Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

dave_c_4 · 11 October 2008 at 12:49PM

what do you think my chances of a refund will be for council tax are. I have lived in my house since june 1995 and re are in band b, but I have seen simular properties in our area and they are in band a 2 house in fact the rest are in b we had our house valued in jan 2003 at 70k do you think I will have a chance on a refund

lincroft1710 · 11 October 2008 at 9:51PM

dave_c - doesn't matter what your "chances" are, if you don't ask, you don't get. It will cost price of a stamp or phone call and if you are successful, you will get several hundred ££ refunded. You possibly have a case, so just contact Valuation Office Agency and say you believe your band is incorrect. It could be that the two in Band A should be in B, but unless you ask, you won't know.

Zebedeee · 12 October 2008 at 1:40PM

dave_c, I think it would be worth you having a look at the properties in the local area and deciding where your house fits in relation to those. Go to your local library and check out how much houses like yours sold for in 1991. If that would put you into the A band then by all means go for it, but if, on balance it seems that you should be band B then tread very carefully. If your only result is to get the two in band A put in band B then you won't be very popular.

If you do simply say to the VOA that you believe your band to be incorrect without having done your homework the chances are that they will dismiss your claim as you have been in your property for over 6 months.

Hope that helps.

Zebedeee

thecrazy1_2 · 14 October 2008 at 12:34PM

i am confused my council tax banding is c i live in a victorian 2 bed maisonette unfortunatly all the other properties in my street have been converted into three 1 bed flats at band b when i looked at the voa it states it should be band c as in 1991 the value would have been 60.000 however in 1996 when we were thinking of selling we had a valuation on the property from the estate agent of £50.000 does this make any difference

thanks

shepssaving · 14 October 2008 at 1:02PM

After reading tips on site I investigated my neighbours Council Tax banding on the VOA site, horrified to find I am in Band C and everyone else in my street is Band B!! Our house does have a basic kitchen extension however there are other extended homes and detached houses all in Band B.
I found from the purchase price of our house in 1999 that in 1991 when banded it would have fallen into Band B with almost £10,000 to spare.
I have rang & spoken to the local Valuation Officer who has told me it may be 2 months for a banding review to be completed!! Watch this space.

lincroft1710 · 14 October 2008 at 5:56PM

thecrazy1 - Band C is over £52K, in some areas property prices in 1996 had not reached the levels they had been in 1991. You need to research 1991 prices and current bands of similar size older 2 bed flats/maisonettes in the area.

stellasunbeam · 15 October 2008 at 10:44AM

how annoying, all my neighbours are the same band so I guess unless we all challenge, we're all stcuk where we are!

sokuryoku · 15 October 2008 at 4:22PM

[QUOTE=

Thank You;12468275]I have a similar case and have been told by the council that the executors can claim for the refund back to 1993

Regards

ExVOperson[/QUOTE]

First of all. Thank You for all of your help.

Good News. Band reduced to from "D" to "C".

The VOA said the Effective Date of alteration is 1st April 1993.

However the council have only given back the refund from when my mum passed away in March 2008.

I inherited my mum's property and possessions. Could anyone advise me briefly?

Sincerely

Sorry heres the original thread:

My Mum passed away 4 months ago. She lived in a "D" Banded property with no extensions/work made on the property. 90% of the other Terraced houses in the street are "C" Banded. Which are the same as my mums.
She lived in the property for nearly fourty years. The house was passed to me. Can a claim be made for a rebate in this situation?
Any help would be a help.

lincroft1710 · 15 October 2008 at 6:05PM

Any refund due would be payable to your late mother's estate. The executor of her estate would have to write to the council to claim the refund. I have to say that I am assuming that councils are legally obliged to refund Council Tax overpayments to the estate where the CT payer is deceased, but don't actually know.

vivatifosi · 16 October 2008 at 12:35PM

sokuryoko

Following on from Lincroft's post, can I please suggest that you post the same question on the general tax board (of which this thread is a subset)?

There are people who answer questions there that have a very good understanding of the system and how it works from a local government point of view. Therefore they deal with questions about properties that have been rebanded, rather than here, where the questions are how to get a reband. They do look on this thread from time to time, but you have a better chance of having your post spotted that way.

Council Tax Cost Cutting: reduce your band and grab any discounts Discussion Area

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