Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

rentawitch

Local Borough Council: Havering
Council Tax Band Before:D
Council Tax Band After C
Amount refundedWaiting to Hear £756.16
Annual saving going forward:£ 160


I did not claim this, it came out of the blue. However, they have charged me too much money since 1993. Where is the interest? Has noone requested interest. I asked and was told that Government Departments do not pay interest. What about HM Revenue and Customs I said? Oh well we are a non-profit making company they said. You are not a company at all says I. The Revenue get their money and it goes straight to the Treasury, The council use your money to pay for services.
The Revenue use my money to pay for services for the country.

I believe they should pay interest on this overcharging. What do you think?

I will claim the money first then go back for interest.

Has anyone claimed or received interest?
Thank you.

Big_Fat_Jeff

We heard about this on the radio, checked your site, followed the instructions and ****** IT WORKS******

We only moved in May this year so are not getting any cash back, however we have decreased our bill, and will enjoy lower bills in the future!!!

Keep up the great work.

Jeff & Stephanie

busby8_2

Just under £4000 refunded by Edinburgh District Council going back almost 14 years!!

However !, what about the interest on this !!!!!!!

Has anyone had any thoughts/success with claiming back the interest ?

The £220 or so that I overpaid in 1993/94 has been refunded to me as, well, £220 or so.
Had I been in debt to the Council for this amount of time, they would have rightly slapped interest charges on. Why can't I expect to do the same ?

Inflation has kicked in big time since then.
Surely the equivalent amount that I should recieve should reflect this.

Has anyone out there had any experience of this ?

Help/advice requested please.

busby8_2

rentawitch wrote: »

Local Borough Council: Havering
Council Tax Band Before:D
Council Tax Band After C
Amount refundedWaiting to Hear £756.16
Annual saving going forward:£ 160


I did not claim this, it came out of the blue. However, they have charged me too much money since 1993. Where is the interest? Has noone requested interest. I asked and was told that Government Departments do not pay interest. What about HM Revenue and Customs I said? Oh well we are a non-profit making company they said. You are not a company at all says I. The Revenue get their money and it goes straight to the Treasury, The council use your money to pay for services.
The Revenue use my money to pay for services for the country.

I believe they should pay interest on this overcharging. What do you think?

I will claim the money first then go back for interest.

Has anyone claimed or received interest?
Thank you.

Hi, I've just read your post, and have just contacted my Council to ask about the Interest. They were very evasive to say the least.

However, the process is to apparently first of all contact your Valuation Board. They will of course reject your claim.
The claim should then be redirected to your Local Council Director of Finance. They may well also reject your claim.

I'll be trying this over the next month or so.
However, .........assuming I'm met with a brick wall, my intention would be to make an inexpensive Small Claim through the courts, therefore limiting my outlay in court fees.
My reckoning would be that if I claim the interest for just one of the years, the amount of which doesn't exceed the Small Claims limit at court, then I can set a precedent and go back and request all the other years and expect to get those amounts paid back too.

The Press would no doubt become involved somewhere along the way aswell.

Having around 14 years of interest to claim back, I don't think the council are likely to just pay this amount out without a fight !................................................unless of course anyone else can help with their own experiences.

If so,...........please let me know!

Ivenofinmoney

Local Borough Council: South Northamptonshire
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: TBC
Annual saving going forward: £286

Just had a fantastic telephone conversation from the guy in charge of my case, I raised my claim back in April (when we moved in to the property) and I was fairly immediately fobbed off being told that similar properties in my area that had appealed, had been rejected. and I should therefore sign a declaration withdrawing my claim.

I asked for proof of their claims , and they came up with all sorts of excuses as to why my calculations were inaccurate, they said the Nationwide calculator was a regional average, and therefore showed an under valuation for my particular area.

They recently provided details of 5 Properties 'similar' to mine that had withdrawn their appeals. 2 of which were over 20 miles away from my property.

They have messed me around for some time and the appeal hearing was scheduled for next week.

Last week, I received a very formal letter stating I couldn't use any information at the hearing unless I had presented it to the valuation officer and he had 'agreed' it.

I had already prepared my data for the case, which was as follows:-

Each of the properties presented as comparison, had been done so purely on the basis of size not value or location to amenities that would affect value ( our house is in the grounds of a public house).

