Martin Lewis issues council tax alert to UK residents - you could be owed thousands

Martin Lewis has urged thousands of homeowners to review their council tax band, warning that some may be paying more than they should. The financial expert’s advice comes as many households observed a rise in their annual council tax from April 1 this year.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Lewis said: “Moving or just moved house? One of the most important things you should do is check whether you're in the right council tax band. You only have six months to make a formal challenge, after that it's much trickier.”

Local authorities in England have raised the typical Band D council tax bill by 5 percent, increasing it by £109 to £2,280, up from £2,171 in 2024-25. Some councils, however, have been permitted to impose hikes of up to 10 percent.

In Wales, bills have risen by 4.5 percent to 9.5 percent, while Scotland has seen a minimum 8 percent increase—its first in two years following a freeze in 2024-25.

He explained it on his website how 400k homeowners may be able to lower their bands and gain £1,000s: “Some homeowners and renters have unknowingly been overpaying Council Tax for many years, even decades, because their bands are too high, so payouts worth £1,000s are commonplace.”

According to Mr Lewis, to get an idea of whether you're in too high a band, one must carry out two crucial checks. He said: “Ensure you do both, as you can't ask for your band to be lowered, only revalued, and you don't want yours or your neighbours' to go up. These checks should prevent that.”

The money-saving expert has suggested checking the council tax band of the neighbour but “make sure the properties are as close as possible in size and value”.

He said: “The scale of the database means a few properties are missed off it. If that happens, either speak to your neighbours directly or contact the council and ask why. If neighbours in similar properties are in a lower band than you, then you may have a claim (though it could mean that they're all in the wrong band).”

Secondly, he has urged the homeowners to follow the valuation check that “enables you to check out various property prices on your street and is an important test that you're on the right track.”

He then explained the whole process of how to check and challenge their council tax bands, with the different English and Scottish rules.