Council tax band change 14 February at 2:23PM in Cutting tax 13 replies 273 views

suejy

My tax band has recently been changed from F to E. and dated back to 2003.  My council have told me I can only claim back the difference to 2014?  Is this correct or am I entitled to claim back from 2003? 

Jeremy535897

Not according to this:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change/

lincroft1710

If the new band has an effective date of 2003, then you can claim any overpayment back to that date. If you were in receipt of any form of CT benefit, then you probably would have not overpaid your CT and won't get a refund for this period.

suejy

Hi thank you for your replies. How do I go about claiming the rest as council have told me they have a new system and their records only go back to 2014?  I am in England

Brie

bank statements?? they could prove where the payments came from and for how much.

lincroft1710

suejy said:

Hi thank you for your replies. How do I go about claiming the rest as council have told me they have a new system and their records only go back to 2014?  I am in England

That is very convenient for the council!


As @Brie says try bank statements, which will show your DD. But If you're like me you probably haven't any statements that old

Jeremy535897

That's why Martin Lewis says don't throw them away. I keep 20 years' worth.

suejy

Got online bank statements. The only reason they gave for not paying it is because they had a new computer system that only went back to 2014.  But surely they have records of what the standard council tax rates were from day dot.  You can Google them too 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just think they are fobbing me off. 

Albermarle

On the other hand, getting your council tax band changed is difficult, and the vast majority of attempts fail, with no possibility of appeal. So at least 8 years backpay and cheaper in future is not such a bad result.

Jeremy535897

If they have failed to maintain sufficient evidence of receipt of council tax from you, their default position should be that they accept that you have paid the appropriate amount. They will of course be unable to check whether you might have been entitled to one of the discounts in the past, so it is not simply a question of looking up the bands on the internet. 

lincroft1710

suejy said:

Got online bank statements. The only reason they gave for not paying it is because they had a new computer system that only went back to 2014.  But surely they have records of what the standard council tax rates were from day dot.  You can Google them too 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just think they are fobbing me off. 

Yes they could work out how much you should have paid if they had kept a record of the amount charged per band, but they won't know how much you actually paid as the records have been destroyed  For example, you may have been claiming Single Person Discount from 2003 to 2013, so you would have paid 25% less CT each year and so would only be due a refund of 75% of the difference between Bands F and E for that period