How to Appeal a Council Tax Reduction Decision in Ealing

When a Decision Looks Wrong

After Ealing Council processes your Council Tax Reduction claim, they send a Notification of Decision. This letter shows your assessed income, the income band they've placed you in, whether you're classified as protected or non-protected, any non-dependant deductions, and the final award.

If any of those figures are wrong — they've used the wrong income, missed a disregard, applied a non-dependant deduction that shouldn't be there, or classified you as non-protected when you receive PIP — you have the right to challenge it. But you must act within specific deadlines.

Step 1: Request an Explanation or Informal Review

Within one calendar month of the date on your decision letter, contact Ealing Council in writing to ask them to explain or review the decision. This isn't a formal appeal yet — it's a request for the council to check their own calculations.

Be specific about what you think is wrong. "I believe my income has been calculated incorrectly" is less effective than "My decision notice shows weekly income of £195 but my actual countable income after the £38.54 earnings disregard is £156.46, which places me in Band 2, not Band 3."

Step 2: Submit a Formal Section 16 Dispute

To initiate a formal legal dispute under Section 16 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, submit Form 401 ("Appeal a housing benefit or council tax reduction decision") through My Account on ealing.gov.uk. Alternatively, send a written notice clearly headed "CTR Dispute" by post to Ealing Council.

Your dispute must set out the specific grounds — what's wrong with the decision and what evidence supports your position. Include any documents that prove your case: payslips showing different earnings, a DWP letter confirming a benefit the council missed, bank statements showing capital below £6,000.

Once Ealing Council receives your formal dispute, they have two calendar months to conduct an internal review and issue a formal Review Notice. They'll either:

• Amend the decision and issue a recalculated award with a revised council tax bill, or
• Uphold the original decision and explain their reasons in full

Step 3: Appeal to the Valuation Tribunal

If the council upholds its decision, or if they fail to respond within two months, you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE). The VTE is an independent tribunal that adjudicates council tax disputes free of charge.

The appeal must be lodged with the VTE within two months of Ealing's Review Notice. If the council didn't respond to your Section 16 dispute at all, you have four months from when you submitted the dispute.

The VTE can review the facts of your case and the council's interpretation of its own scheme rules. It cannot rewrite the scheme itself — only determine whether Ealing applied its rules correctly to your circumstances.

Keep Paying While You Appeal

Submitting a dispute or appeal does not pause your council tax payments. You must continue paying the billed instalments while your case is reviewed. If the decision is later amended in your favour, the council will credit the difference to your account.

Stopping payments during an appeal risks triggering enforcement — final notices, court summons, and liability orders — regardless of whether your appeal ultimately succeeds.

If keeping up payments during the dispute is genuinely impossible, contact Ealing's Local Tax team to request a temporary payment arrangement. They can sometimes adjust instalment schedules while a review is pending.

The Ealing Council Tax Reduction guide includes a structured dispute worksheet and a checklist for building your evidence file so your Section 16 submission addresses every relevant ground.

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