Fears have been sparked that Borehamwood residents are paying too much Council Tax after it was discovered that an entire street has been overcharged for five years.

Glenhaven Avenue was set at Band D but the Valuations Agency has now admitted it is a Band C road and that residents have been paying way over the odds.

And it was only thanks to one sharp home owner, Paula Timmons who suspected she was in the wrong band that the blunder was unearthed and hefty reimbursement cheques were sent out.

Now doubt has been cast over the operation of the system in the town -- especially as Miss Timmons claims she had to persuade the agency's officers that if she was in the wrong band and due a refund, so were her neighbours.

She said: "As far as the Valuations Agency and Hertsmere Borough Council were concerned they were quite happy for us to be in the wrong band. It's good that we have been reimbursed but what about everyone else in the town? How do they know that they are not in the wrong band?

"It is all too easy to just put your trust in the system and get on with it without doubting that a mistake could have been made.

"But it was made in my street and with no explanation given to me as to why or how it happened, I see no reason why it could not be the case for everyone else."

Miss Timmons, a medical researcher, had suspected for some time that she was in the wrong band but had been too busy studying for a degree to go through the process of appealing. She contacted Hertsmere Borough Council, which collects the tax, as well as the Vaulations Agency which sets the bands.

Some weeks later she and her neighbours received a cheque from the council for £180 each, which curiously arrived without a covering letter or any explanation or apology for the mistake.

She said: "Although most of the time I was given help and advice and they did admit that I had been overcharged, I found the whole thing a bit worrying really as no one seemed to be too bothered about it and they had just been accepting our money without a second thought."

"They also didn't seem to take it upon themselves to inform the other people living in my street that they were due a refund and it was only when I said 'what about the others?' that something was done.

"I may have my money back now but I am not impressed with the way the whole thing has been handled and just wonder how many other residents are trustingly paying too much without realising it."

A spokesman for the Valuations Agency said: "There were a lot of problems putting roads in bands. It was a difficult task and of course mistakes did happen. We did amend some roads at the beginning, soon after they were set. But we have had no complaints for a long time, other than this one.

"The reason we did not automatically amend all the other houses in Glenhaven Avenue is because it does not necessarily follow that they will be in the same band. We had to look at each property separately and assess them."

A spokeswoman for the council said it had no control over how the bands were set -- its job was to collect and refund the payments.

Council Tax bands were set in 1991 and were judged according to the value of property on April 1 that year.

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