Council Tax Rebanding Rebate after Bereavement

Noodler

Hello.  I recently applied through the VOA to have our house rebanded and was successful, going from band D to band C.  I then received a rebate from the local council for the years we have been living here (since 2018).
The house was bought by my in-laws as a new-build in 1973, and has been owned by them until my mother-in-law passed away in 2017.  As the house has been wrongly in band D since 1993, can we claim a rebate for the overpayment of council tax paid by my in-laws for all those years?  If so, does anyone know how to go about reclaiming please?  Thank you.

lincroft1710

Only the executor(s) of a deceased's estate can claim any overpayment of CT. You mention MIL but not FIL, in whose name(s) was the CT bill? If your FIL predeceased your MIL and your MIL's name was on the CT bills from 1993 to 2017 then it is fairly straightforward for her executor(s) to claim. If not it may be a bit more complicated.


Claiming is reasonably easy, the executor just writes  to the council, explaining who they are. giving the property address and quoting dates of MIL's occupation (1 April 1993 until date of death, or if CT was  still being paid, date you started paying CT as occupier)

tacpot12

It might depend on whether the banding was 'wrong' due to an error that the council made, or 'wrong' because you thought it was too high  and successfully argued that it should be lowered. In the latter case, it might be ruled that they paid the correct amount of council tax as the banding was correct at the time. 

Noodler

My father-in law died in 1997 so the bill was in my mother-in-laws name until she passed away in 2017.  My wife and sister-in-law were executors of the will, they are best of friends so there should be no issue there.

The banding was wrong because I thought it was too high, it could be argued that this was due to an error the assessor made in 1992.  Either way, I'll contact the council and see what they have to say.  Thank you for your comments.

lincroft1710

tacpot12 said:

It might depend on whether the banding was 'wrong' due to an error that the council made, or 'wrong' because you thought it was too high  and successfully argued that it should be lowered. In the latter case, it might be ruled that they paid the correct amount of council tax as the banding was correct at the time. 

Noodler said:

My father-in law died in 1997 so the bill was in my mother-in-laws name until she passed away in 2017.  My wife and sister-in-law were executors of the will, they are best of friends so there should be no issue there.

The banding was wrong because I thought it was too high, it could be argued that this was due to an error the assessor made in 1992.  Either way, I'll contact the council and see what they have to say.  Thank you for your comments.

The VOA deal with banding, not the council.


If the VOA decide a band is incorrect then it would be incorrect from day one of CT  i.e. 1 April 1993 in England (or date the dwelling was first assessed for CT if later) . The only time the effective date of reduction would be other than that, would be if the reduction was due to a "physical change and material reduction" when it would be the date that that happened.

Claiming from 1997 to 2017 would be fairly simple. From 1993 to 1997 should be OK if your MIL's name was on the bill along with your FIL's. If they were in receipt of CT benefit then this may affect any refund which may be forthcoming.