Council Tax Refund

[ChrisnChris]

After the death of my Dad earlier this year, I have been going through his affairs, utilities etc.

I have been amazed at how much he was paying for things & have managed to get a few reductions & to try & simplify things for my Mum.

When I checked their Council Tax, which is currently £2097 I noticed that next door, & next door to that, were in a lower band despite being slightly larger properties & with more land, (about 1/2 acre each)

I contacted the valuations office who have investigated.

Mum received a letter yesterday (I haven't seen it) saying that her valuation band had been reduced saving about £320

This reduction takes effect from April 1993.
My question is, how do the Council work out how much (if any) my Mum should be refunded for 18 years of over-payment.
Has anyone else gone down this route?

How the fk did this happen in the first place, it might be worth you checking your Council Tax Band.

[mattdaniels]

I can't answer any of your questions but if your mum is now living on her own check whether she's entitled to a discount. I got 25% off my council tax bill when I lived on my own.

[RemainAllHoof]

Yes, she should also be due a sole resident discount of an illogical 25%.

[herewego]

ChrisnChris said:

After the death of my Dad earlier this year, I have been going through his affairs, utilities etc.

I have been amazed at how much he was paying for things & have managed to get a few reductions & to try & simplify things for my Mum.

When I checked their Council Tax, which is currently £2097 I noticed that next door, & next door to that, were in a lower band despite being slightly larger properties & with more land, (about 1/2 acre each)

I contacted the valuations office who have investigated.

Mum received a letter yesterday (I haven't seen it) saying that her valuation band had been reduced saving about £320

This reduction takes effect from April 1993.
My question is, how do the Council work out how much (if any) my Mum should be refunded for 18 years of over-payment.
Has anyone else gone down this route?

How the fk did this happen in the first place, it might be worth you checking your Council Tax Band.

They know what they charged for the two bands since 1993 so pretty simple to work out.

[ChrisnChris]

Discounts etc. being looked at, as for the refund, yes, the maths is simple.

My question is, will they pay anything or will they wriggle out, because "it's too long ago", or "it should have been appealed back in 1993"

I will. of course, follow up the letter (when I've seen it) I just wanted to know if anyone else had any similar experience.

[jj333]

Worth a read if you haven't seen it already:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-t...
They rejected mine despite the neighbours being a band lower. They compared mine to a property a mile away

Wasn't too disappointed because we'd only just moved in anyway

Edited by jj333 on Sunday 23 October 14:08

[Simpo Two]

ChrisnChris said:

Mum received a letter yesterday (I haven't seen it) saying that her valuation band had been reduced saving about £320

This reduction takes effect from April 1993.

That's surprising; I'd thought any claims would have expired in the '90s. Anyway, it's one heck of a rebate if you can get it. Make sure that whatever its based on has a basis in law, because cash-strapped Councils have a kneejerk habit of saying 'no' and sticking to 'no', and then you can bash them with a solicitor.

RemainAllHoof said:

Yes, she should also be due a sole resident discount of an illogical 25%.

Yes, 50% would be fairer.

[Mrs BlueCerbera]

We had a letter through last year saying that our property had been incorrectly banded 13 years ago (1998) and they calculated the amount we had overpaid and credited our account by that amount. I had to specifically ask for them to send a cheque for the amount through to us as otherwise they would have just left it on the account until it had all been eaten up by subsequent years council tax due.
It was all fairly painless so hopefully you will get your refund promptly.

[surveyor]

Any band reduction would go back to the effective date - if that is 1993 so be it.

No interest unfortunately. Council (or there software) will know the difference in charges between bands.

[Simpo Two]

surveyor said:

Any band reduction would go back to the effective date - if that is 1993 so be it.

That was when Mrs Thatcher's excellent (per person) Poll Tax was replaced by the (per house) Council Tax, in the face of riots by various unemployed hoodlums and future Blair supporters.

