How to check you're not overpaying on Council Tax

Follow our two simple steps to check to see if you're overpaying on your Council Tax.

Overpaying on Council Tax

Hundreds and thousands of people in England and Scotland may be in the wrong Council Tax band and therefore could be paying more than they should. If you are in the wrong band and your challenge is successful you could receive hundreds off your future bills, plus backdated refunds.

There are two really simple checks you can undertake to find out:

Neighbours Check for Council Tax

Start by finding similar properties nearby i.e same size, age and layout and then see what band they are in. If you live in England you can do this by checking Check your Council Tax band - GOV.UK or if you live in Scotland you can check on the Scottish Assessors website .Scottish Assessors – Scottish Assessors Association website

Valuation Checks Believe it or not, Council Tax bands are usually based on valuations from 1991 property values. This can result in your property being categorised into the wrong band and thus paying more in tax. Luckily there are tools you can use to estimate your homes 1991 property value based on sale prices or current estimates, such as Zoopla Sold House Prices - Get UK house prices online - Zoopla This will give you a benchmark of what band you should be in.

If both bands are saying that you are over-banded then you may have grounds to take action and get it corrected. In England and Wales you can either choose informal (not applicable in Scotland) or formal challenge, which is applicable if you moved into the property within 6 months or there were major changes.

Once you have decided which route you're going to take to challenge the incorrect banding, you can then start gathering evidence such as your homes details as well as at least 5 nearby comparable homes in a lower band.

You will then want to send these details to either the Government website (navigate to Valuation Office Agency VOA) or the Scottish Assessors , depending on where you live.

If you have made a formal application to the VOA then it could take up-to 6 months to get a response or if you have used the informal route then it can take double the amount of time to hear back (12 months). You will then have to keep your fingers crossed that your response has been successful and that your band has been lowered. This would equal lower future bills and a backdated refund. If however your challenge has been rejected for whatever reason, you can appeal to the valuation tribunal.

Don't forget! You may qualify for discounts or reductions (eg, single occupancy, students, disability exemption) so make sure you add this to your application.