The amount of Council Tax you pay depends on the ‘band’ assigned to your home, however, it is estimated that over 400,000 householders in Scotland and England are currently on the wrong one, which means thousands of people are paying too much money.
The good news is that you can easily check and challenge your Council Tax banding for free online at the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) website here.
If you are successful, not only could you slash what you pay from April 2021, but you could receive a back payment worth hundreds of pounds, from the date you moved into the property.
You might also be eligible for a Council Tax Reduction, discount or exemption for a number of reasons which include whether you are on a low income, living on your own, in full-time education or have a disability.
Check what your neighbours are paying for Council Tax
The first thing you should check is whether your Council Tax band matches those of your neighbours - you can check using the SAA website for free here.
Just pop in your postcode and it will bring up your Council Tax band, along with everyone else's in your street.
If you live in a similar type of property as your neighbours but you're in a higher Council Tax band, this could be a good indicator that you're in the wrong one.
Another important step is to work out how much your property was worth when the Council Tax bands were allocated - the bands are based on property valuations from April 1991.
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.
This information can't be used if you choose to challenge your Council Tax band, but it allows you to check if you're likely to be successful or not.
How to challenge your Council Tax band
If you want to go ahead with a challenge, you can contact the SAA here.
You will need to provide them with evidence to back up your claim, which can be the addresses of similar-sized properties that are in a lower Council Tax band compared to yours.
If it is in the wrong band, they will contact you and the band will be changed.
If you are moved to a lower band, you will get a refund of Council Tax going back to the date you moved into the property, but be aware, if you are moved to a higher band, you will start paying an increased rate of Council Tax straight away.
And if they disagree that you're in the wrong band, nothing will change.
Money Saving Expert has compiled a great list of top tips to save money on your Council Tax in 2021, you can view them here.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
