Hands up if you like paying council tax? Mmm. Thought so. But did you know that you may be able to get it reduced?
First, if you live alone you get a 25% discount. On the typical £1400 bill that will save you nearly £7 a week! Just tell the council that you live alone. And you may still get it even if there are other people in the house if they are under 16, full time students, carers, or even on a very low income.
Second, if you or someone who lives with you has a permanent and substantial disability and your home has been adapted for them the tax can be cut by about a sixth.
Third, your home may have been banded wrongly when council tax began in 1993. Homes were valued on 1 April 1991 and have not been revalued since in England and Scotland. Check the tax paid by other similar homes in your street at www.voa.gov.uk in England www.saa.gov.uk in Scotland. If your home is banded above similar homes it may be worth asking for a rebanding.
Contact the listing officer in England or the assessor in Scotland – find out
who at
www.voa.gov.uk/where/index.htm or
www.saa.gov.uk/saacontacts.php
A valuation can be reviewed if you have a genuine reason to think it is wrong.
You can get a rough estimate of what your home was worth in 1991 at
www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi
putting in the current price and Q2
2009 for Date 1 and Q2 1991 for Date 2. To get a current price for your home
today try www.nethouseprices.com.
If the value is reduced it will be applied back to 1993. In Wales homes were revalued in 2005 so mistakes are less likely and in Northern Ireland rates were fixed in 2007.
More information
www.moneysavingexpert.com/council