Council Tax Rebanding SUCCESS stories

Caty_G

Caradon District Council
Previous Band - F
New Band - E
Amount Refund - approx £600
Annual Saving - £304

I would never have even thought about it but during the rainy and depressing (financial clouds of gloom) summer I decided to try a financial makeover.
Getting the council to arrange a visit for a re assessment was easy - but I found doing it over the phone was more effective than the online form.
My grounds for the change were for an adaptation to the house (a wet room for my disabled mum). Once the visit took place the process was very fast. And now our car is on the blink ...- so thank you thank you - it really is worth trying.

scarfie

Local Borough Council: Wirral Borough Council
Council Tax Band Before: B
Council Tax Band After: A
Amount refunded: £1,666


Followed Martins guide, did my homework on the bands in my road and the 1991 value of recently sold properties then made the phone call to the valuation office. Simply told them that, I thought I was in the wrong band, didn't even have to reveal any other info other than some details of the house, when we bought it etc. One week later I got a letter from the valuation office, rebanding me and two weeks after that I got a letter from the council advising me that they would be refunding £1,666 in overpaid council tax since 1993. They have also reduced my remaining three months payments and of course next year I'll be paying Band A . One phone call and I'm now £1,666 better off. Thanks Martin - excellent tip.
Have just passed Martins top tip:money: on to my father and he has now contacted the valuation office - hoping for a rebanding down to a B....to be continued.

hss

I live in Loughton Essex and am VERY UNHAPPY.:mad: We live in a 2bed mid-terrace property, no extension just basic and are in band D. When I looked on the site, I noticed properties that had extended, even a double extension on the side were also band D.
I phoned up the VOA and told the officer that I felt it unfair because in my road, all the houses do look the same, but some are more extended than others, and how could it be fair that I should pay the same as them in band D?
He told me he would look into it but now I have received a letter, stating they WILL NOT change the banding, trying to compare it to 2 other houses in my road that are similar to mine. Worse still it quotes "there is no right of appeal as you can only appeal if a 'formal proposal to alter the valuation list' has been made".

Is this true? Any suggestions please. In 1991 I don't think people would have extended like they have done now, so if anyone has any suggestions I will look forward to reading them.

Regards Heather

vincit_veritas

Local Borough Council: East Dorset
Council Tax Band Before: G
Council Tax Band After: F
Amount refunded: tba - est £3k+
Annual saving going forward: £340 pa

No houses in my small road had been sold around the CT valuation date, so although we always suspected ours was a borderline case, we had no way of proving it: there were no properties where one could make a direct comparison. So for many years we just forgot about it. Only when we tried, a few years ago, to move up, and found we were being offered details of considerably pricier properties nearby which were in lower bands did we decide to pursue it.
It was never going to be straightforward: every house in our road is different in size and style, but in the same band, and there are no other houses like them nearby. After refusing to accept the initial standard brush-off letter from the VOA, I have been in correspondence since March. The file was eventually taken over by an officer who agreed ours was a borderline case. I dug up as much evidence as I could re sale prices, house sizes/ages, plot sizes, etc, plodding around the roads with the VOA listings and finding all the houses that were clearly better than mine, but in a lower band. Eventually, after I thought I'd probably given it my best shot, I was beginning to think I'd just try one last letter, and give up. Certainly, the news that my county council had a large deposit in Iceland made me wonder whether they would even be in a position to make any rebates, even if I won my case.
BUT today, a letter has arrived from the Listing Officer to say that the "balance of evidence" - evidence provided by me - showed my home should be in the lower band! Now I await to see what the rebate will be, but it should be several £k. I am hoping that at least some of my neighbours may benefit also.
This certainly wasn't one of those "one quick phone call" success stories, but hopefully may encourage others who feel their case is dragging on and getting nowhere - DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Prudent

Clackmannanshire Council, Scotland
Previous Band - D
New Band - C
Amount Refund - only just received letter from assesor awaiting amount from council, but getting a refund to april 1993
Annual Saving - £170

I put in an a appeal for my bf's house (this is not my own ct) and he just got the letter today. He is very happy with the result.

