Appeal a local council tax support decision

When we have considered your claim for council tax reduction we will send you a council tax demand showing the amount of discount awarded. You should check this bill carefully.

Ask us to explain our decision

If you think the information used to work out your council tax reduction is wrong, you may ask us to explain it in writing.

Please tell us why you think the decision is wrong and include any evidence you have.

We will explain the reasons for our decision or we may accept your request as a dispute and issue a formal review outcome decision.

Ask us to review our decision 

If you want us to review our council tax reduction decision, you can send your request in writing by post, with the heading LCTS dispute, or you can email revenues@lichfielddc.gov.uk

We will look at the decision again and then issue a review notice, within two months, which will explain the reasons for our decision taking into consideration what you have told us. If we change our decision we will tell you. 

If you are not happy with the outcome you have the right to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service.

How to appeal

An independent organisation called the Valuation Tribunal Service decides on all appeals.

If they think that our decision was wrong, they can change it. You may only appeal to the Valuation Tribunal once the decision has been reviewed by us.

There is no time limit to request us to review a decision, but there is a time limit of two months after the outcome of the review, to make an appeal.

The grounds for requesting us to look at the decision again or submitting an appeal may include the following:

• The council has stated the wrong moving-in date, e.g. you moved into the property on 15 April and not 15 May.
• The council has used the wrong amount of income, e.g. you only receive £85 per week and not £95 per week as stated on your assessment.

Appeals must be submitted to the Valuation Tribunal Service within two months of the date of the review letter. Please do not send appeals to us, as we cannot process them. 

The appeal form is available from the Valuation Tribunal website.             

Once completed, please send your form:

• By email to appeals@vts.gov.uk
• By post to Valuation Tribunal, London Office, 2nd Floor, 120 Leman Street, London E1 8EU

You must give clear reasons for your appeal and submit any evidence as to why you think the calculation of your council tax liability, and council tax reduction assessment is wrong. 

Please note: It is not acceptable to say that you do not agree with the decision or that the amount of council tax reduction awarded is not enough. You need to say why you think the decision is wrong and give relevant facts. It will be helpful if you can provide evidence to support your appeal.

If you are appealing against more than one decision, you should identify the date of each decision and give the reasons why you do not agree with each one.

What if my support has reduced?

If however your council tax support drops as a result of the new scheme and you are facing exceptional financial hardship as a result, you will be able to apply to our exceptional hardship fund. Details will be published shortly about the exceptional hardship scheme.