MSE’s Money Tips Martin's Council Tax cost-cutter: Are you due £1,000s back?, Christmas Deals Predictor, first 30mth

From: MSE's Money Tips - Tuesday Nov 12, 2024 08:09 pm

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New. Martin's Council Tax cost-cutters - are YOU one of 100,000s due £1,000s?
- Reduction 1: In too high a band?
- Reduction 2: Due discount or support?
- Reduction 3: Owed a share of £141m?

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New. Martin's Council Tax Check & Challenge - 100,000s may be overpaying & due £1,000s back

And... are you missing out on a discount? Does your council owe you unclaimed credit?

Way back in 2007, when Take That again Ruled The World, I came up with my Council Tax Check & Challenge system - huge numbers have had their bands lowered and got £1,000s in backdated payouts ever since... and today my system gets its biggest upgrade since then.

So I'm running through three big Council Tax reductions, 1) Are you in too high a band?, 2) Are you missing out on discounts?, 3) Are you owed Council Tax Credit?. Let's do it...

The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE Council Tax Special, Tonight (Tue) 8pm ITV1 So watch as well as read & I'll talk you through this & take your questions

Reduction 1:

Are you in one of up to 400,000 homes in too high a band?

The English and Scottish Council Tax system is outdated and, in many ways, broken. What you pay depends on which valuation band, from A to H, you're in. Yet the valuation was speedily done in 1991 as a stopgap to urgently set the system up via 2nd gear valuations - ie, people driving past homes.

It was 2007 when I first set up my 'check & challenge system' and back then it was outrageous that this stopgap hadn't yet been updated. 17 years and many governments later, nowt has changed (Wales did end the stopgap with a full revaluation in 2003 - it can still be wrong, but less likely). This is why an estimated up to 400,000 homes are still thought to be in the wrong band.

If that's you, not only can you get your band lowered, you're due a backdated payout too, as Fritzyboy wrote on the MSE Forum last week: "Early this year, following Martin's advice, we checked our nearest neighbours with similar houses. We were in band G but they were in band F. We made a claim and received over £10,500 (it was our money all along)! Get checking, friends! Thanks Martin and the MSE team."

The Council Tax Check & Challenge System
Part 1: The two key CHECKS

To see if you're likely in too high a band, there are two checks. Ensure you do both, as you can't ask for your band to be lowered, only reassessed, and you don't want yours or, perhaps worse, your neighbours to go up.

Check 1:

The Neighbours' Check

. This is the start point. Find if you are in a higher band than your neighbours by checking a property that is preferably identical, but if not, as similar a property as you can find. Don't worry, you won't need to ask them what their band is - this link shows how you can check your band and theirs

via official websites.

Check 2:

The Valuation Check

. If you pass the first check, then you need to calculate whether you should be in a lower band. The problem is bands are still valued on 1991 prices. So it is a two-step process. First assess your home's value, then use our tool to show what that was worth in 1991 and thus which band it is.

Only ask to be revalued if you clearly pass BOTH checks

Even if you pass the neighbours' check, you may be in a higher band than neighbours because theirs is too low, not yours too high. Challenge and you risk seeing their band rise (which won't make you popular). That's why the valuation check is so important, while it can't be used as evidence when you challenge, it gives you peace of mind of what the situation is.

The Council Tax Check & Challenge System
Part 2: How to CHALLENGE your band

If you passed both checks, now it's time to challenge. This is where we've really put the work in to upgrade the system, thanks to MSE Kit diligently working through the detailed rules and many MoneySavers' feedback from their challenges. There's far more in our Council Tax Check & Challenge guide, but let me run through it in brief...

Step 1: Submit a formal or an informal challenge. Formal is better as it's a set process, but it's available to fewer people.

- Who can formally challenge? In general, you must've lived in the property for six months or less (it doesn't matter whether you own or rent, though for renters, courtesy would indicate you notify the landlord). So everyone should look at this ASAP after moving house.

Though you may also be able to formally challenge if the property has fundamentally changed (eg, house into flats), the local area has changed (eg, nightclub being built next door) or there have been material significant drops in house prices where you are.

If you can challenge formally, while you needn't officially provide evidence, we'd strongly suggest you do as it helps.

- Can't formally challenge? In England, do it informally. Over the years, many people have got back to me saying "they won't let me challenge as I've lived there too long", yet the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a statutory duty to uphold the integrity of the Council Tax bands list.

