Dear Daniel Rees,

Thank you for contacting Colchester City Council with your Freedom of
Information request regarding: Overpaid Council Tax.

Your request has been logged under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
2000 with the reference FOI 4249.  

An officer is reviewing your request and will respond accordingly.

You can find advice and guidance about accessing information from public
bodies from the Information Commissioner’s Office at:  

[1]www.ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information

Kind regards
Customer Information, Colchester City Council, [Colchester Borough Council request email]

References

Visible links
1. https://www.ico.org.uk/your-data-matters...

Dear Daniel Rees,

Thank you for contacting Colchester City Council with your Freedom of
Information request regarding: Overpaid Council Tax.

We do hold the information you have requested and it has been provided in
this email. Additional comments (if any) can be found below. If any
attachments are mentioned, these can be found under the 'Customer data'
link provided. When accessing the 'Customer data' link, if prompted to use
One Drive, please select 'No'.

We have been able to provide the following information; 

The number of accounts where the bill for the financial year in question
was in credit at 31^st March PLUS the number of bills for the financial
year where we issued a refund. The monetary amount is the amount of the
aforementioned refund.

For the individual years 2018 to 2023 (inclusive), please would you be
able provide data pertaining to:

• The number of residents who were overcharged council tax (or the number
of residents who overpaid council tax) • The amount of money Colchester
Council repaid residents who were overcharged council tax

Financial year     Number of accounts   Refund amount  

     
2018-19                      4,927                    £675,787.92
2019-20 5,381 £738,443.32
2020-21 6,346 £844,499.57
2021-22 5,697 £843,594.83
2022-23 7,330 £897,304.64
2023-24 5,647 £893,182.72

Could you also provide data pertaining to the amount of money Colchester
Council currently owes residents who have been overcharged council tax in
the most recent financial year.

Money owed to customers for 2023-24 at 31.03.2024 - £282,487.91

[1]Customer data (If any)

Kind regards
Customer Information, Colchester City Council, [Colchester Borough Council request email]

Your right to request a review. If you are unhappy with our response to
your request for information, we have an internal review process. The
internal review will be carried out by our Monitoring Officer who will
assess how your request was handled. If you wish to request an internal
review, please send an email to the Monitoring Officer at
[Colchester Borough Council request email] or by post to: Monitoring Officer, Colchester City
Council, Rowan House, Colchester CO3 3WG. Your review request should
detail why you are unhappy with our response and should be made as soon as
practicable or within 40 working days of our response. We will respond
when the review has been completed. If you are not satisfied with the
internal review, you may then refer to the Information Commissioner’s
Office for a decision on: · Whether we have responded to your request for
information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act;
or, · Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information
requested More detailed information on your rights to review is on the
Information Commissioner’s Office website: https://ico.org.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://colch.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/FOI/E...