Challenging your council tax band.
Discussion
The other evening we had a chap knock on our door, with a good spiel about how many households are potentially in the wrong council tax banding as the evaluations were done in such a quick, slapdash way back in the 90s. All sounded quite legit, however the company was basically a no win, no fee set-up, with 50% plus VAT of any refund paid out going to them.
Didn't sign up as it sounded a very weak deal, however I'm very gald he did knock on the door as it got me investigating it myself. With the help of the truly brilliant MSE website, it seems like it's really simple to DIY it and within about 10 mins on google I'd put a very strong case for a band review together and e-mailed off to the local valuation office.
Hoping for around £170 less tax a year, and potentially a 4 figure refund, as been in the same property well before 1991.
Anyone else successfully challenged their banding? How simple was it to squeeze the backdated refund out of the council?
Didn't sign up as it sounded a very weak deal, however I'm very gald he did knock on the door as it got me investigating it myself. With the help of the truly brilliant MSE website, it seems like it's really simple to DIY it and within about 10 mins on google I'd put a very strong case for a band review together and e-mailed off to the local valuation office.
Hoping for around £170 less tax a year, and potentially a 4 figure refund, as been in the same property well before 1991.
Anyone else successfully challenged their banding? How simple was it to squeeze the backdated refund out of the council?
LC23 said:
I went through all this with the valuations office at the time. Presented my case, the fact that next door to me was in a lower band and is a larger property (extension), over the road is a lower band. Old valuations (as best could be obtained) showed the value of my property at the time it was originally done should have had the property in a lower band. I will leave you to guess the outcome; and I think if it is not within six months of moving into the property you have no right to appeal (or didn't at the time). Their decision is final.
On the MSE guide to doing this it says that the 6 month time limit is a misconception. Did you appeal?LC23 said:
vrsmxtb said:
On the MSE guide to doing this it says that the 6 month time limit is a misconception. Did you appeal?
I didn't appeal as at the time I went through this (a few years ago now) it seemed to be clear there was no right of appeal. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-t...
We've had an acknowledgement letter and will hear back within 2 months, I'll post the result when we get it.
PF62 said:
When I challenged mine (and won), they tried this argument "problem with bands, there has to be a boundary, doesn't matter how far you are over the line" etc. I looked at the list of properties within 1/4 mile of my house and found plenty that were larger that was in the band I was aiming for.
One of the problems with challenging the band, is even if you find comparable properties, the VOA may argue that they should be in a higher band. They have the sale prices for all properties, but won't let you see them. I was able to 'prove' that these larger properties were correctly banded, as although my house had been built long after 1991, these properties existed then. So I popped along to the local library and spent an hour with the microfiche of the local newspapers circa 1990/1991. By looking at the estate agents adverts it wasn't too hard to find examples of the properties with asking prices (all of which were well into the band I was aiming for).
I gained the sense that if you had done your homework, then if the case was on the edge you may win as they didn't want to spend time arguing. If you were chancing it, then they would reject it.
As for the appeal/no appeal issue, I seem to recall that you had a statutory right to an appeal to tribunal in specific circumstances, for example within x months of moving in. However if you were outside that period you could argue that the VOA* wasn't doing its job properly in maintaining a proper list. In both cases the initial discussion is with the VOA and if they agree, fine. However if they disagree, then only if you have a statutory right can you take their refusal to tribunal.
Indeed, its all about the evidence, I haven't gone to the extreme of raiding the local reference library yet, but as part of my evidence I found some sale prices and used the Nationwide property value convertor to backdate the approximate values to the 1990s and a property identical to ours, literally next door of a semi-detach worked out at nearly £10k below the £52k threshold set back then.One of the problems with challenging the band, is even if you find comparable properties, the VOA may argue that they should be in a higher band. They have the sale prices for all properties, but won't let you see them. I was able to 'prove' that these larger properties were correctly banded, as although my house had been built long after 1991, these properties existed then. So I popped along to the local library and spent an hour with the microfiche of the local newspapers circa 1990/1991. By looking at the estate agents adverts it wasn't too hard to find examples of the properties with asking prices (all of which were well into the band I was aiming for).
I gained the sense that if you had done your homework, then if the case was on the edge you may win as they didn't want to spend time arguing. If you were chancing it, then they would reject it.
As for the appeal/no appeal issue, I seem to recall that you had a statutory right to an appeal to tribunal in specific circumstances, for example within x months of moving in. However if you were outside that period you could argue that the VOA* wasn't doing its job properly in maintaining a proper list. In both cases the initial discussion is with the VOA and if they agree, fine. However if they disagree, then only if you have a statutory right can you take their refusal to tribunal.
- In case anyone wasn't aware, the VOA maintains the banding list, the council collects the money based on the list, or in my case, sent me a nice big cheque.
I also found next door on the otherside, again an identical property in size and construction sold for £54k in 1999 so taking off inflation of 8 years, I'm confident it would've been under £52k in 1991.
If they reject, I'll get ready for a microfilm session in the library!
LC23 said:
vrsmxtb said:
It sounds like you can appeal within 3 months.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-t...
We've had an acknowledgement letter and will hear back within 2 months, I'll post the result when we get it.
That's a shame (for me!) as when I went through this I don't remember there being an appeal process. I took things as far as I could as set out at the time and got nowhere. Good luck and I hope you get the right result.http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-t...
We've had an acknowledgement letter and will hear back within 2 months, I'll post the result when we get it.
Good news, we had a phone call just before Christmas and they have agreed with my evidence for the lowered tax band. The answerphone message wasn't completely clear, but it sounds like the council will be in touch regarding the new payment band and any refund due? Or do we have to instigate this?
Gio G said:
This thread got me thinking. My property is currently in the F bracket, however seen properties which are larger than mine, within a 1/4 mile radius, with an extra bedroom and more space in the same bracket. Do you think there is a right to appeal?
So if this property is worth say £100k more than mine, does that effectively put it in the same bracket? I suspect you could scale that difference back to 1991.
Thanks G
Go to the Money saving Expert link on the first page of the thread, it will talk you through step by step what you need to research to see if you have a strong case. Well worth an hour or so of your time, it does take a few months to process from start to finish though.So if this property is worth say £100k more than mine, does that effectively put it in the same bracket? I suspect you could scale that difference back to 1991.
Thanks G
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