Martin Lewis has warned that thousands of properties in England are in the wrong council tax band.
The financial journalist says that many home owners and tenants aren't paying the right amount of council tax.
This means that people could be paying much more than they need to each year.
Speaking on his MoneySavingExpert site, Martin Lewis advised readers on how to check and challenge their council tax band to get pay-outs or discounts worth £1,000s.
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Council tax bills rose by 5% in April and are likely to rise again next year, therefore it's more important than ever to check you're paying the correct amount.
The Money Saving Expert founder says that the most important step is to find out if your band is higher than your neighbours in similar or identical properties.
Martin Lewis said: "You could simply ask them, but there's no need as it's public info. The band of every property in England and Scotland is available online.
"So first check your band and compare it with your neighbours' bands. Make sure the properties are as close as possible in size and value.
"If neighbours in similar properties are in a lower band than you, then you may have a claim (though it may just mean that they're all in the wrong band).
"This happened to a street in Hull, when one unidentified resident appealed as she was in band B, and all her neighbours in similar properties were in band A.
"But instead of her getting a council tax cut, all her neighbours are now facing larger bills as they were all up banded."
The Money Saving Expert warns that this is why it is also vital to do a valuation check.
"A second crucial step is to estimate what your home was worth in 1991, as that's when and how the council tax bands were defined," says Martin.
"This can't be used as evidence if you challenge your band, but it enables you to check out various property prices on your street and it's an important test that you're on the right track if you do decide to challenge.
"If you bought your house after 1991, you can simply use its price and date of sale to do this. If you rent or bought earlier, you'll need to find an estimated price."
Martin advises that you can estimate the value of your property using websites that offer free historic sales price information, such as Nethouseprices, Zoopla and Rightmove.
"When you've worked out roughly what your property was worth in 1991, you can compare this to see what band you should have been put in, based on that home value," Martin says.
"If you're convinced your property band is unfair, it's time to challenge it."
The Money Saving Expert warns that challenging your band is something you need to carefully consider - as it could be moved up or down.
"Challenging your band is not something to do speculatively without the checks, for one simple reason: you can't just ask for your band to be lowered – only for a 'reassessment', which means it could be moved up or down," Martin warned.
"This is why it is crucially important you do both of the checks, and to be especially careful if you've added an extension or something that increases your property's value."
Martin said that thousands have tried and succeeded in getting their council tax band corrected, and pay-outs or discounts worth £1,000s are commonplace.
When getting your banding decreased, the repayment should be backdated to when you moved into the property – as far back as when the tax started in 1993.
If you're in England, you can contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) directly, at which point you'll be told how your band was decided, and have the opportunity to explain why you believe it is wrong and how it should be altered.
Alternatively, you can check your band by entering your postcode and selecting your address from a list. Then you can click on the link asking if you think your council tax banding is wrong and you'll be given the option to fill out a checklist which suggests reasons you could challenge.
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