Council Tax appeal

darich

I posted a thread a while back asking for advice on appealing my council tax banding. It's E but i think it should be D.

It went to the assessor (I'm in Scotland) and they turned it down on the strength of me not claiming until i had been in the property for 7months and was therefore late.

I appealed that and provided evidence of house prices in my street and area. The panel have responded with an answer again from the assessor stating that my appeal for re-banding was outwith the 6month time limit but no mention of the evidence i provided.
From that, i took it that the evidence was good enough for a change and not a strong case for them to argue so they've responded with another reply stating that since my appeal is not extra-ordinary it should therefore be dismissed as invalid as it's outwith the 6month rule.

I know that many owners have had several years of council tax refunded so i know the 6month rule can be "beaten" if the case is good enough.

How do i respond to their answer that my appeal is invalid and get my banding changed? Is it as simple as stating that "it is the assessor's responsibility to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the listings and it should be changed" or is there some other magic phrase that i should quote?

I'd really appreciate the help on this one!

thanks
D

darich

bump...anyone?

CSL_2

Dear Darich,

My text of 10th November 2007 in www.polltax.co.uk might be of some help.

You also need to read through a lot of text from others on the above named site.

Good Luck!!

CSL
Monday 21st January 2008

CSL_2

CSL wrote: »

Dear Darich,

My text of 10th November 2007 in www.polltax.co.uk might be of some help.

You also need to read through a lot of text from others on the above named site.

Good Luck!!

CSL
Monday 21st January 2008

Darich,

Don`t forget to post the outcome of your Second Review (Scotland)...........

darich

Site looks interesting CSL but can you point me to a particular thread that would be useful?
Or even to the text that you refer to?

thanks

CSL_2

Darich,

It is eight items down in first columb:- Council Tax (viewed 1565 times)

www.polltax.co.uk

CSL
Tuesday 22nd January 2008 - 0019 hrs

beingjdc

Rent the property out to a friend for three months and go on a long holiday. Make them responsible for Council Tax while they live there, then they can appeal, or you can when you get back and take over again.

OK, it's extreme measures, but hey

darich

Reading all i can it seems that i have to write to the appeal panel stating the 6month rule is unfair and that i claimed within 6months of finding out i could appeal.
Also that regardless of time, if the banding is incorrect it is the assessor's duty to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the bandings list. HAving pointed out this mistake he must be legally bound to change it.

Would something along those lines be the best approach?

thanks
D

StevieCarr

I am in the same boat here .. I have a VERY strong claim to be on a lower band ..

Made the claim and received a letter stating it was invalid because I had been in the property for more than 6 months!!

After watching Martin on the TV last week I was under the impression that the it didn't matter that I hadn't claimed within the 6 month time limit??

What is my next step after the first claim is denied?

vivatifosi

Hi darich,

This is one of those problems that come up regularly and leave people banging their heads against a brick wall. Martin is right in part, but what happens quite frequently is that the VOA believes that its evidence is correct (therefore they don't have to change the list) and the complainant disagrees. Under those circumstances your options are limited as you don't have a right to third party review.

Your best bet would be to do one of the following:

* As beingjdc says, rent the house out. Radical, but would work as the tenant rather than the owner can appeal within 6 months.
* Identify other houses locally that are the same. As soon as one sells, persuade the owner to appeal. If they win it opens up a six month window that you can appeal off of the back of. Make sure that you refer to their successful tribunal win in your initial appeal or they may still declare you invalid (I've seen that before).
* Think whether there has been any change in circumstances in your local area in recent times that could lead to a loss in value of the house and see whether you can re-appeal off of the back of that. Examples that I've seen go to appeal that were successful include: building a supermarket next door, leaving a college as a derelict site, building a flyover/road expansion etc, construction of a mosque leading to additional noise/parking problems. In this case you wouldn't win a rebate back to CT being introduced, only back to the time that the problem arose, but could be an option.

Hope these are useful. There are a lot of people out there working on number 2 on the list...

darich

Hey all.

I wrote to the appeals panel claiming that my evidence pointed to an error in the listings and that the assessor was duty bound to correct that error. i also asked for their information under the Freedom of Information Act showing my house to be a band E. That evidence must be stronger than mine.

I received a letter today from the panel with a letter from the assessor stating that since my letter didn't relate to the 6month time limit, my appeal should be dismissed as invalid.

Where i think i might have scored, is that there is no mention of the evidence i have requested under FOI, nor have they acknowledged it. My next step is to wait the 20days they have to reply and see if i get a response. If i don't then i'll write to the head of legal within the council, the ombudsman to complain that the council hasn't complied with the law and to the appeals panel again, re-requesting the info i've asked for.

Interestingly, this is the second letter from the assessor which claims my appeal is invalid, not on the evidence or information provided, but on the 6month rule.

I'm hoping that if i keep on at them, and they can't prove my house is a band E then they'll be duty bound to change the listing whether i'm outwith the 6month limit or not.

So with the above in mind, it may be a while before i post anything further here - i'll be waiting 20working days to see if they respond. But I'll update here anyway.

Wish me luck!!