Thousands could be owed upto £38,000 in council tax refunds – are you due back cash?

THOUSANDS of households could be in line for council tax refunds as The Sun can reveal authorities dished out over £52million in total last year.

We asked 50 councils across the UK how much they paid out in council tax refunds between March 2021 and the end of February this year.

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You could be due a refund if you’ve overpaid on your council tax – this might happen due to a number of reasons.

For example, you might be eligible for a council tax discount, the band you’re in might have changed, or you might still be unknowingly paying the tax after you’ve left a previous property.

Resolver’s Martyn James said: “It’s a scandal that money is sat around unclaimed at a time when every penny counts.

“Councils should do much more to ensure that people are reunited with their own cash.”

Moneyfacts finance expert Rachel Springall said she hopes these latest figures will “inspire people” to find out if they are owed money.

“To reclaim council tax it could be just a quick phone call or email to get the ball rolling.

“More does need to be done for consumers to get back their owed cash.”

Bills jumped 5% or £65 a year on average in April.

Meanwhile, some have started to get money in their accounts thousands are still waiting for the £150 council tax rebate.

We take a look at how you may be able to claw back cash.

Find lost cash

 A whopping £33.7million is sitting in closed or dormant council tax accounts, according to data analysed by The Sun.

The highest amount owed back is £27,150 to one household from St Alban’s Council.

In total that council has £484,362 in forgotten cash.
We surveyed 58 councils and found the average owed was £6,160.

The Sun can reveal that qualifying families could get up to a whopping £38,000 back after overpaying on the levy.

The single highest council tax refund given out by any council during this point was a whopping £38,267.46 – that was awarded by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

This was followed by the City of Wolverhampton Council, which awarded £31,706.20.

While Lambeth Council coughed up the most money to families over the year combined, which was £4.3million in total.

Larger councils are likely to have a higher amount of unclaimed credit because of the higher number of people living in their catchment areas.

Contact your council if you think you’re owed.

Council tax band

You might be overpaying because you are in the wrong council tax band, for example.

Council tax bands are based on how much your property was worth on April 1, 1991 for England and Scotland, and April 1, 2003 for Wales. 

These bands determine how much you’ll pay in tax.

If you’re placed in a higher one than you should be, then you can check it and challenge it.

To do this, find out what band your neighbours are on based on houses similar in size and value.

This information is available online and it’s free to check – if you are in a higher band and want to make a challenge, contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales or the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) in Scotland.

If you’re moved to a lower band, you’ll get a refund of council tax going back to the date you moved into the property.

But be warned – the VOA might find that you are in a lower band than you should be. If this happens, you’ll end up paying more.

Council tax reduction

You might be eligible for a council tax reduction, and you might be able to get this backdated too.

For example, you can get 25% off if you live on your own, or if there is one adult and one student living in your home.

You could get 50% off if you live with “disregarded people” – which means someone who does not have to pay council tax.

A live-in carer and someone who is severely mentally impaired fall under this category.

If you live in an all-student household, or if you have a severe mental impairment and live alone or with a student, you can get 100% off your council tax.

Plus, you could be eligible for a full discount if you receive certain benefits.

You can check out Citizens Advice for a full list on who qualifies.

Section 13A relief

You can make an application for what is called “discretionary relief” for your council tax bill by filling out a Section 13A application.

This means councils can reduce or completely wipe off a council tax debt you might have.

A Sun investigation has found that councils have been wiping clean a record level of council tax debt in recent years over the Covid pandemic.

Nearly £2.7million worth of council tax debts was scrapped by local authorities over 2020/21.

The single highest household debt cleared was made by Sheffield City Council, who tore up one family’s outstanding payments worth £3,210.34.

Once you’ve sent your Section 13A application over to your local authority, you should be told about a decision within 14 days.

How to apply

If you think you have overpaid on council tax and could be due a refund, then you should get in touch with your council.

You can find a council by using the council finder tool on the Gov.uk website.

Many authorities have different procedures when it comes to dishing out refunds.

While some give them out automatically usually, in some cases you have to apply for a refund.

Some of the councils The Sun spoke to said that they try and contact those families due a refund if they have contact details available.

In most cases, councils have online claim forms you can fill out if you think you are due a refund.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk