Would you use if doing it yourself failed?

HelenaP

So a few years ago I unsuccessfully tried to get our council tax band lowered as everyone else in the street is on D and we are E. We have evidence of house prices at the time they introduced council tax that says we should be D etc, plus a few niehgbours successfully lowered theirs to that. We tried... with the same evidence, and failed. I appealed again and got rejected again.


Just gave up and resigned ourselves to paying more as there was nothing new we could say.


Today we had a cold call on our doorstep from MoneySavingDrect.com. I would never ever normally listen even. But they claim that they can reduce it, with absolutely no upfront fee. You just agree to pay 50% of any backdated refund when the council agree to lower it. So a no win no fee deal.


I normally wouldn't touch anything like this with a barge pole.... but I have tried using all the right evidence, and following advice from this website, and failed. So have I got anything to lose? There seems little point in trying again myself when they have categorically said they won't even entertain a 3rd appeal from me. Okay, so 50% is a lot to give away... but surely it's better than staying on paying a Band E.


Would appreciate advice/thoughts on generally going for it or this company or others etc.

lincroft1710

If you've been living there since 1993 you'd probably get a refund of £4,000, so you'd be better off by £2,000. Do some research, has the CT band of a neighbour's house recently been lowered? If so contact the VOA and ask for your band to be similarly lowered. If no luck, you could let the door-knockers have a go.

HelenaP

Yes 3 of the houses around us got lowered at about the same time we tried, but not ours.


We've been here 14 years.

lincroft1710

Were these houses exactly the same as yours?

HelenaP

Yes almost identical. A street full of 3 bedroom houses all built at the same time with same layout/ground floor space - some are detached versus semi but nearly all are Band D. I have the original price list for the street when built that places the prices at the same.

lincroft1710

Semis would be cheaper than detached, so if semis reduced to Band D, and you're in a detached, that's why yours hasn't been reduced.

HelenaP

I know, but some of the houses that got theirs successfully lowered were identical detached houses that had the same original price, same ground floor layout etc built on the same date.

lincroft1710

Ask the VOA why some detached reduced to Band D, but not yours, and if you don't get a satisfactory reply, ask your MP to intervene. If he gets no joy (VOA are very good at giving MPs the brush off whilst appearing polite and ultra-helpful) then, and this goes against the grain, give MSD the business.