Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

lincroft1710

Jeannie_D wrote: »

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 think it was the mention of the Tribunal that did it.

As you've lived in your house more than 6 months you would not be entitled to a Tribunal hearing.

Teresab_3

Epping Forest Council
Original band D
Now Band C
Refund of £1700

i only found out i was on the wrong band when i had a letter from a company who would do the leg work for me for 30% of the refund, so i did it myself-checked on line to see everyone else's band and found that all but one house was on the same band (D) but one was on (C) i sent a letter to the valuation office, who informed the council, 6 weeks later i had my refund- 11 years in the wrong band!!!!
don't be fobbed off by these companies who offer this service,:T its so easy to do it yourself.:D

buckiemorag

Moray District Council
Council Tax Band before :- D
Council Tax Band after :- C
Amount Refunded :- (by my calculations £2313)
Amount Saving going forward :- £170

Always thought my band was too high...kept saying I was going to do something but never had the time. Finally did! With a lot of reading up on this site and 1 visit to library (about 5 days in all but wanted to get it right) Posted off letter to assessor, received letter to say they would visit that week, which they did. That was 2 weeks ago. Letter this morning to " correct this error..D to C.. with effect from 1/4/1993"
What a result!:j 2K+ for a few days! Magic!
Great site. Thank you so much. :T

mclean1979

Hi there,

Would like to thank the site and contributors to this thread which helped me sort out my council tax rebanding.

Local Borough Council: Renfrewshire Council
Council Tax Band Before: E (£1904.54)
Council Tax Band After: D (£1558.26)
Amount refunded: TBC (Should be £1382.96)
Annual saving going forward: £34 per month Approx

We claimed back in January and had the usual 6 month rule/rejection. Later we received a date for a tribuneral. After this i called the assessor who arranged to come out. Looks like two streets on my estate are to be rebanded.

Docchas

Thanks Martin £3,418.66 back for the price of a postage stamp and 20 minutes work!

roxysmum_2

South Lanarkshire council, Scotland
council tax band before E
council tax band after D
amount refunded £1101
saving per month £30 ish

Woo hoo

Used all the tools and finally got rebanded after year long fight !!
When I got first letter after querying my banding they quoted me all the stuff about" certain websites" that offered false hope blah blah !! So don't give up if you know houses the same as yours are lower band

Cheers Martin x

slingy123_2

Local Borough Council: Lancashire
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: £246 approx
Annual saving going forward: £246

We applied after reading moneysavers report as soon as we bought our house. our first application was refused so we lodged an appeal as the tax band was being judged on the house value on building not what we had actually purchased the house for which was much less. It was difficult as there are only 6 houses and noone had appealed but I thought why not . Before it went to appeal they wrote to us telling us they had reduced our banding which was great. All my neighbours have now applied and also had theres reduced. Thanks for all the advise

james2005

Hiya, Am I right by saying you actually only have 6 months to appeal against your council tax after you have moved in, so this still applies if evedece has just come to light/been discovered.

If this is so isnt there a way around this?

lincroft1710

You have 6 months to appeal your CT band from the date you occupy the property or become entitled to occupy the property, whichever is the earlier. If you believe you have evidence which suggests your band should be lower and you are outside 6 months time limit, then you can ask VOA (E and W) or Assessor (Scot) to review the band. However if they say band is correct you will have no right of appeal to a Valuation Tribunal. You should of course tell VOA/Assr what your evidence is when you ask them to review the band.

JLLGLP

I queried my current banding (Band based on the fact that my next door neighbour in an identical adjoining terraced house is in Band A and also that I paid far less than than the £40,001 threshold price for my house when I bought it in 1999.
I have received a letter today saying that they "do not agree that a different valuation band should apply", they also say that "there is no right to appeal" as I do not have a valid "proposal to alter the valuation list". This all sounds like what everyone else is saying about being turned down flat at the first hurdle because you have missed the 6 month opportunity to appeal so I intend to query this again.
The thing that worries me is that they say that their "records show sales on similar size terrace properties....sold for in excess of the band B minimum". I can't see how this is true unless the properties suddenly lost value between 1991 and 1999. Does anyone know if I can ask them to show me what evidence they have or if there is any way that I can get evidence myself?