you in the end. Rang up VOA and they say they will look into it!

Hope I am successful too!

Jeannie_D

Local Borough Council: Lancaster City Council
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount Refunded: £2119.78
Annual Savings Going Forward: £335.67

I followed Martin's advice to the letter. Initially, I telephoned Lancaster VOA who told me, politely but very firmly, that I could not challenge my council tax band because I had lived in my house since 2004. I explained that seven years ago, I was new to the Lancaster area, had no idea about local banding or house values and additionally, I would have been far too shy to knock on the front doors of my new neighbours to ask what they had paid for their house and how much council tax they were charged! Lancaster VOA conceded this was a fair point and invited me to send any evidence in writing to them. This I did.

After two months, I received a letter advising that my request for reassessment had been turned down. However, the letter was clearly a generic one and did not give precise reasons for refusal...so I rang Lancaster VOA again and asked for specifics. It seems that the houses I had chosen as comparators were similar in price to mine, sold around the same time, but had only three bedrooms whereas my house has four. The fact that these comparators had three reception rooms to my two did not seem to matter. Fortunately, I remembered another house opposite mine - also four bedrooms and also Band E - so I offered this as "fresh evidence" and said that I would appeal to the Tribunal. At this, Lancaster VOA offered me a "second review", to be carried out by the Preston VOA office.

I think it was the mention of the Tribunal that did it. I accepted the offer of a "second review". Today, I received confirmation from the VOA and the City Council that my council tax will be reduced immediately and the refund will be credited to my bank account within a week. Hats off to the VOA for treating me fairly. I have rung them this morning to thank them.

Tips? Follow Martin's advice exactly (thanks, Martin!); stay calm, be polite, be pleasant, but above all....don't give up. Good luck!