Using the Nationwide calculator (which according to them under values properties in my area) I was able to demonstrate their comparrison properties are valued at 25% more than ours.

I also stated that I would not accept their comparison properties unless they could demonstrate similar properties sold next to commercial premises for similar values.

I have presented no new facts since my original appeal, I have only framed the facts alongside those presented by the valuation officer, and yet I have just received a phone call today to say they are now happy to lower my banding. :T

My OH was all up for me withdrawing the appeal at the 1st hurdle, I'm very glad I stuck it out and encourage everyone to challenge any early rebuttal's.

Good Luck to anyone about to start their own appeal !!!

rentawitch

busby8 wrote: »

Hi, I've just read your post, and have just contacted my Council to ask about the Interest. They were very evasive to say the least.

However, the process is to apparently first of all contact your Valuation Board. They will of course reject your claim.
The claim should then be redirected to your Local Council Director of Finance. They may well also reject your claim.

I'll be trying this over the next month or so.
However, .........assuming I'm met with a brick wall, my intention would be to make an inexpensive Small Claim through the courts, therefore limiting my outlay in court fees.
My reckoning would be that if I claim the interest for just one of the years, the amount of which doesn't exceed the Small Claims limit at court, then I can set a precedent and go back and request all the other years and expect to get those amounts paid back too.

The Press would no doubt become involved somewhere along the way aswell.

Having around 14 years of interest to claim back, I don't think the council are likely to just pay this amount out without a fight !................................................unless of course anyone else can help with their own experiences.

If so,...........please let me know!

that seems like a good idea.
I am going to try and get the money first though otherwise it could be held up gods know how long. There is over £700 due and I could really do with it.
Thanks.
Kris

chareba

Wigan Council

Tax band before: F
Tax band after: E

After the programme, had a look at the VOA and found that all my neighbours (all identical houses) were on Band E whilst I was on band F - for 14 years! Wrote to the Manchester valuation officer and also got in touch with Wigans listing officer who said no because of the 6 month rule. Went to a Tribunal and they dismissed the case, thought that was it...then last week I got a letter from the valuation officer and he stated that in fact my banding was incorrect and has decided to reduce it to band E. I have now a refund of over £1900 plus my council tax paid till next year. Has taken 7 months but please persevere if you know that you are in the right.

:j

Lanmar

Local Borough Council: Salford City
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: £3200
Annual saving going forward: £314


After hearing Martin's advice on the radio I compared my house banding against my neighbours' (fortunate all of these were houses of a similar design, size and cost).

My claim was out of time and on this basis I had to claim by letter but I found the VOA in Manchester very helpful and efficient. The local authority were a little tardy processing the refund but the overall process from hearing Martin's advice to receiving the refund was 4 months.

:T
My adjustment was backdated to 1993. The local authority gave me a refund of £1800 and suspended council tax repayments for the current year.

So that the refund and suspended repayments were not just "lost" we acted on another of Martin's recommendations and bought £1800 premium bonds and redirected the £200 monthly direct debit payments to buying Premium Bonds until the end of the financial year.

Lanmar

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jonichols

Local Borough Council: Leeds City Council
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D
Amount refunded: £700

I checked the banding on the VOA website and realised my old property had been banded incorrectly. I wrote to the VOA and because I no longer have legal ownership of the property they could not write back to me. I was told to keep checking the website for their decision. 2 weeks later the band was adjusted in my favour. I then put a quick email together and sent it off to Leeds City Council and 5 days later I received a cheque for almost £700! I owned the property for 3.5 years between 2000 and 2004 - so thankyou very much Martin - top tip mate!!
:beer:

mufctony1959

Goffer wrote: »

Borough of Chelmsford
Band E to
Band D

I have just received notice that my Council Tax band has been reduced to that of Band 'D' I have been paying unwittingly Band 'E' since 1991. The valuation officer has informed me that the council have been informed of his decision. Thanks, I now await the final outcome.

well done, i received a cheque from chelmsford for £2450 in July. i found them to be really efficient and the cheque was on its way when i rang to enquire about a refund. i was the same as you Band E, reduced to Band D.
trying for interest now but not having much succes. The VOA are saying that they will only pay compensation if they made a mistake at the original banding, although the say the did get the banding wrong it wasn't really a 'mistake' because they were fairly close to the banding figure when they set it?????????? yeah, go figure, good luck.