I made the appeal because he lives in a Victorian semi which is identical to the neighbouring property. The neighbour is paying at the lower rate. I wrote the letter in July and following a visit from the assessor a month ago (who initally told us Scottish council tax bands are not reduced) bf got a letter today.

nessad

South Somerset District Council
Previous Band - E
New Band - D
Annual Saving - £300
Refunded - £2872.91


Moved to our property in August 1995 & challenged the banding within 6 mths of move but told we had no case & therfore did not appeal because the council implied that we were borderline & there was a chance we could be put up a band. We thought no more about it until I saw your article.
By following your instructions & looking at the valuation web site found that the property next door to us which is practically identical was a band lower also the property the other side of us was a Band D & bigger than ours.
Checked 1991 value & it was borderline so although we only had a moderate case we thought it was worth a try.
One phonecall to valuation officer & was told no need to fill out any forms they would look into it....seemed too easy so didn't hold out too much hope.
Five weeks later have just received letter saying now in Band D & backdated to 1993 ( i wonder if the previous owner will be contacted). .
Thankyou Martin we would not have known this was possible without your site and it was so easy .
Will update with amount of refund when it arrives.

:j03/11/08
What a result!
Have just had £2872.91 credited to our bank account, they tried to deduct the rest of this years council tax from the refund & didn't like it when i insisted on the full amount & told them we would continue to pay monthly !
Haven't had the calculations yet but will chwck them very carefully.. perhaps I should have pushed my luck & asked for interest!

Bayblue

Rushmoor Borough Council
Previous Band - B
New Band - A
Saving - approx £200 per annum

I claimed last year. I moved into my flat some years ago and never thought much about council tax banding, just paid what I owed. Anyway, one day out of curiosity I decided to look into what the neighbours band were. This is a funny road, some of the properties are big houses and others have been converted into flats and bedsits, my small flat is part of a converted house.

I discovered that the flat below, which is one room smaller than mine is in band A. Didn't think too much of it at the time because as I said, it is smaller but I did a bit more digging. I found several flats a few doors away that were also band A so that made me a bit more hopeful, but the problem was I had no idea of the size of them. I had a brainwave- I looked on local estate agents sites and found 3 or 4 flats in surrounding roads which according to their full descriptions were all bigger than mine, all in band A.

I then wrote to the valuations office with the details of what I'd found. I didn't expect much to happen to be honest but a while later I got a phone call- could someone come down and see the flat? We agreed date and very nice lady turned up, she took measurements and was (off the record) very hopeful, she even said 'ooh it is a small flat isn't it?'! LOL I'd have been almost insulted under any other circumstances.

A few weeks later a letter arrived confirming the band change. I received a refund from the council which I later calculated to be short of the actual overpayment but I didn't bother to pursue it further. I probably should have but I was too happy to have changed the banding.

I'd advise anyone to have a go if they think that they're paying too much. I quite enjoyed it, some of it was like playing detective. I did my homework and by the time I wrote to the valuations office I knew enough to know that I had a reasonable case. I don't think I'd have risked things if the banding had any of chance of going up. However I didn't necessarily expect to 'win', so I think that was a lovely bonus.

diablobear

Local Borough Council:Lancaster
Council Tax Band Before:C
Council Tax Band After:B
Amount refunded:Just over £500
Effective Date: April 1993
Annual Saving going forward: Approx. £165.00pa

How easy was that!!
I'm renting my home from my sister-in-law. I was really surprised at how much the council tax she had been paying and went through the motions discovering that my neighbours were either A or B.
I phoned the local VOA office and they told me it would be a 10 week wait for a decision. Then received a letter saying their decision could take 2 months. I received a letter today only 8 days after my original phone call to find they have decided to reband the property to B! So, that means my bill will be cheaper going forward and my S-I-L is due a rebate back to when she purchased the property. Gave her a quick call and she's so chuffed. So I earnt some brownie points too!

So all in all not a bad return for about an hours work, reading and researching and a cost of one phone call. So glad I followed Martin's advice again!!

brf1973

Local Borough Council SUNDERLAND
Council Tax Band Before B
Council Tax Band After A
Amount Refunded £249.00
Effective Date JUNE 2006
Annual Saving Going Forward APPROX £115.00 PER YEAR

When we moved house in June 06, it didn't cross our minds that we were in the wrong band as the house was bigger than the old one. It was only when my wife saw Martin's report on the T.V. and we asked people who lived in similar houses that we realised we were in the wrong band.
In all it's taken between 6-8 weeks to get it all sorted.
Cheers Martin!!!:beer:

wardchadwell

hello all
used this website to challenge council tax had visit off local officer at first did not want to change band but after swhowing them bigger houses in lower bands around mine got new banding down from f to e a fair out come ,
Thankyou money tips got back dated to 1993 and a refund for £2444.94
thanks again money tips for giving me the tools cheers jon 28/10/2008