Martin Lewis says 800,000 households might be owed a whole lot of kilos | UK | News | EUROtoday

Martin Lewis has issued recommendation to householders and mentioned that hundreds might be owed a whole lot of kilos. The cash saving guru defined how individuals who have moved properties since 1993 could also be eligible to say again some money.

The 52-year-old revealed that 800,000 households might be entitled for the refund in overpaid council tax with out even understanding it. According to information from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, an enormous £141m is owed to folks throughout 349 areas of the UK. Mr Lewis mentioned individuals who have moved to a distinct council space over the past 31 years may now be eligible for a refund.

Council tax relies on the worth of the property that we stay in. These values have modified dramatically lately, with some areas seeing a spike in property values and others seeing drops.

The Money Saving Expert (MSE) web site defined: “Essentially, a council tax account will be in credit if you’ve paid more than you owe at any point. Normally, this isn’t a problem – in fact, as council tax is usually paid in advance, you’ll often be in credit. However, when an account is closed while in credit, which can happen if you move to another area, for example, this can be an issue.”

The reason behind overpayments of council tax is often relocations, as they require fee in 10 instalments. For occasion, in case your funds span April to March, but you relocate in mid-February, it is possible you’ve got contributed extra funds for a month and half.

MSE added: “Councils will often automatically give you a refund before closing your account. But if yours doesn’t and you don’t reclaim, it’ll be closed in credit.”

People might have credit score in direction of their council tax attributable to forgetting to cease their Direct Debit upon shifting, leading to continued funds on properties they’ve vacated. Those who’ve had their premises’ council tax band lowered are additionally generally owed refunds.

MSE mentioned: “The vast majority of councils that do try to refund credit tell us they can’t if you paid by any method other than Direct Debit – for example, if you paid by cash, standing order or cheque.”

Certain residents might also be entitled to a discount and even full exemption from council tax.