Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

lincroft1710

CarolynCh wrote: »

The VOA confirmation letter was dated 25 December but we have had to wait until 14 February to actually receive the refund and I suspect that is only because I have registered a complaint as it was taking so long. Not impressed with the City Council keeping my money - have asked for compensation!

This is not an excessive length of time to wait, especially as council probably weren't working until 3 Jan. When I worked in VOA and CT payers asked how long their refund would take, I always replied that the council deal with that side of CT, but could easily take 6 weeks.

Can't see you getting any compensation.

rosiecc

Local Borough Council:Scarborough
Council Tax Band Before:Band E
Council Tax Band After:Band D
Amount refunded:£2,472.55
After seeing your advice on Council Tax banding, I checked mine online with the surrounding houses which are similar in size, only to find that I was on Band E and they are all on Band D.
On 3rd January I emailed the address you gave on your website and was contacted immediately, followed shortly afterwards by a visit from the VOA.
The lady measured every room inside my houseand all the exterior walls and said that she would be back in touch with a decision within two weeks.
I had a reply very quickly saying that I am in the wrong band and they contacted my local council in Scarborough to arrange a full refund as I should be on Band D like my neighbours.
I moved here in July 2000 and have been overpaying for over 11 years!
The money has been paid into my account today, 15th February – a total of £2472. 55
A big ‘Thank you’ to Martin’s Money!
I am now saving over £350 a year in Council tax! Great!

CarolynCh

lincroft1710 wrote: »

This is not an excessive length of time to wait, especially as council probably weren't working until 3 Jan. When I worked in VOA and CT payers asked how long their refund would take, I always replied that the council deal with that side of CT, but could easily take 6 weeks.

Can't see you getting any compensation.

It is an excessive time to wait. They should return the money as soon as they are advised by the VOA. If they weren't working during the week after Christmas then they should have been - those days weren't bank holidays. If the banks held on to money belonging to customers for that period of time there would be a national outcry, and yet when the councils (who incidentally are supposed to be working for the people) do it then it's not a problem?

(incidently, I paid our Corporation Tax a day or so early and HMRC calculated the interest due and repaid it into our bank account within a couple of days - if HMRC can do this then so can other public bodies).

lincroft1710

CarolynCh - I wouldn't disagree that it seems a long time, but in comparison with other councils it doesn't seem excessive.

From what I understood (reading between the lines) and this may well have changed since I worked at the VOA, but customer refunds weren't a priority. They were carried out when it was practical to do so. As I said, things may have changed and I post not because I agree with councils' policies, but from a knowledge of what has happened in the past.

Please let us know if you get anywhere with the council.

BTW your comment on HMRC's prompt actions is probably the only one on these boards.

bbva

Local Borough Council: Hammersmith and Fulham
Council Tax Band Before: D
Council Tax Band After: C
Amount refunded: Nil
Annual saving going forward: £125 per year

I purchased my flat in Dec 2010 and on checking the council bands noted that I was in a higher band than the flat below and above me which are identical in layout.

I sent a letter to the VOA and on receipt of the letter they changed the band immediately. As I had just moved in, I didn't get a refund but do save £125 going forward. If I hadn't read this article, I probably wouldn't have done anything. Thank you.

Bri1

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Bri1 - I am presuming you are in Scotland as in England and Wales CT banding is not carried out by councils, but by the Valuation Office Agency which is part of HMRC. In Scotland CT banding is carried out by the Assessor, who according to the Scottish Assessors Association http://www.saa.gov.uk/introduction.html

Each of the 32 local Councils within Scotland is a valuation authority and responsible for appointing an Assessor who must in turn compile and maintain a Valuation Roll and a Council Tax Valuation List. There are however only fourteen Assessors in Scotland, four are appointed directly by a single Council and the remaining ten are appointed by Valuation Joint Boards comprising elected members appointed by two or more Councils. Where a Valuation Joint Board exists, all the duties, powers and responsibilities of the constituent Councils as Valuation Authorities are delegated to the Board.

So there may not be a connection.

Without knowing all the evidence from both sides it is impossible to advise if it would be worth your while appealing again. If you appeal then if you can't get anywhere with VOA or Assessor then you do have the right to have your appeal heard by an independent tribunal.

I'm In England, just seems rather convenient when the local authority are scrabbling around for funds that this happens, the information they assessed it upon has not changed & I'm sure they they would have checked their own info before they gave us a hefty refund & discount before.

lincroft1710

Bri1 wrote: »

I'm In England, just seems rather convenient when the local authority are scrabbling around for funds that this happens, the information they assessed it upon has not changed & I'm sure they they would have checked their own info before they gave us a hefty refund & discount before.

As I said in that post CT bands are the responsibility of the VOA (part of HMRC) who have no connection with the council. VOA do sometimes change their mind on a band alteration, usually this happens when the person who originally changed the band didn't research properly or was unfamiliar with the banding of that particular area. So I suspect a mistake was made rather than any collusion between the council and VOA.

In any case each year each council collects millions of pounds from CT, the extra annual income from the difference between a Band C and a D is just peanuts in comparison.

If you have not contacted VOA and asked what has happened (as I suggested in previous post) then you should do so fairly quickly. Should you wish to appeal and have not already done so then your time is running out.

Granariesgirl

Local Borough Council: Broadland District
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: WILL be D... when they give in!
Amount refunded: To be confirmed
Annual saving going forward: To be confirmed

Saw the info on CT banding on website in early 2010, told my Dad he should look into it as he loved a good barney with the Powers That Be.
Unfortunately he died & I inherited the house last year.
Moved in on Boxing Day 2011.
9th Jan:I rang the VOA who said they would "review the valuation".
28th Feb: Letter saying valuation reviewed & found correct (a polite "sod off, peasant").
Spent all day today compiling the info & writing a fancy letter... then saw in this forum that you could contest valuation online!
A little cutting & pasting & voilà, job done!
Property Value - I included the original 1970's sale price, probate valuation, Nationwide valuation based on original sale price, Nationwide valuation based on recent probate valuation.
Comparison - I cited comparable (same or slightly better) properties on my road all in lower bands, ditto for comparable (same or slightly better) properties in the village. I emphasised that we were the ONLY property of our type in Band E in the whole village.
I requested that should the formal challenge be refused, the case be sent immediately to the Valuation Tribunal.
Hope this summary helps someone else to get their act together.

I will get my way, it's just a question of how hard I have to kick !!! to get it!

Many thanks to all whose posts I cribbed to compose my dulcet missive to the VOA - will keep you posted.

lincroft1710

Granariesgirl - 1970s sales prices are of absolutely no use, A 2010 probate value is of little use, as the basis of this valuation is different to that of Council Tax valuation. Nwide calculators are inaccurate, very doubtful if they gave the same figure for 1991.

However the comparison with other village properties was a good idea, let's just hope they weren't underassessed.

horatio_2

Local Borough Council:Copeland
Council Tax Band Before:F
Council Tax Band After:E
Amount refunded:£120
Annual saving going forward: c.£350

Property not that similar to any others, but still looked at all local houses and their band. It was clear just my property was in the wrong band, so challenged providing some evidence of properties better then mine on lower bands and got the requested change.