Questioned my council tax, now asked to attend hearing! 28 January 2014 at 7:27PM in Reclaiming Mortgage Fees, Council Tax, etc 4 replies 1.3K views

Pharmer

Hey,
Put in a request for my council tax to be changed back in October based on my neighbours in near-identical flat as per the guide on MSE.
I get a letter a few weeks later saying they've received my request and I'll hear more eventually.

Today, I receive a letter with a hearing date for an appeal at the local council where I have to present my case. This is not as simple as the MSE guide made it out to be. I have no legal experience or knowledge of how to do this.

Has anyone else had this happen to them out of the blue and attended a hearing and been successful? I'm not sure what to do.

loopdaloop

Pharmer wrote: »

Hey,
Put in a request for my council tax to be changed back in October based on my neighbours in near-identical flat as per the guide on MSE.
I get a letter a few weeks later saying they've received my request and I'll hear more eventually.

Today, I receive a letter with a hearing date for an appeal at the local council where I have to present my case. This is not as simple as the MSE guide made it out to be. I have no legal experience or knowledge of how to do this.

Has anyone else had this happen to them out of the blue and attended a hearing and been successful? I'm not sure what to do.

Take the guide with you, break it into bullet points and you should be able to present it fine.

The key matters are

1) Evidence shows that thousands of peoples homes are in the inccorect bands.

2) You checked the cost and band of your neighbours property and your evidence is (a) taken from valuation office agency & b) information taken from zoopla etc as well as the nationwide valuation check)

3) Your property is similar in every way. (utilising evidence taken from your particulars and the particulars of your neighbours.

so therefore

4) based upon the neighbours check and the valuation check your property is in the wrong band.

Print out all your 'evidence' so you can pass it to them to look at and compare.

lincroft1710

How long have you lived in the flat?

lincroft1710

loopdaloop wrote: »

1) Evidence shows that thousands of peoples homes are in the inccorect bands.

Forget this one, it is a generalisation and the Tribunal is also aware of the fact that millions of homes are in the correct band.

In any case the VOA will send you evidence of why they think your flat is in the correct band, so you will be able to see what you're up against.

Pharmer

Hey folks.

Thought I should update this. However, thank you for the advice.

The valuation officer phoned me a few days later saying that he would like to view the flat first before we go to the hearing in case it is incorrectly banded. He came, went, and changed the banding.

Sorted