Hi all,

I hope someone can help, and please forgive me if I'm in the wrong place.

My 96 year old Mum in Law is being pestered with letters from Randall & Vickers who say she can get a council tax refund back to 1993 (and they want 30%). They claim she is in a higher band (B) than some of her neighbours (A).

1) is this legit?

2) can we apply for her so she does not loose 30%, or is it better to go with R&V?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The only way this can be done is via the Valuation Office by appealing the Band she is in. This can be done by yourselves for £0 but any backdating - if any will only probably go back 1 year only. Beware as doing this could also go the other way as well. Tell the shysters to Foxtrot Oscar.

PT

Thanks PT.

Mum in Law is always being targeted by some type of "offer", they seem to pick on the old and vulnerable.

This one was cleverly done, the letter was addressed to the property and Mum in Law was convinced it was addressed to her personally until I pointed it out. The header mimics a solicitor style and looks very official, with "Important information about your council tax" in red ink as a heading. It is signed by a "council tax co-ordinator".

Easy to be taken in.

Might be worth forwarding it on to your local Trading Standards pointing out your concerns.

PT

Any band reduction for the property being the wrong band would be backdated to the date that the wrong band was originally applied (i.e possibly as far as 1993).

Is this company related to Vickers & Anderson, also based in Manchester doing mis-sold endowments, but were closed down and the company director was serving a jail sentance for fraud?

you can apply on her behalf and any reduction to her liability would be applied from 1993 or when she became liable if she moved in after 1993

is your mother in receipt of council tax benefit? if so any reduction would be applied to council tax benefit first.

for example

if charge for band B is £1400 per annum and your mother is receiving ctb of £800 per annum, she would pay £600 per annum

if rebanded, the charge for band A is £1200 per annum, your mother's ctb would reduce to £600 per annum, she would still pay £600 per annum - no refund payable

They will only go back 6 years if you have been overpaying. You can check with the Valuation office free of charge. This firm is a fraud that the valuation office is very aware of. The firm will do nothing for you except write a letter to the valuation office, it wont even be a legally written letter.

Hi sorry for hijacking the thread we also have a letter from this company where would we find out if we are in the wrong council tax band? Was going to start my own thread bt after reading this one don't think I will bother Many thanks GH

Hi sorry for hijacking the thread we also have a letter from this company where would we find out if we are in the wrong council tax band? Was going to start my own thread bt after reading this one don't think I will bother Many thanks GH

You can check you council tax band and those of your neighbours on the valuation office website http://www.voa.gov.uk/

It will be based on sale prices at or around 1st April 1991 England and 1st April 2003 for Wales

for England:

Band A = sale price of below £40,000

Band B = between £40,001 and £52,000

Band C = between £52,001 and £68,000

Band D = between £68,001 and £88,000

Band E = between £88,001 and £120,000

Band F = between £120,001 and £160,000

Band G = between £160,001 and £320,000

Band H = over £320,000

it is totally different for wales.

You will need to look at a site like http://www.nethouseprices.com/ and look at the sold prices for around april 1991 for a property similar to your own. It should be around the same size, number of bedrooms etc. I would try to gain more than one example of sales in your area.

To have the valuation office look at your band for you free of charge all you need to do is contact the valuation office by phone/email/letter http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/contact/index.html

you will need to provide the your name and address.

I also found this on their website about scams http://www.voa.gov.uk/corporate/CouncilTax/CTScams.html

They also do PPI's on a no win no fee.

Why pay these people a chunk of your money for doing something you can do for free.

I hope people are becoming wise to how these companies operate.

Will stay well clear, thanks for all the good advice,

Sorry if I'm going off at a slight tangent but this same company have contacted me to say I shouldn't have paid Stamp Duty as I'm in an area which is entiled to 'Disadvantaged Area Relief for Stamp Duty Land Tax.'

As with the above situation, they want 30% for claiming this for me. Is there a way of finding out about this relief on my own as I do know my area is classed as disadvantaged?

This has helped me enormously as received a letter from R&V this morning. It looks just like it had come from the council. I live in a flat so will warn the other flat owners accordingly. Thanks.

This has helped me also. Our village has been bombarded today with letters from R & V. We shall avoid them.