Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

stephierooo

Local Borough Council: East Cambridgeshire
Council Tax Band Before: C
Council Tax Band After: B
Amount refunded: £320
Annual saving going forward: £150

Thanks to the info on this site I decided to challenge my banding and so glad I did! It did take quite a long time (about 3 months) for them to make the decision and then more time to receive the refund so I needed to be patient but it was worth it! Thanks, what a great site. :j

petermasih

Local Borough Council: Rotherham
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: A
Amount refunded: £5,000

Appealed on the basis of comments of a Valuation Officer in a benefit appeal. Backdated to 1993. On Council Tax Benefit for some years, otherwise refund would have been much higher. Council used some of the refund to pay off old business rates debts!

johansn1

London Borough of Sutton
Council Tax Band Before: E
Council Tax Band After: D
Amount refunded: £2273.15
Annual saving going forward: approx £300 per year

Followed extremely easy instructions on this website, contacted valuation office (make sure they give you a reference number when you ring), took about 2 months and we were re-banded from an E to a D backdated to when we first moved in - fantastic result - we can now go on holiday!:T

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IMPORTANT NOTE! This thread is only to report succcesses

Please note this thread is ONLY for reporting successes/experiences. It isn't for answering questions, discussing what to do, or postulating on the general issues; any posts of that nature will be deleted. If you want to do that please instead go to the Discussion on Council Tax Cost Cutting

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djh68

After following instructions on this website I checked neighboring properties that were identical to mine and checked on the VOA site for their council tax bandings. After finding out that out of seven five were band E (I was band F). I phoned my local authority and they said that they would look into it but it may take up to two months. Four weeks later I received a letter saying that my appeal was successful and that they were notifying the council. I received a letter this morning stating that my rebate was backdated to 1993 and the amount due back to me was £2,500. FANTASTIC but just as a footnote please note that in their wisdom the council decided to take out the full remainder owed for this year in advance...I kindly declined.
Thank you.
:beer:

silvergirl

Thank you so much. I checked the process on the site, made one phone call and our council tax is reduced by one band. Delighted.

rodgoulty

Due Martin's plan I found out 2 of my neighbours had been on band "D" (all else "E") for years. I went round all the houses (all same build),we filled out forms from VOA & they all got rebanded except 4 of us. Most got £2,600 back. I applied for secondary review & failed. There is no appeal ! Some houses which were larger & not of the same build & had not filled in a questionaire, even they had a lower banding due my action. Someone came from VOA(clipboards) & were seen in street & for some unknown reason we all got rebanded to "D" from "E". Do not engage in legal advice,the HMRC(VOA) have lawyers everywhere & are powerful. Do not shout down the phone,it does'nt help ! Engage gently.........:j

rodgoulty

I forgot to say "THANK YOU MARTIN ! YOUR GREAT."

enprime

Local Borough Council: Wokingham
Council Tax Band Before: F
Council Tax Band After: E
Amount refunded: £450
Annual saving going forward: £400 p.a


Took a bit work persuading the local authority that we were incorrectly banded but got there in the end and we are thrilled.
Martin Lewis you are a legend - we could not have done it without this website.

Toffee_3

Local Borough Council:
Babergh District Council, Suffolk
Council Tax Band Before:
C
Council Tax Band After:
B
Amount refunded:
£377.50
Annual saving going forward:
£138.74

An extraordinarily painless exercise! I wrote to the valuation officer, using the suggested wording on this site, they replied back within a few days with a very simple form to complete. I received a response less than two weeks later saying we had been re-banded. My local council then also confirmed the refund back into my account and new monthly direct debit amount.

I've now told my neighbour as his house is identical - and he's been there for over 10 years, so will be due a very nice rebate!

Thank you Martin!

jonstob

Milton Keynes council
Council tax band before: B
Council tax band after: A
I live in a bungalow rented from Milton Keynes council. Shortly after being informed by Aylesbury Valuation Office, that they had lowered my band from B to A, I received a large envelope from the council containing 32 pages of inscrutable figures dating back from when my tenancy began nine years ago.
No covering letter was with it, and the only part which made sense to me, was where it said .."overpaid council tax benefit..". I rang the council and they told me it was sent in error, automaticaly by the computer, and I should ignore it. I have now received a new council tax bill for band A, but I haven't calculated how much I have been saved yet.