Up to 400,000 homes are estimated to be in too high a council tax band – if this is you, then you may be able to challenge it and get a refund worth thousands of pounds
A fan of Martin Lewis has explained how she got a £3,000 council tax refund – and lower bills going forward.
Bee contacted the MoneySavingExpert.com team to explain how she challenged her council tax band. Up to 400,000 homes are estimated to be in too high a council tax band.
If this is you, then not only could you be due a refund worth thousands of pounds, but your council tax bill will be lower going forward. The average Band D council tax in England for 2025-26 is £2,280.
Bee emailed the MSE team, saying: “I had my council tax band lowered after following the helpful guidance in your how to check and challenge your council tax band guide.
“I’d put off doing this for years but finally did it late last year. It’s taken about 10mths to get a decision but resulted in a refund of just over £3,000. Thank you.”
If you suspect you’re not on the right council tax band, you should first check online to see which band your neighbours are on. Just make sure you try and compare homes of similar sizes and value.
Use the GOV.UK website to do this for houses in England, or the Scottish Assessors Association for properties in Scotland. Next, you need to work out how much your property was worth in 1991, as this is when council tax was launched by the Government.
MoneySavingExpert.com has a free calculator tool to help you do this, as well as a table on what band you should have been put in.
If you believe you could well be in the wrong band, you can launch an appeal with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in England and Wales. For home in Scotland you’ll need to contact the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) to submit your challenge.
If you are successful, the valuation office will contact you and the band will be changed – and you’ll be due money back. You can appeal to an independent valuation tribunal if you’re not happy with the decision.
It is important you do your, as if it turns out you’re in too low of a band, then you could end up increasing your council tax bills. This could then impact your neighbours as well if it turns out your entire street is in too low of a council tax band.
