General FAQs for appeals and hearings

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can email appeals@valuationtribunal.gov.uk to request that a hardcopy appeal form be posted to you.

No, you should continue to pay your council tax or rates bill. If the tribunal decides your appeal in your favour, any overpayment you have made should be taken into account when your bill is re-calculated.

There are two alternatives to attending the hearing,

1) the appeal is heard in your absence, and

2) the decision is made without a hearing.

If you would like further information about these, please contact us.

Yes. You can come to the hearing and represent yourself or you can choose a representative, for example, a friend or a professional adviser to speak for you. You can also bring someone along as a witness or just to provide moral support.

If you choose to have someone speaking for you at the hearing, you will need to provide the tribunal with written authority that they are authorised by you to act on your behalf. We would always advise you carefully check the credentials and qualifications of anyone offering to represent you in return for a fee.

If you have any extra needs, please tell us as soon as possible and we will do our best to help. This help could include, for example, reasonable assistance for your sight, hearing and communication (such as a signer/interpreter). We will meet the costs of providing this help.

Yes. You can withdraw your appeal at any time before the hearing date. For council tax appeals and business rates appeals against a rating list, you can email us appeals@valuationtribunal.gov.uk.You can also withdraw an appeal orally at a hearing, but the panel must agree to this.

For business rates appeals against earlier rating lists, you must contact the Valuation Office to withdraw your appeal.

The type of evidence to be provided differs for each type of appeal.

Council tax banding/deletion

Council tax liability

Council tax reduction/support 

Council tax completion notice

Council tax invalidity notice 

Council tax penalty notice 

Business rate rateable value 

Business rate completion notice

Business rate penalty notice 

Business rate transitional certificate 

Yes, you can watch any of our hearings. Please click here to see our upcoming hearings.

Please email appeals@valuationtribunal.gov.uk and we will send you an invitation to your chosen hearing.

Please make sure that both your camera and microphone are turned off. You must not speak or disrupt during the hearing, or you may be removed.

The appellant (and/or their representative), a council representative, and a panel made up of a senior member and one or two members. Sometimes a senior member will sit alone. A clerk will also be present.

If you are unhappy with the decision the tribunal has reached, you can make an appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). Further information can be found in the decision guidance booklet.

If you are unhappy with the decision the tribunal has reached, you can make an appeal to the High Court but only on a point of law. Further information can be found in the decision guidance booklet.

Yes, providing that one of the grounds for review applies.   Further information can be found in the decision guidance booklet.

Yes.

You will need to provide reasons why your appeal should be reinstated. For further information, please read the Consolidated Practice Statement link on reinstatements and lifting of a bar.

We cannot be involved in matters about collection of rates or council tax, lease/rent disputes, housing benefit or a parking penalty.  We also cannot deal with disputes around how the council have treated you. You should contact the relevant organisation for advice and more information.

No. Please contact your council for more information about appealing a housing benefit dispute. If you have a dispute about both housing benefit and council tax reduction, you can only appeal about the council tax reduction with us.

We are not involved in the collection of council tax or rates. If you are experiencing financial hardship, or if you want to discuss paying the bills, then please contact your council. The council will be able to give advice and discuss payment methods with you.

No. These organisations have their own complaints procedures that you will need to follow.

Please check whether we already publish what you need, under our Publication Scheme. Much of the information listed in our scheme is available on this website. If it is not, or if you require information that you think we hold but is not listed there, please email your request to foi@valuationtribunal.gov.uk.

If you have a complaint about the way our staff have handled your case (not the panel members or their decision), you should first write to us. There is a form on the website you can use for a formal administrative complaint.

Click here to see our Customer Charter and Complaints Policy.

Complaints in relation to the conduct of the Members of the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE), who hear and decide appeals is a matter for the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office. Such matters include:

• the members’ personal conduct in and outside the hearing room
• comments made by a member in the course of proceedings which are not directly integral to the judicial decision or underlying reasoning, and which might lower public confidence in the judiciary.

Information on making such complaints can be found on www.complaints.judicialconduct.gov.uk/makeacomplaint/.

A complaint must be made within three months of the matter complained of.

Appeals are accepted based on the information provided in the appeal form.  If during the process, usually after the exchange of evidence, information is found that indicates the appeal is out of our jurisdiction or has no prospect of success, the appeal may be struck out.

We will advise you if your appeal is to be struck out to explain why and give you the opportunity to make representations should you disagree with our assessment.

A failure by a party to comply with judicial directions usually carries a sanction.  This could be the striking out of an appeal or excluding the evidence.  If evidence is not provided or is excluded, the panel will decide a case based on evidence before it only.

Parties can make applications to vary directions if they are unable to comply with them. The panel will consider if good reasons are shown why a direction should be varied and may decide not to impose a sanction or amend any deadlines if appropriate.