Reclaim overpaid council tax

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.

Here are the main reasons you might be owed:

• You pay for your council tax in advance, and the account's closed before the point you've paid up until. For example, if you pay for a year's worth of council tax in 10 instalments, covering April to March, but move out in mid-February, you've overpaid by a month and a half. 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. 
  
  
• You forget to cancel a payment. This means you could end up paying when you no longer live in the property.
  
  
• You get a retrospective discount, for example, if your property's rebanded. If the person who moves into your property after you successfully applies to get the tax band lowered, this means that you overpaid and so a credit could be applied to your closed account. To find out if your old home has been rebanded in England or Wales, see the Government's council tax band checker. For Scotland, see the Scottish Assessors' Association website. 

This is because:

• If you moved within the same local authority area, it's more likely the council would have spotted your old account was in credit and refunded you/reduced your bill at your new address – whereas you're more likely to be owed if you left the area, especially if you didn't leave a forwarding address. 
  
  
• Eight out of 10 councils told us they try to refund credit wherever possible, and if your council has your direct debit details, this should be straightforward. But the vast majority of councils that do try to refund credit told 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. 

However, to be clear, there will be exceptions – some who have moved within local authorities and/or paid by direct debit WILL be owed too. For example, if you lived in a home where there were multiple bill-payers, it might have been harder for the council to establish who should have been refunded.