This means you can still submit a request for an informal review of your Council Tax band (use our template to help), but then the burden is on you to provide compelling evidence that your band is wrong, to persuade the VOA to do the review (the following steps show what evidence you need to prepare).

In Scotland? You don't do an informal review. You should always go through the formal process. To manage expectations, that will be very tough if you don't fall into the 6 formal appeal reasons - for example, if you've just discovered you're in wrong band but nowt's changed in years, it's unlikely to work. Though I'm told it isn't impossible with very robust evidence.

Step 2: Get your 'Property Attribute Details' (PAD) - Eng only.

In England, the VOA holds a Property Attribute Details document about most residential properties. It includes...

Age or period | type (semi-detached, end-of-terrace etc) | floor area | number of bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms | number of floors.

So as long as you verify you are the Council Tax-payer, you can get your free PAD from it. Yet due to likely extreme demand right now after this email and my TV show, it's unlikely to be quick - give it a month to get it back. Once you've got it, it's important to line-by-line check it's correct, for two reasons...

- Incorrect details could be enough to see your property rebanded.

- Knowing how your property is described will help you ensure you can spot neighbouring properties that are really similar in a lower band, which can be submitted as compelling evidence.

There is no PAD equivalent available to you in Scotland, but think about similar factors for your home, as this is what really counts.

Step 3: Identify neighbouring or nearby properties. You've already done this in the checks, but that was a brief check to see if this is worth spending time on. Now it's the real deal & it's the most important and time-consuming evidence-gathering step (especially if you're only able to ask for an informal review of your band).

See our how to find and research similar properties section in the guide for info. You need to submit other addresses as evidence (capped at five in England), and they should be really similar to your own property, ie:
- Same street/estate (though a max 10-mile radius in very rural areas).
- Similar style/features (can't compare semi-detached to a flat).
- Similar age (new-build can't be compared to a Victorian property).
- Similar size (a max difference of around 10%).

Step 4: Submit your challenge. Normally easiest online, but you can also challenge via letter (and in England, phone and email too). Submit a description of your own property, the addresses of neighbouring properties in lower Council Tax bands to yours along with a brief description of each, plus any other supporting evidence you've got. To help start you off, we've a template example.

You've sent in your challenge - what next?

There are a few possibilities. The obvious one is you succeed, in which case, well done! Expect to have your band lowered, so lower future Council Tax payments, and you'll get a backdated rebate from when you moved into the property (or 1993, whichever is later). See your rights to a backdated payout.

However, your challenge may be rejected. If it's a formal challenge in England, you can appeal (if you have strong reason to think the VOA is wrong) to the Valuation Tribunal within three months. In Scotland, you've usually six months to appeal to the Local Taxation Chamber, though it can be quicker depending on the reason.

If it's an informal challenge and it's turned down, you can't appeal and that's probably it - unless you find further evidence to support a new review (in which case, you'll need to start the process again).

Reduction 2: Are you due a Council Tax discount or support?

It's possible to get your Council Tax bill reduced in a number of other ways. The first is through discounts... the full Council Tax bill is based on two or more adults living in the property. If this isn't your living arrangement, you may be due to pay less. Our Are you due a Council Tax discount? guide has full details, but I've designed this little graphic which I hope will speedily let you see if you may be due and thus should read it...

As Michelle emailed me earlier this year: "A big thank you Martin and the team. You recently highlighted Council Tax discounts for carers. I soon realised I should have been eligible for it, but as it was little-known, I had never applied. I am extremely happy to tell you that after enquiring I now pay 25% less Council Tax and have received over £2,000 in overpayments." So let's run through each discount category...

- Only adult in household? You may be due a 25% discount.
- All full-time student household? There's no Council Tax to pay.
- Have a live-in carer? See if you could cut your bill by 50%.

Some councils may backdate discounts too, but it's council-by-council.

Do you or a household member have a severe mental impairment (SMI)? You may be due a discount.

In 2016, we started campaigning about the SMI ('severely mentally impaired' - a horrid term, I know) Council Tax discount after our research showed not only was it underclaimed, even many council frontline staff didn't know it existed and wrongly put people off.

