Reclaim overpaid council tax

melg1576

I successfully challenged and won my rebanding from B to A.
It took 5 attempts over 10 years but the VoA have finally agreed, after I followed Martins advice step by step.
What I'm now in disbelief of is the fact that Ive been overpaying for 18 years and my total refund is only £1300???
Doesnt this seem extremely low?

lincroft1710

melg1576 said:

What I'm now in disbelief of is the fact that Ive been overpaying for 18 years and my total refund is only £1300???
Doesnt this seem extremely low?

Firstly, check the effective date of reduction. Secondly, check if you had any CT benefits or arrears over this period. Thirdly, check if the amount refunded equates to only 6 years worth of reductions. If none of these provide the answer ask the council

tboo

melg1576 said:

I successfully challenged and won my rebanding from B to A.
It took 5 attempts over 10 years but the VoA have finally agreed, after I followed Martins advice step by step.
What I'm now in disbelief of is the fact that Ive been overpaying for 18 years and my total refund is only £1300???
Doesnt this seem extremely low?

and check the difference between a band B and A per year, they aren't normally high, roughly £100 to £150 per year

lincroft1710

tboo said:

melg1576 said:

I successfully challenged and won my rebanding from B to A.
It took 5 attempts over 10 years but the VoA have finally agreed, after I followed Martins advice step by step.
What I'm now in disbelief of is the fact that Ive been overpaying for 18 years and my total refund is only £1300???
Doesnt this seem extremely low?

and check the difference between a band B and A per year, they aren't normally high, roughly £100 to £150 per year

Which over 18 yrs would result in a minimum refund of £1800, rather than £1300, although in earlier years the difference may well have been less than the figures you suggest

p00hsticks

lincroft1710 said:

Which over 18 yrs would result in a minimum refund of £1800, rather than £1300, although in earlier years the difference may well have been less than the figures you suggest

As the OP refers to 'I' and 'my' rather than 'we' and 'our' - they could be in receipt of the single person discount, which would reduce the potential refund by 25%

vanessa_rowena666

For the past twenty years, my daughter had been moving from one rented house to another with 2 children in tow, she has been paying full council tax, on earning 16 hrs per week. She has been fighting the council for 2 years to get this large amount of money back. with the help of the ombudsman, the council have admitted to owing her the money, but they said they have lost all her records. So she supplied 20 years of bank statements, but still they won't pay. Can anyone help?

p00hsticks

vanessa_rowena666 said:

For the past twenty years, my daughter had been moving from one rented house to another with 2 children in tow, she has been paying full council tax, on earning 16 hrs per week. She has been fighting the council for 2 years to get this large amount of money back. with the help of the ombudsman, the council have admitted to owing her the money, but they said they have lost all her records. So she supplied 20 years of bank statements, but still they won't pay. Can anyone help?

You don't say exactly why she's owed the money - is it because she should have been claiming a single person discount but didn't ? or because she believe the various properties she rented were banded wrongly ? or that she should have been getting some form of council tax reduction because she has a low income ? or some other reaon ?

bevpankhurst

I'm not sure if I'm posting this on the correct page.
I lived in a housing association for 23 years and since moving out have found 2 neighbours who have successfully had their banding changed from a D to a C and claimed a refund. I contacted the appropriate people who told me that because I have moved out I am unable to apply for the overpayments and rebanding. This seems really unfair as I have overplayed for 23 years does anybody have any advice?
Thank you 

lincroft1710

bevpankhurst said:

I'm not sure if I'm posting this on the correct page.
I lived in a housing association for 23 years and since moving out have found 2 neighbours who have successfully had their banding changed from a D to a C and claimed a refund. I contacted the appropriate people who told me that because I have moved out I am unable to apply for the overpayments and rebanding. This seems really unfair as I have overplayed for 23 years does anybody have any advice?
Thank you 

You have to contact the person currently living in your previous home and ask them to apply for a rebanding. If the band is lowered you can then ask the council for a refund of any overpayment of CT

HandD

goodlife77 said:

With councils desperately short of cash for schools, care for the elderly etc. and closing down children's centres and libraries, is now really a good time to start squeezing them further to reclaim a few quid from years ago that we didn't even know we might be owed and had long forgotten?
This is services for our local communities we are talking about, not some profit making corporation.

To be fair the article suggests that these amounts are sitting dormant in accounts with the relevant councils aware that the amounts can be refunded. Considering this, I dont think any council will have the cash earmarked for public spending. If they were going to, for the same points you've made about shortness of cash for local authorities, I think they would have spent it by now.
On a separate note, I think some of the responses in here asking for help and advice on rebanding are off topic. This thread is about reclaiming overpaid council tax where you have moved home or already rebanded, and potentially overpaid. Questions on how to reband should be moved so that those searching for that topic can also get help from the responses.