Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

jpa129

I used the advice on here and e-mailed the valuation office. All the same properties in my road where in C and I was in D!!!


2 months later, received a letter saying that I had been rebanded to C and then the council sent me a letter and a BACS payment for just over £1000 (ten years worth!).


Thanks Martin, it was well worth the 5 minutes it took to mail and now I will save in the future too.


Cheers

Snugglebunny8

hi all, may I ask a little advice please? am interested in experience of timelines, our letter fm VOA 15th October confirming drop in banding but our council still not received the notice from them, theyve called VOA and not had reply yet, Ive also called VOA and they said they will come back to me to let me know when letter went etc. I understand how busy both ends will be so don't want to chase people when they are just trying to do their jobs, but is this a usual experience that the notification takes quite a while to get to council or should I be concerned something has gone missing? as we are due 20 years of overpayments back we could really do with it, our council have been really helpful and i know they will deal with it when they have the letter, but has anyone else had a delay like this and is it usual please? many thanks! :-))

lincroft1710

VOA usually do CT updates once a month, so could take up to 4 weeks for the band to be officially reduced. You can check online and see if your band has been reduced.

soupdragon10

Applied to valuation office in October for rebanding after realising all neighbouring houses (some of which are larger) were in lower bandings.


Have been rebanded from F to E and received 21 years refund £3,500.


So glad to have followed the step by step guide which made the process really easy.

Tonesey

Hi all,

I have submitted request for banding to be checked for my parents property. using the MSE tools we passed the neighbours check and valuation check going back to 1991.

We have received a response after 5weeks saying the band will stand as it is (band b) based on the valuation for 1991 falling into £40,001-£52,000 using there records. however the search I did prior to application came out with valuation at £38,000 meaning band A.

Where can i go from here because they seem to only consider there own figures rather than ours and the neighbours properties in band A are apparently different sized properties but still 3 bedroom (the property is terraced so this seems like a flawed arguement)

can anyone help.

the council concerned is Durham county council.

thank david

lincroft1710

The VOA may have actual 1991 sales evidence, which is more reliable than house property indices which cover such a large geographical area, that they can only be used as a guide. My own experience of using HPI compared to actual sales, was that HPI tend to undervalue 1991 prices by around 10%.

Property size is the way VOA compare when valuing for CT, so a 1930s 3 bed terrace of 90 sq m would be worth less than one of 100 sq m.

If you can find any similar size and age 3 bed terrace nearby, or can find evidence of asking prices for similar houses in 1991 at £40K or less in archived newspaper property ads, you may be able to persuade the VOA to rethink.

Otherwise either accept it or try to get more info from them as to why they think Band B is correct.

Tonesey

Thanks for the info will give it a try

Happyharley

Council: Thurrock
Band C
Moved to Band B
Don't know if I will get a refund

It took a good few months, firstly I was told no I could not re-band, so wrote again after doing some research and find the house at the bottom of my garden, (which had 4 bedrooms) was in band B and my little 2 bedroom cottage was a band C. But I kept at them and got my letter today I've been moved into band B........so a very happy bunny...Thanks Martin for the heads up

tandjlancashire

Successful Council Tax re-banding from Band E to D. Simplicity in itself. Albeit MSE site gives very detailed guide, my approach was:-

Checked DirectGov listings, found that only my & 1 other house in development were banded E - similar properties all D. I was prompted to follow up as a 'company agent knocking on my door' offered to pursue (note he would take 50% of any refund due!).

Emailed Valuation Office Agency (VOA) asking them to check, I made it clear this wasn't a formal challenge, just an enquiry.They sent back a form for me to complete about why I thought banding was wrong. I was cautious as I have extended property, but disclosed all property details.

Result, re-banded as D from April 1993. Refund of several thousands of pounds. Process took 4 weeks and VOA and Council were highly efficient

benndog

Local Borough Council: South Holland Lincolnshire
Council Tax Band Before:E
Council Tax Band After:D
Amount refunded: Total c 9,000 (4 neighboring properties)
Annual saving going forward:£300 pound each per year

The 4 property owners appealed online following Martin's advice.
An invalidity notice was sent by the VOA based on the reason for appeal selected - You may also experience this as if you've been paying for more than 6 months (as we all had) there may not be an appropriate option you can select for a valid appeal

Not to worry we contacted the VOA saying there wasn't an option and based on our investigations into house prices in 1991 we would still appeal if possible. They agreed to investigate !

In 6-8 weeks we had a phone call, then a letter confirming the band change from the VOA. The VOA informed the local council Within 7 days we all received BACS payments for any over payment

The largest refund was £4096 pounds for a 91 year old!

He's having Turkey this year, oh and Rib of beef on Boxing day.

Many Thanks Martin..