We've had many successes here too, like Louise who emailed: "A massive thank you for making me aware of the severe mental impairment issue. After watching your show, I contacted our council to look into this for my mum, and after a few phone calls and forms, the council backdated mum with £3,500. Without you making people like me aware, this wouldn't have happened!"

Someone with an SMI is disregarded for Council Tax purposes, and as many with SMIs live with just one other adult, this effectively means their home is eligible for the single person 25% discount, 50% if it's their carer. To be eligible, someone must meet two criteria...

You need to be medically certified as being 'SMI'. Defined as 'a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning that appears to be permanent'. This can come from dementia, profound learning difficulties, brain injuries, severe strokes, some with severe Parkinson's and more (such as MS, as below). It's up to a doctor.

You're receiving a qualifying benefit. This includes means-tested and non-means-tested benefits, eg, Attendance Allowance (itself highly underclaimed), Personal Independence Payment, Severe Disablement Allowance and some parts of Universal Credit. In England & Wales, you must be getting them. In Scotland, just being eligible can be enough. See all qualifying benefits. While there's no legal rule that requires local authorities to backdate, some do, back to the first diagnosis. Though in 2019, the Welsh Government took up our recommendations, streamlined the process, printed brochures to help aid awareness and ensured all Welsh councils' payments are backdate-able (diolch Cymru!).

Council Tax support worth up to £1,500 a year is missed out by up to 2.25m people on lower incomes. Separate to discounts, every council runs its own Council Tax reduction scheme, so what you get depends on where you live, but it can cut your Council Tax bill by up to 100%.

Many people on means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, are often due this, but don't realise YOU MUST APPLY SEPARATELY, which is why so many miss out. See Council Tax income reductions for more.

Has your property been adapted for someone with a disability? You could drop a Council Tax band, though this has to be reconfirmed for each year.

Reduction 3:

Are you due a cut of £141m overpaid Council Tax? 808,000 homes are

Earlier this year, an MSE investigation found local authorities across Britain are sitting on £141 million in overpaid Council Tax, from 808,000 households.

You're MOST likely to be able to claim if you've moved out of a council area since 1993 and weren't paying by Direct Debit.

This is because if you stayed in same area, the council should've been able to track you down to refund you. If you moved, it may not have a forwarding address, though if you paid by Direct Debit, it should have your details to refund. Full help on how to reclaim in our Council Tax overpayments

guide. The most common reasons you'll be owed are...

- You pay Council Tax in advance, and the account's closed before the point you've paid up until. Eg, you moved out before the year end.
- You forget to cancel a payment. This means you could end up paying when you no longer live in the property.
- You get a retrospective discount, eg, if your property's rebanded. If the person after you successfully gets the band lowered, you may be due a credit for being overpaid. To find out if your old home has been rebanded in England or Wales, see how to check Council Tax bands.

You've a right to pay Council Tax over 12mths, not 10

The default Council Tax position in England is you pay over 10mths, not 12, which makes budgeting difficult for some (others like this as they get a 'two-month holiday' at the end). Yet all councils in England must allow you to pay your Council Tax over 12 months, so contact your council if you want to change it. Many councils in Scotland and Wales offer this option too.

A final thought. What does all this do to councils?

Local government is struggling for funding, budgets are tight, and some councils are in trouble - it's not a pretty picture. And of course refunds and lower Council Tax won't particularly help that - though central government funding of councils does look at the council's ability to raise funds. So a lot of lowered bands may see some of that covered by higher funding - see will lower bands hurt councils? for more.

Overall though, it's worth factoring in the impact on councils based on your situation and examining the strength of your case. Yet don't let a sense of guilt overly hold you back from claiming when you're legitimately due. This is money you've paid that you shouldn't.

And sadly, as I recently spoke about at Parliament, Council Tax debt collection practices are so bad they'd make banks blush, so legitimately lowering your bill so you can afford it is sensible.

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Top-pick newbies' 0% balance transfers (ordered by length) Most of the cards below give all accepted customers the full 0% length - only HSBC and M&S Bank are 'up-to' cards
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ALWAYS follow the Balance Transfer Golden Rules:
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Quick balance transfer FAQs (click links for Martin's answers)
Q. Is it worth applying if my eligibility odds are low? | Q. What if my credit limit isn't big enough? | Q. Can I shift debt to existing cards too? | Q. Should I try to pay off my biggest debt first? SPOILER: NO.
Full help and info, including options for poorer credit scorers, in Best balance transfers.

