Council Tax Reclaim

Sunbeamshadow

Looking to see if anybody has experienced anything similar and any advice on how to progress.  

Recently I had the sad and unfortunate task of having to clear out my parent’s property. 

While sorting through the piles of documents I came across a Council Tax bill from 2000.  This showed that at that time the property was classed as a Band D property.

The next Council Tax bill I found was from 2009 and this showed the property being classed as Band C.  It has then continued as a Band C property right through to the present day.

Seeing that at some stage between 2000 and 2009 the house was re-banded I made enquiries with the Valuation Office Agency, and they stated; 

“It appears that your father sent in a “proposal” in 2005 asking for the band to be reduced, however this was treated as invalid, possibly because he had lived at the property for more than 6 months.  However we were able to carry out an informal review and the banding was reduced from D to C with effect from 1 April 1993.”

I then made enquiries with Canterbury City Council about the adjustments to the billing.  They stated;

“I can confirm the Council Tax Band was reduced from Band D to Band C in 2005 and any overpayment was processed. This included a refund of £175.50 sent November 2005 and a credit of £496.12 off set against 2005 charge.”

Canterbury City Council have been unable to provide me with details of the Band C and Band D charges for the period 1993 to 2005.

I therefore cannot confirm that mum and dad received a full refund for the period they had been overpaying but bearing in mind they had been overpaying on their property for 12 years a total refund of £671.62 seems a little light.  On average just £55.96 a year difference between a Band C and a Band D property over 12 years.  For the current tax year (2020-2021) the difference between a Band C and a Band D is £218.38.

Has anybody had a similar experience? How did you get on?  Am I fighting a losing battle? 

Can anybody offer any advice or provide details as where I may be able to find historic Council Tax band charges?

lincroft1710

If the council no longer have the details of Band charges pre 2005, then you are going to struggle. In 1993 the differences between the bands wasn't that great. There is also a possibility that your parents were receiving some form of CT benefit which would have made the difference between the Band C and D payments less.