Martin Lewis issues ‘very unlikely’ council tax warning | Personal Finance | Finance

Martin Lewis has warned a fan they are “very unlikely” to get their council tax rebanded given their situation.

The founder of Money Saving Expert dedicated the episode of his ITV this week to how to ‘check and challenge’ to reduce your council tax bills, with the potential for a refund worth thousands and pounds if you are moved into a lower band.

One fan previously followed Mr Lewis advice and was paid back £19,000 as they were moved to a lower tax band.

A person messaged Mr Lewis over X having watched the show this week, to ask: “We live in a two bed flat and are in council tax band D, which we think is wrong. We’ve done the neighbour check, but what if all the flats are in the incorrect band. What would we do in this situation?”

It’s important to carry out two checks before challenging your council tax banding with the local council. The first is to compare your property with similar properties in the same area, to see what band they are in.

For a home in England, you can do this using the council tax band check tool on the Government website. However, Mr Lewis responded to the person to say they are “very unlikely to be rebanded in that case”.

If you have found that your property is in a higher band than a similar property in your neighbourhood, then there is a vital second step to take.

This involves finding out how much your property was worth when the banding system came into force, which was in 1991 for properties in England. The Money Saving Expert website has a tool you can use to find out how much your property was worth in 1991.

Many councils also have schemes offering discounts off council tax payments depending on your situation. Mr Lewis said on his ITV show these could be worth up to £1,500 a year in savings, with 2.25 million people thought to be missing out.

People on means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit will often be eligible for these discounts. Visit your local council’s website to check if they run such a scheme.