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New cheapest energy fixes: 'I switched and saved £468/yr'
Fixed prices have dropped, now lock in for 1yr & save 8%. Or British Gas customer? Save 7.2% WITHOUT changing firm

Before the Energy Price Cap rose 10% on 1 Oct, you could switch to a fix and effectively avoid the rise. After, fixes got more expensive as wholesale rates (those energy firms pay) rose. Now they've dropped back and many can lock in again, getting peace of mind, with the total cost within a couple of percent of the old Price Cap.

As Sharon emailed us: "I saw in the email about checking energy suppliers. I have now switched to EDF, I'm paying £154/mth, but once the switch is done I'll pay £115/mth [saving £468/yr]! I am also £130 in credit, so will have a nice little extra for Christmas! Thank you." Your cheapest depends on location & usage, so use our free Cheap Energy Club comparison

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On a Price Capped Direct Debit tariff (most are)? You can DEFINITELY save. The Price Cap applies to the 80% of homes in Eng, Scot & Wales that are on standard variable tariffs - the default deals you're put on if you never switch, or your fix ended and you did nowt. If you're unsure, you're likely on the Cap, as only those already on fixes or specialist tariffs AREN'T. To help, our comparison tool shows if your current tariff is capped. The Cap itself is regional (see full Cap rates) and sets a max daily standing charge and max cost per unit of gas & elec used - not a total cap on what you pay.

The easiest & safest route is to fix... A fix means the rate you pay can't change (though if you use more, you'll still pay more), prices below are averages, and all links go via our comparison where you get a bespoke result.

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We can't switch existing customers, so there's no cashback, without which the saving is 7.2% (3). £50/fuel early exit fees

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The cheapest standalone fixes (Eng, Scot, Wales) (1) Links go via Cheap Energy Club for a personal comparison & as it'll be updated, with things changing rapidly
(1) Full details in our energy comparison, which also includes non-standalone tariffs - ie, those that require you to get other products, eg, broadband or boiler cover, to get the price. (2) For some providers we are paid to switch you. You get the same price as if you went direct, except we give a chunk of what we're paid to you, so it's actually cheaper. Win-win. (3) The E.on 18mth fix price is slightly cheaper than its 12mth fix - yet as we discount the MSE cashback over the longer period, when you include that, it's a fraction more expensive on average use.

The cheapest standalone fixes (Eng, Scot, Wales) (1)

Links go via Cheap Energy Club for a personal comparison & as it'll be updated, with things changing rapidly

(1) Full details in our energy comparison, which also includes non-standalone tariffs - ie, those that require you to get other products, eg, broadband or boiler cover, to get the price. (2) For some providers we are paid to switch you. You get the same price as if you went direct, except we give a chunk of what we're paid to you, so it's actually cheaper. Win-win. (3) The E.on 18mth fix price is slightly cheaper than its 12mth fix - yet as we discount the MSE cashback over the longer period, when you include that, it's a fraction more expensive on average use.

Q. The savings are compared to the current Price Cap... what about once it ends? Each Cap lasts three months. Most analysts' latest predictions are the January Cap will be a touch higher, it's then predicted to drop slightly in April and July - though the further out you go, the more crystal-ball gazing it is. Overall, that means over the next 12mths, if the predictions are right, on average you'll pay roughly the same or slightly less than you do now - so it's a good comparison. For far more info and a Q&A, see Should you fix your energy?

Fixing isn't your only choice to save - for some, other tariff types will win. For most, it's the simplest and safest way to guarantee a saving, but there are alternatives, including discounted Price Cap tariffs (one which lowers standing charges), specialist electric vehicle tariffs, and Octopus's rapid price-change tariffs Tracker and Agile (potentially big savings for sophisticated users, but not without risk).

Even with cheaper tariffs I'm struggling to pay bills - what do I do? It's always worth talking to your energy firm. Be polite and straight with it, and make sure you explain if you're vulnerable. There can be hardship & debt grants from energy suppliers. For far more guidance, see our full What to do if you're struggling to pay energy bills, Energy saving tips and Energy mythbusting guides.

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Bank of England's cut base rate to 4.75% - when will your mortgage rate fall?

Read mortgage rate news.

Ends Thu.

