Caerphilly County Borough Council is warning residents to remain vigilant after being made aware of scam phone calls offering to appeal the valuation of their council tax band for a fee of £60.
Residents can query their council tax band for free by contacting the Valuation Office Agency.
Cllr Barbara Jones, Deputy Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, said: “Collecting the correct level of council tax for each individual household is a responsibility Caerphilly County Borough Council takes very seriously.
“Residents are able to challenge the valuation of their council tax band online or by phone.
“The outcome will be decided by the Valuation Office Agency, and submitting a challenge using a paid for service or private company will not alter the outcome in anyway.
“I would encourage any resident who has concerns to seek the free advice on offer to them.”
You can contact the Valuation Office Agency by calling 03000 505 505 or find out more by visiting their website www.gov.uk/council-tax-appeals/challenge-your-band.
Its worth checking your council tax band and costs nothing online to do it but beware, I challenged mine as my 3 bed semi was placed in Band D, whereas my neighbours 5 bed house was only in Band C, I asked the Valuation Office Agency how it could be possible that a 5 bed house pays less council tax than a 3 bed house on the same street next door to each other, and the other 3 bed houses like mine along the street were only Band C. They wrote me a very long letter stating that it was in fact correct and my council tax banding was actually higher than my neighbours 5 bed property and refused to take the matter any further as they were the highest authority in the land on house valuations. Shame then that when the house was sold it didn’t sell for anything close to what the 5 bed house was worth next door.
It really is about time cold calling by ANYONE should be made illegal. Yes we have the telephone preference service which is supposed to stop cold calling, but the way companies get around that service is by using off shore call centres. So the simple solution is to ban it full stop. I suspect that a few citizens may be taken in by these cold callers and pay up. These are usually the most vulnerable people of society whom need to be protected from these parasites.
Cold calling is getting to ubiquitous and a real menace. I get around 20 of these calls per week, all fielded by my answer phone. I agree with you, it should be illegal.