council tax reclaim

johnrates
johnrates Posts: 1 Newbie
in Reclaim mortgage fees, council tax, etc
Hi
I bought my house in December 1990 for £112,000. three bed detached and placed in band F .(If i had the known the rules as Martin Lewis has pointed out I would have checked earlier)I have asked VOA for a reassessment that has been denied, the argument stating the economy at the time and other houses in the locality went for more??. They have removed my right to appeal.
Back ground most of the street has different house builds on the road.
My neighbors are both 4 bedroom F band.. The rest of the houses on my side of the street are roughly the same size as mine and are in band E.
Opposite the houses are in band E I did note that a challenge was made by one of them in 1993 that moved them from F to E.
Further up the street (the posh end approx 50m away) I also noticed another challenge, the house similar to my own was down graded to E from F also in 1993.

My question really is where do I go from here? Can I challenge the council and is there any more research I can do to help my claim.

Thanks

Comments

  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    It's not that they've removed your right to appeal, it's more that you, legally, don't have one after 6 months. Outside of the 6 months you need to challenge them on their legal duty to maintain an accurate list but that doesn't include a formal right of appeal.

    You cannot challenge the council as they have no say in the decision, they can only work with what the VOA tells them regarding the banding.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,618 Forumite
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    The band limits were well publicised in 1993 when CT was introduced and you could easily have appealed your band in the 8 months then allowed. Given your 1990 sale price, it would have been prudent to do so, plenty of people did.

    All you can do is refer to the Band E houses and ask why these have been reduced and yours hasn't. Do be aware that the VOA could turn round and say these were reduced in error and increase them back to Band F
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • DisgustedofTW
    DisgustedofTW Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 20 May 2018 at 5:34PM
    Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
    Tax Band F to Tax band E
    Refund of just over £6100 going back to April 1993 to April 2018.
    Now saving £381.49 per annum
    Had thought of reclaiming but never got round to it till Martin Lewis article. All very easy & Valuation Office came back within month of applying & Council refund shortly after.
    Has anyone had success on reclaiming interest on an over payment?
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,618 Forumite
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    DisgustedofTW wrote: »
    Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
    Tax Band F to Tax band E
    Refund of just over £6100 going back to April 1993 to April 2018.
    Now saving £381.49 per annum
    Had thought of reclaiming but never got round to it till Martin Lewis article. All very easy & Valuation Office came back within month of applying & Council refund shortly after.
    Has anyone had success on reclaiming interest on an over payment?

    Council Tax legislation makes no reference to any interest payment, so councils will not pay interest on refunds. They could be admonished by the auditors if they paid out money they did not have to.

    They didn't sit on your overpayment. As far as the council were aware the band they were charging on was correct. Also you state that you had thought of claiming but never got around to it, so if you had been more proactive, you would have received your refund earlier and your payments would have been less
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    I would second what Lincroft has posted.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • DisgustedofTW
    DisgustedofTW Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 21 May 2018 at 4:30PM
    Conversely had the VOA carried out the task of assessing the Bands of property correctly then there would have been no need for the estimated 400,000 Council Tax payers to seek assessment.
    So implicit in your argument is the Council are merely acting as a collection agent of the VOA so are the VOA liable for paying compound interest on the sums collected erroneously from Council Tax payers? Seem a little PPI ; only this time it's the public and not private sector.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 26,612 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    DisgustedofTW wrote: »
    so are the VOA liable for paying compound interest on the sums collected erroneously from Council Tax payers? Seem a little PPI ; only this time it's the public and not private sector.
    Even PPI redress is simple rather than compound interest.

    There is no similarity here to the PPI scandal.

    Good luck trying to obtain any interest therefore.
  • lincroft1710
    lincroft1710 Posts: 17,618 Forumite
    Photogenic Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    edited 22 May 2018 at 1:50PM
    DisgustedofTW wrote: »
    Conversely had the VOA carried out the task of assessing the Bands of property correctly then there would have been no need for the estimated 400,000 Council Tax payers to seek assessment.
    So implicit in your argument is the Council are merely acting as a collection agent of the VOA so are the VOA liable for paying compound interest on the sums collected erroneously from Council Tax payers? Seem a little PPI ; only this time it's the public and not private sector.

    Given the stupidly short time in which the government wanted the CT banding exercise completed there were bound to have been mistakes. Also for many dwellings it was not immediately obvious which was the correct band. Most of the work was carried out by contractors rather than VOA staff, but the VOA of course have to accept responsibility. Since the contractors were were not well paid, there was little incentive to take sufficient time and care to ensure the bands were correct.

    There was plenty of time for CT payers to appeal their bands and 400,000 incorrect bands is not a huge amount given the circumstances, it is probably less than 2%.

    I did not say or imply the council were a collection agent of the VOA. The VOA sets the bands, the council collect the money which is used to fund council spending, the VOA do not receive any money from CT collected.

    Whether from the council or VOA, there is still no right of interest on a refund. No similarity with PPI whatsoever
    If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales
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