According to a BBC expert, anyone who has relocated in the past 32 years could be entitled to council tax refunds. Coletta Smith, the Cost of Living correspondent appearing on BBC Morning Live, revealed that an astonishing £140 million in refunds is waiting to be claimed.
Amid the cost of living crisis, she brought ‘good news’ for many homeowners. Gaby Roslin, the show host, queried: “So, people could be owed a share if they moved house in the last 32 years. Coletta said: ” Coletta confirmed: “Yes, it’s a really long time span that’ll affect loads of people, so I am, on the show today, actually able to share some good news, some, as you say, money that you can get back.”
She added: “Normally I’m here talking about, ‘oh no, sorry, your energy bills are going up, your water bills are going up’. But today it’s about money that you can get back.”
The unclaimed funds exist because individuals failed to cancel direct debits when they moved, resulting in many councils holding large sums of money that should be refunded.
She elaborated: “So lots of us of course pay council tax. It’s a huge chunk every year, and the idea behind this is that lots of us pay it in advance, so you, maybe you’re paying by direct debits and you forget to cancel them or you pay. Full year up front, or through a standing charge, or perhaps your council tax band has been adjusted and you haven’t realised that you’re paying the wrong band.”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The money saving expert revealed to a stunned audience that according to a recent Freedom of Information request, councils across England and Wales are hoarding a colossal £141 million in overpaid council tax from closed accounts. She said: “So money saving expert put in a Freedom of Information request, and those latest stats show that’s across all councils in England and Wales, there is, as you say, £141 million where the account has been closed, so the person’s no longer paying, they’ve moved address. But they’re still in credit, so there’s still some money sitting there, that’s around 800,000 households, and you may well be one of them.”
She urged the public to pay attention to the possibility of reclaiming their funds: “So I want everyone to prick up their ears for this. It’s not often, and particularly at this time of year that we get to say, actually you may well be owed a good chunk of money.”
She offered insight into why some people may have unclaimed cash going back decades: “She explained why it dates back to 1993: ‘It’s 32 years because back in 1993, that’s when council tax kicked in in England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, they kept the older rates system, that’s still the case there now.'”.
For those in Northern Ireland with doubts about their rate payments, the expert advised: “So if you live in Northern Ireland, contact the Land and Property Service, the LPS, their valuation system, if you think there’s an error there, and you can contact them directly and they’ll talk you through how to get a refund in Northern Ireland.”
In response to queries on eligibility and process, host Rav Wilding chimed in: “So this is important and a lot of people could be eligible here. So if you’ve now, perhaps you’ve moved, you maybe live elsewhere in the UK, how do you check if you could be owed some money? “.
Colette highlighted a key cost-cutting strategy, asserting on her council tax: “So the first thing to do is to contact your council, make sure that you’re checking your council statements. Check your council tax band, so your house is given a letter a council tax bracket, and you’ll pay a different amount depending on which one you’re in.”
MoneySavingExpert.com underscores the importance of reclaiming funds by explaining there are two main ways to snag that extra cash back:
Check if the former council offers an online claims form. It suggested googling ‘[council name] Council Tax refund form’ – “we found that half the time this’ll take you to an online claims form, and if not it should take you to a page explaining your council’s process.” You might need your old council tax reference number.
Call or email your council.