[bullitinhead]

when we had our band reduction they would only back pay to a maximum of five years..

went from E to D... although we didnt get a cheque or cash , but a credit IIRC it paid it up for 18 months.



bullit

[tobeee]

I asked for a band change when we bought our house five years ago, and after some form filling, they said we had teh right band, so no change and not allowed to appeal. Roll on five years and we just got a letter saying they've decided to reduce our band owing to new evidence. Not sure what that might be, but we've enlarged and improved our house massively in the meantime, so it does seem to be a twisted system!

[ChrisnChris]

Thanks for the info, the Martin Lewis approach is just about what I have already done.

To get this far I have only made one phone call

I have now seen the letter from the Valuation Office & the band has indeed been reduced.





Sorry about the wobbly scan

I wonder how the calculation is made to arrive at a refund figure.
From the sucess stories on www.moneysupermarket.com it seems a bit arbitrary.

If anyone's interested I'll update when something happens.

[Mrs BlueCerbera]

Ours seemed to equate to a difference between bands of about £200 per year over 13 years, but the difference for each year was listed on the refund notice from the council. All seemed very clear but I guess all councils are different.

[tobeee]

Our refund was based on the difference between Band E and F (plus a tiny amount of interest) per year, then an odd calculation to allow for this year's overpayments to date and what would have been payable for the remainder of this year at the new rate, and we pay nothing more til next financial year.

[ChrisnChris]

Here is the update. Mum has received a cheque today for about 3k, but I can't say I'm pleased.
It would seem the Council has just taken each year's overpayment & added them all together.

There wasn't even so much as an accompanying letter with an explanation, just a cheque in an envelope.
I'd have prefered it if someone had knocked on the door with an envelope full of used £20s

Can this really be right, it seems pretty rough justice to me.
They are paying a sum of money at 1993, 94, 95 (etc.) rates, surely the least they could do would be to pay compound interest on each year's overpayment.

All very well on one level, but it's really making my blood boil to be honest.

I don't expect to get anywhere but I'm going to fight this one....I know a few Lawyers, and one of these ....not that that's going to help me much I suppose.

Anyway I'll make sure she pays the cheque in before I set the rottweilers loose.

I fully expect the cahncil to tell me to fk off though ....pricks

[anonymous-user]

When I checked banding on a previous property I found we were in too high a band, I appealed. Expecting it to be thrown out as you only have 12 months from moving in IIRC I was surprised to win! No £££ back-it came off the next bill.

[Simpo Two]

ChrisnChris said:

Here is the update. Mum has received a cheque today for about 3k, but I can't say I'm pleased. It would seem the Council has just taken each year's overpayment & added them all together.

Well that's a bummer. And no letter? Outrageous! Write to your MP.

If you owe the Council money they don't add interest - so it works both ways.

[surveyor]

ChrisnChris said:

Here is the update. Mum has received a cheque today for about 3k, but I can't say I'm pleased.
It would seem the Council has just taken each year's overpayment & added them all together.

There wasn't even so much as an accompanying letter with an explanation, just a cheque in an envelope.
I'd have prefered it if someone had knocked on the door with an envelope full of used £20s

Can this really be right, it seems pretty rough justice to me.
They are paying a sum of money at 1993, 94, 95 (etc.) rates, surely the least they could do would be to pay compound interest on each year's overpayment.

All very well on one level, but it's really making my blood boil to be honest.

I don't expect to get anywhere but I'm going to fight this one....I know a few Lawyers, and one of these ....not that that's going to help me much I suppose.

Anyway I'll make sure she pays the cheque in before I set the rottweilers loose.

I fully expect the cahncil to tell me to fk off though ....pricks

Statute does not provide for interest on Council Tax refunds - does on Business Rates.

You think you have it bad... I know of one person who had a £100k refund on Council Tax (long storey). They really wanted the interest!

[ChrisnChris]

Simpo Two said:

Well that's a bummer. And no letter? Outrageous! Write to your MP.

If you owe the Council money they don't add interest - so it works both ways.

Would you honestly expect to receive just a cheque in an envelope, it seemed pretty shoddy to me. Perhaps it's the way people "do business" now.
To me though it's rude, lazy and disrespectful......& you plainly think it's OK, that says a lot. ...You don't work for the council do you ?

If I owed the Council money, you can be damn sure they would want it back quicker than 18 years.