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Original poster

Anyone appealed against their council tax band?

23 replies

lulumama · 30/03/2007 12:16

Just had the council tax bill, for this year, , gone up again, as has everyone else's , no doubt

anyhow, we have discovered we are in a different band to at least one of our neighbours, and after a bit of googling, have discovered we are potentially in the wrong band .

There is a possibility should be 1 band lower.

So, has anyone appealed?

Did it work?

Was it lenghty and time consuming?

any stories?

thanks very much x

OP posts:
cece · 30/03/2007 12:18

Yes I did and it got lowered. I wrote to local council at first and then a few weeks later got a letter from some sort of organisztion that said they were looking into it. Think it took about 2 or 3 months. But I htink there is a time limit to it? Not sure but think you have to do it wihtin 9 months of moving in? Might be wise to check this though.

Original poster
lulumama · 30/03/2007 12:19

thanks cece.....we thought there was a limit, but something DH found on the internet seemed to contradict that....

OP posts:
cece · 30/03/2007 12:20

Might be worth phong them up and asking - they would have to tell you. Ours was backdated to 1993! Although it went to the landlady - she did give us a percentage though as she was so pleased

RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 12:26

Look on martin lewis site for info

money saving expert . com

Original poster
lulumama · 30/03/2007 13:01

thanks kanga! think DH found some stuff on there last night

cece... well, it is our house, so any back dating would come to us !!

which would be nice, if it happened.....

apparently when houses were banded in 1991 , it was done by an estate agent driving past and guessing the value??!?! true?

OP posts:
RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 13:05

You're welcome

Yes deffo that is what Martin says

Original poster
lulumama · 30/03/2007 13:05

aw, bless you kanga, thanks !

while you are here, as resident telly queen, do you know when half tonne hospital is on please xx

OP posts:
RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 13:07

it was on LAST Tuesday @ 9.00

or do you mean a repeat?

Original poster
lulumama · 30/03/2007 13:08

was it a one off then?

OP posts:
FioFio · 30/03/2007 13:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 13:10

Tues was 2/3

RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 13:10

FIOFIO follow links on martin's site

RTKangaMummy · 30/03/2007 13:15

I can't find 3/3

sorry

Original poster
lulumama · 30/03/2007 13:17

thanks kanga xx

Fio, we found out when our neighbour asked if we were in the same band, and that started us thinking

DH is off on Monday so he is going to look into it all x

OP posts:
cece · 30/03/2007 15:30

search for something like voa - you can search for your street and check everyones council tax band... that is how I found out everyone else was an E and we were an F apart from a huge detached bungalow next door that was also an F.

DontlookatmeImshy · 30/03/2007 21:55

cece - had you been in your house longer than 6months or whatever the time limit is.

We're thinking of challenging our band too but are a bit worried they'll use that as an excuse not to change us.

cece · 30/03/2007 23:39

we had been there about a month when I appealed.

colditz · 30/03/2007 23:42

BE CAREFUL

my dad appealed about his banding on the grounds that he was in a higher band to his neighbours.

they put everyone elses band up.

It seems our council favoured nazism (1 complaint we shoot the village) approach.

cece · 30/03/2007 23:44

colditz

I checked on the website and all the other terraced houses like ours were either D or an E band.

Next to our end of terrace was a huge detached bungalow that was an F.... So felt pretty safe.

Leslaki · 31/03/2007 10:20

check the valuation office website (VOA I think) and check out all your neighbours. We'd been in the wrong band for 6 years but it was a long fight even when they admitted we were in the wrong band. They sent out those leters but took them months to pay up - I ahd to threaten to take them to court to refund me. Got it in the end though and our house is in a lower band now!

Original poster
lulumama · 31/03/2007 19:32

thanks all, will have a look at the VOA x

OP posts:
Surfermum · 02/04/2007 21:50

We appealed as we had been put on the same band as the other houses in the road, which were much larger. I think we decided they had assessed the road as a whole, and the other properties were much newer, they'd assumed all properties in the road were the same. I can't remember how we came to that conclusion though. I think there might have been guidance about how the bands were worked out.

I remember we got the Estate Agent to do us a letter to say that at the time of the assessment for which band the house was in the house was worth x.

We completed the form and sent them photos of the house which was in a bit of a state at the time. I can't really remember, but it must have been relevant for me to send them.

A few weeks later we got a letter saying we were being put down a band.

It was really easy.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 05/04/2007 09:50

I have just had my council tax band reduced.

I rent a h/a house with no gardens at all. It was a band b - more than houses across the street with gardens. I appealed on line. I had a letter within a few days saying my band was correct.
I phoned them saying I didn't agree. After a few more weeks someone came to look at the house. She agreed it seemed an odd banding. She phoned me a week later and told me it would be reduced.
Now waiting for a revised bill and to see how much my 3.5 year rebate will be!

I would tell anyone to give it a go.

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