Council tax revaluation - Randall & Vickers

Mark A

Mark A

Mark A

Soldato
Joined
19 May 2005
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Lancashire
Hi,

Got a letter through the door today claiming that our council tax band could be too high as other houses in the area are lower. They claim we could also get back paid from 1991 if it was found to be wrong. Their fee would be 30% of the back paid money and that's is only if it is found to be the wrong band. Seems too good to be true...

I had a look online and our house is Band B, along with most of the houses. There are two other houses on the street that are identical houses and they are band A. Seems a bit odd?

Has anyone used this Randall & Vickers company? Their letter looked a bit dodgy and almost went straight in the bin, but the fact it's no win no fee means we cant really lose anything?

Couldn't we just ring the council and ask them to look into our council tax band instead of going through a company? Anyone done this with success?
 
I had a look for you and it appears as though you can do this yourself.


  1. By far the most important step is to find out if your band's higher than neighbours' in similar or identical properties.
  2. A second useful step is to estimate what your house was worth back in 1991, as that's when the council tax bands were defined.At this point, we need throw in a serious warning. Challenging your band is not something to do speculatively without the checks, for one simple reason: you can't ask for 'my band to be lowered', only for a 'reassesment', which means your band could be moved up as well as down.
  3. Write to the relevant contact below. You'll be told how your band was decided, and have the opportunity to explain why you believe it is wrong.


Step-by-step guide to be found here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change
 
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I'd be very happy to pay that if we got our council tax cheaper from now on and got back paid 70% :).

Got a feeling nothing will come of it as most of the houses on the street are band B and I assume they will also be receiving these letters (we got one a few months back). But the fact two houses are band A gives me a bit of hope. Just not sure whether this company is legit or not.
 
Edrof said:
I had a look for you and it appears as though you can do this yourself.


  1. By far the most important step is to find out if your band's higher than neighbours' in similar or identical properties.
  2. A second useful step is to estimate what your house was worth back in 1991, as that's when the council tax bands were defined.At this point, we need throw in a serious warning. Challenging your band is not something to do speculatively without the checks, for one simple reason: you can't ask for 'my band to be lowered', only for a 'reassesment', which means your band could be moved up as well as down.
  3. Write to the relevant contact below. You'll be told how your band was decided, and have the opportunity to explain why you believe it is wrong.


Step-by-step guide to be found here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/council-tax-bands-change
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Just used the calculator on that site using the prices from 2001 and its just in band B :(. I'd like to know why there are identical houses on the street in band A though.
 
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When I moved into my house the council sent me a letter saying I might not be paying enough as the previous owners had an extension put on. They just came round one day, measured everything then told me I didn't need to pay any more! :)
 
I doubt you can claim back to 1991 (unless the council themselves have decided to waive it in this case) generally for money matters statute of limitations applies.
 
Thanks, i'll give them a ring next week but I have a feeling they will just say that its right.

I wonder if the two people on my street who are in a lower band are in the wrong bands? Seems odd that all the houses are identical, yet two people are enjoying the same services at a lower rate than the rest. I hope their tax bands get looked into if it turns out mine is right.
 
Mark A said:
I wonder if the two people on my street who are in a lower band are in the wrong bands? Seems odd that all the houses are identical, yet two people are enjoying the same services at a lower rate than the rest. I hope their tax bands get looked into if it turns out mine is right.
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Don't be a ****. There could be many reasons their houses are rated lower than yours even though you think they're similar. As for enjoying the same services at a lower rate I'm sure you'll find single people or childless couples living in C band houses near you who wonder why you should enjoy the same services as them but pay less. Council tax isn't "fair".
 
I happen to know them and there is absolutely no reason I can think of that they would be in a lower band than us. Same houses, both don't have any extensions etc. The only reason from the list I am looking at is their house might have sold for less in 1991 :confused:.

The woman ordered a bike for her son out of my mums catalogue a good few years back and stopped paying after a couple of months. So I don't care if I'm being a **** tbqfh :p.
 
bam0 what are you on about? Council tax has been worked out from an estimate on how much your property was worth years and years ago. It's a well known fact that a lot of the time councils did a 'drive by' estimate.. essentially looked at the front door, guess how many rooms it had and guess how much it is worth. Case in point - my girlfriend successfully contested her flats band two years ago because it was down as a 2 bed when it only had one. The 2 bed ground floor flat in her block was in a lower band too. What I'm trying to say is there's nothing exact about council tax banding and everyone should check theirs!
 
Scam said:
bam0 what are you on about? Council tax has been worked out from an estimate on how much your property was worth years and years ago. It's a well known fact that a lot of the time councils did a 'drive by' estimate.. essentially looked at the front door, guess how many rooms it had and guess how much it is worth. Case in point - my girlfriend successfully contested her flats band two years ago because it was down as a 2 bed when it only had one. The 2 bed ground floor flat in her block was in a lower band too. What I'm trying to say is there's nothing exact about council tax banding and everyone should check theirs!
Click to expand...

Councils didn't value any properties for Council Tax. They had no involvement in the valuation process.

The fact that properties are put into bands, and not given a precise valuation, tells that it was never intended to be an exact science.
 
Scam said:
bam0 what are you on about? Council tax has been worked out from an estimate on how much your property was worth years and years ago. It's a well known fact that a lot of the time councils did a 'drive by' estimate.. essentially looked at the front door, guess how many rooms it had and guess how much it is worth. Case in point - my girlfriend successfully contested her flats band two years ago because it was down as a 2 bed when it only had one. The 2 bed ground floor flat in her block was in a lower band too. What I'm trying to say is there's nothing exact about council tax banding and everyone should check theirs!
Click to expand...

I'm not saying he shouldn't look to get his changed, I'm just saying if it doesn't don't go drawing attention to houses near him that are banded lower (that he thinks should be higher) and trying to get their band raised.
 
You don't need to use a company, you just need to contact the VOA who will decide if your band is valid or not (it can go up or down!) and then if you are owed a back payment you can claim one from you council.

Risk is your band goes up and you also get all your neighbours rebanded too.

Edit - Just to make it clear, the council don't set your tax band, that is done by VOA which is an agency of HMRC. What the council do do is set the tax rate and collect the money.
 
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Hmm, It seems unlikely that it would go up. It might be worth a try though as i'd have thought it would be more likely to go down due to the fact there are already two A band houses on the street and the rest are band B.

Would my neighbours know it was down to me if all our houses went up as a result of this? :eek:
 
If the two band A properties have been banded too low by mistake they'll have the band increased if the error is highlighted.

They may have been reduced to band A for reasons specific to those properties which don't apply to your property.

Whatever happens your name and address shouldn't be passed on.
 
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