Reclaim overpaid council tax

cookie666

lincroft1710 wrote: »

BS calculator seems an apt description, as it is inaccurate! You can ask for a further review, but without some hard evidence to support your claim (the NW calculator is not hard evidence), you will just get the standard response that your CT band has already been thoroughly investigated and accordingly reduced.

Do you know what the council would class as hard evidence? As for the calculator, any suggestions for an alternate method? If not for me I might just mention it to my neighbours who are yet to do it.

lincroft1710

It is not the council, it is the VOA you will be dealing with. Either 1991 sales evidence (which unless you or neighbours have details of their own sales at this date, is virtually impossible to obtain) or other very similar houses nearby which are in a lower band (and there is always a possibility that they are in a band that is too low).

glamourpug

Just had an email from the council I moved from 10 years ago to say I'm being refunded £91. While I agree that cuts to local authority spending are harsh and unfair, I'm also not keen on the idea of having paid two lots of council tax in one month, which happened when I moved. So thanks, MSE.

ROGERMELLIE

Hi I wonder if you can offer advise.

I saw on the TV programme about reclaiming council tax where your house is wrongly banded, which we believe our last house was. So applied to the council stating the value of each property in 1991, 2nd quarter, which puts both in band A, but we are paying/paid band B for both, although the first address appears to have now changed to band A, and received the following reply, and to be honest I have no idea how to respond to this. Are they just playing hardball?

""Council Tax: Review of Council Tax band

Address:

Thank you for your email dated 16-Mar-2019 in respect of the above.

You have not provided enough evidence in your letter for me to undertake a review of your band. The information I need includes any of the following:

Evidence of identical or very similar properties in your locality which are in a lower band. Please provide full postal address including house number and post code.

Sales evidence in your locality (within two years of the valuation date of 1st April 1991) which suggests your property might be incorrectly banded

Evidence that an error was made when your property was banded

With reference to your previous property, I will investigate the band if you are able to provide sufficient evidence to suggest the property has been incorrectly banded, but I can only correspond with the current occupier.

You would need to check the Banding on the VOA website (I'm unable to see this when I tried to check) to see if the band has been reduced, and if it had, you would need to contact the Local Council, to find out if you are entitled to a refund.

For further information about Council Tax, please visit our website, or contact us on 03000 501501 where someone will be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely



Listing Officer"

Regards
Simon

CIS

ROGERMELLIE wrote: »

Hi I wonder if you can offer advise.

I saw on the TV programme about reclaiming council tax where your house is wrongly banded, which we believe our last house was. So applied to the council stating the value of each property in 1991, 2nd quarter, which puts both in band A, but we are paying/paid band B for both, although the first address appears to have now changed to band A, and received the following reply, and to be honest I have no idea how to respond to this. Are they just playing hardball?

""Council Tax: Review of Council Tax band

Address:

Thank you for your email dated 16-Mar-2019 in respect of the above.

You have not provided enough evidence in your letter for me to undertake a review of your band. The information I need includes any of the following:

Evidence of identical or very similar properties in your locality which are in a lower band. Please provide full postal address including house number and post code.

Sales evidence in your locality (within two years of the valuation date of 1st April 1991) which suggests your property might be incorrectly banded

Evidence that an error was made when your property was banded

With reference to your previous property, I will investigate the band if you are able to provide sufficient evidence to suggest the property has been incorrectly banded, but I can only correspond with the current occupier.

You would need to check the Banding on the VOA website (I'm unable to see this when I tried to check) to see if the band has been reduced, and if it had, you would need to contact the Local Council, to find out if you are entitled to a refund.

For further information about Council Tax, please visit our website, or contact us on 03000 501501 where someone will be happy to assist you.

Yours sincerely



Listing Officer"

Regards
Simon

It appears that they are willing to consider if it further evidence is adduced, they just don't seem to think that the current evidence was sufficient. It is probably just a case of putting together a better argument at this stage.



Also, as suggested, contact your previous council to check for any refund if you think that has been adjusted already.

lincroft1710

ROGERMELLIE wrote: »

So applied to the council stating the value of each property in 1991, 2nd quarter, which puts both in band A

Are they just playing hardball?

Where did you get your 1991 valuation from? If it was from Nationwide (or similar) or MSE house price then it will be inaccurate and not acceptable to VOA.

Yes, they are playing hardball and you have to play by their rules

TREZZY

As we bought our house for 24000 in 1992 should we have only paid council tax on this

lincroft1710

TREZZY wrote: »

As we bought our house for 24000 in 1992 should we have only paid council tax on this

Are you in England or Scotland?

If your house was in poor condition when you bought it or there was something not straightforward about the sale then the price you paid cannot be used as a basis for CT banding. 1992 house prices were generally lower than in 1991. Finally any improvements carried out before April 1993 can be reflected in the band.

Whispers_mum

We have lived in our house since Feb.1981, a 2 bed semi and our council tax band has been band C, which we didn't actually give any thought to- assumed the assessment was correct back in 1991.
We are now trying to sell our house and the issue of being in the wrong band has been raised by one potential buyer. I followed guides on this website and have discovered that from my adjoined neighbour to the end of our road are all in band B; most of the houses are 3 bed semis, but basically the same as our house. I have email VOA with a query, awaiting a response. I may be back on this forum asking for peer advice for the next steps. But thanks for providing such a wealth of information.

CIS

Whispers_mum wrote: »

We have lived in our house since Feb.1981, a 2 bed semi and our council tax band has been band C, which we didn't actually give any thought to- assumed the assessment was correct back in 1991.
We are now trying to sell our house and the issue of being in the wrong band has been raised by one potential buyer. I followed guides on this website and have discovered that from my adjoined neighbour to the end of our road are all in band B; most of the houses are 3 bed semis, but basically the same as our house. I have email VOA with a query, awaiting a response. I may be back on this forum asking for peer advice for the next steps. But thanks for providing such a wealth of information.

You are out of time for a formal appeal (all you can do is request a review, which doesn't have grounds for appeal) - the new buyer could appeal within 6 months of purchase.