Terms and conditions
The terms governing your use of BandCheck's Council Tax band challenge service.
Last updated: June 2026
Who we are
BandCheck is a trading name of Ricekernel Ltd, a company registered in New Zealand. Contact: [email protected]. Registered office details available on request.
1. Service overview
BandCheck provides a Council Tax band challenge service: a free band check, an evidence appendix, a pre-filled Band Review email body, and (where applicable) a pre-filled Council Tax Proposal Form (VO 7455), with step-by-step guidance for submitting to the Valuation Office (part of HMRC) (England & Wales) or your local Scottish Assessor (Scotland). You file the challenge yourself as the property's owner / occupier — we do not act as your agent.
What is not included: attendance at a Valuation Tribunal hearing, a guarantee of band reduction, or a refund where the Valuation Office (part of HMRC) / Assessor or Tribunal upholds your current band. Tribunal escalation packs are sold separately.
2. Pricing and payment
The band check is free. The appeal package is £4.99 — the total price; there are no further taxes or charges — one-off, paid upfront via Stripe. The optional tribunal-prep upgrade is £19 — the total price; there are no further taxes or charges.
Money-back guarantee: if the Valuation Office / Assessor issues a written decision that does not change your band, email us a copy of that decision within 60 days of its date and we refund the £4.99 in full. Refunds process within 14 days. The guarantee is conditional on you providing the written decision — it is your evidence that the challenge was rejected.
3. Cooling-off period
Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, distance-sold digital content normally carries a 14-day cancellation right. Because the appeal package is digital content we prepare and supply to you on demand, checkout includes an explicit tick-box by which you request immediate supply and acknowledge that you thereby lose the 14-day right to cancel once the package has been supplied. Ticking it is required to complete your purchase, and the package is supplied to you straight away. After it has been supplied, the money-back guarantee in section 2 is the route to a refund.
4. Your responsibilities
- Provide accurate property details (postcode, house number/name, your name and email).
- Sign and submit the Council Tax Proposal Form (VO 7455) yourself if you choose the formal Proposal route — you file as the property's owner / occupier.
- Not submit the same band challenge through multiple channels simultaneously.
5. Our responsibilities and disclaimers
We will: prepare your appeal documents accurately based on the data you provide and the Land Registry / EPC sources we use; surface a clear "likelihood your band is wrong" score; and follow up with you at Day 14 / 60 / 100 with what to expect.
We do not guarantee outcomes. Success depends on the Valuation Office / Assessor's independent assessment. Our 2023-24 reference data shows around 27% of all challenges, 41% of informal Band Reviews, and 19% of formal Proposals succeed.
6. Liability cap
Our maximum aggregate liability to you is the fee you paid us (£4.99 for the appeal package, £19 for the tribunal-prep upgrade). We do not cover travel, lost wages, council bills, or indirect / consequential losses.
7. Data protection
We are the data controller for the personal data you provide. See our Privacy notice for details. We retain appeal records for 6 years, the standard limitation period for civil contracts in England and Wales.
8. No automatic renewal
Your purchase is a one-off transaction. We do not store your card details (Stripe does that) and we do not charge you again automatically.
9. Governing law
These Terms are governed by English law. Disputes go to the small claims court in England & Wales unless you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, in which case the courts of your domicile have non-exclusive jurisdiction.
10. Contact
Email: [email protected]. We reply by email — usually within 1–3 working days, and within 30 days at the latest.