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Price in Scotland is £11 (both normally £22). It's £10 elsewhere if you're not a Morrisons shopper. Battle of the Baileys

. Please be Drinkaware

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MSE user Dan won the top prize after seeing our blog. Here's how he did it and how you too can boost your TV game show chances

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Cheapest for £5,000 to £7,499:

Santander (check eligibility / apply*), 7.2% rep APR
Cheapest for £7,500 to £15,000:

Tesco Bank (check eligibility / apply*), 6.1% rep APR (for Clubcard holders)

Top cash ISA:

Trading 212 5.17%, min £1
Top easy access:

Vanquis 4.85%, min £1,000
Top one-year fix:

Atom 4.8%, min £50

Try our relaunched

Cheap Energy Club

Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£2.83/mth' for 3GB
4GB to 9GB data: Lebara, '£3.13/mth' for 5GB
10GB to 30GB data: iD Mobile, '£3.63/mth' for 20GB
31GB+ data: Smarty, '£5.84/mth' for 100GB

THIS WEEK'S POLL

Have you haggled with Sky, BT, the AA or any others this year? Did you succeed? Haggling can result in big savings - on anything from digital TV and broadband to breakdown cover and car insurance. Each year we try to gauge the success rates of those who have done it. So whether you've got cheaper prices, extra goods or better deals, please let us know how successful you've been in this week's poll.

Nearly two-thirds of MoneySavers WON'T be shopping in this year's Black Friday sales. In last week's poll, we asked if you had any Black Friday spending plans - nearly 3,000 of you responded, with fewer than four in 10 saying they're planning on shopping during Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year. Yet there's a clear age divide, with almost 60% of under-35s saying they would be spending, versus more than 75% of over-65s who said the reverse. See full Black Friday poll results

MSE NEWS

- Top story: Tesco shopper? You've less than three weeks to use or extend £18m of Clubcard vouchers

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA

Should I claim compensation from the woman whose dog knocked me off my bicycle? I was in a bicycle accident where a lady with a dog on an extendable lead didn't have it under control and it ran into the road, hitting my wheel. I went over the handlebars, fracturing a clavicle. I've had an operation to put a plate in and will be off work for six to eight weeks. There's £150 of damage to my bike, my £30 helmet needs replacing and my clothes were cut off by the paramedics. I've suffered a lot of pain and post-surgical depression, but I'm unsure whether to make a compensation claim against the lady as it was an accident and her dog was also injured. Is it right to ask for something after what I've gone through? Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I claim compensation for my bike accident? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma (MMD) | View past MMDs

MARTIN'S BLOG

- Martin Lewis: Five things EVERYONE needs to know about student finance

MSE TEAM BLOG

- MSE Forum highlights: Pickled onions, dark skies & vacuum cleaners

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (TUE 12 NOV ONWARDS)

Tue 12 Nov - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, ITV1, 8pm

Thu 14 Nov - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm

Tue 19 Nov - This Morning, phone-in, ITV1, 10.20am

A personal note from Martin: RIP Alice Shia (Misskool)

Back in the noughties, when MSE was still young, a romance started in an unlikely way. Two of our volunteer MSE Forum board guides, Alice and Tim, were paired together. They decided to write a guide on how to use that section of the forum - she messaged him to tell him to rewrite bits, he told her to get lost and write it herself. A classic romcom opening...

Eventually they met and bonded because, as Tim says: "We both compared the unit price on a block of cheese." As you've guessed, eventually they got together, and "were still using MSE techniques all the way". They had a very happy marriage, and a son, David, aged nine, who is "careful to compare prices on his purchases".

Tragically, Alice was diagnosed with terminal cancer three years ago, and passed away peacefully last month with all her family around her. I wanted to ensure this was marked on MSE, and in this email, and put in a note of love, sympathy and ease through the grief to Tim, David and all who loved Alice. RIP Misskool x

Martin

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What you need to know

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service.

We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips).

We often link to other websites, but can't be responsible for their content.

Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

Please read the Full Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, How This Site is Financed and Editorial Code. Martin Lewis is a registered trade mark belonging to Martin S Lewis.

More about MoneySavingExpert and Martin Lewis What is MoneySavingExpert.com?
Founded in February 2003, it is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 12 million users each month and about 8.5 million receiving this email. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple - saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full-time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial - researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE.

Who is Martin Lewis?
Martin Lewis CBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography.

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