Residents claiming a single person’s discount of 25% on their Council Tax bill are being asked to check if they are still entitled to claim the discount.
The advice comes as Conservative-led West Lindsey District Council undertakes a review to check existing claims. The news comes as part of an ongoing review to validate legitimate Single Person Discount Claims and identity and remove those being claimed in error or fraudulently.
A twenty-five per cent discount (worth a minimum of £250 a year) is given to anyone who claims to be living in a property on their own, currently around 12,750 people in the area. With the support of Lincolnshire County Council, and in partnership with Northgate, West Lindsey District Council will check to see whether people are genuinely living alone. Information will be cross-referenced with other sources of information about their household such as, but not limited to, the electoral-roll registers and financial sector information.
The review process will be carried out between June and September 2015. During this time, anyone who claims for the discount may be contacted via letter and / or telephone as part of the review process. Anyone failing to respond to requests for further information in relation to their claim will have the discount cancelled from the 1st April 2015. Where it is established, through the review process, that another adult is living at the address, the discount will also be cancelled.
Conservative district councillor for the Wold View ward of West Lindsey, Cllr. Tom Regis, Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee, said:
“Sometimes it is easy to forget to update your details due to a change in circumstances but we are giving people an opportunity to do so before the review gets underway next month.
“You can contact us immediately by emailing us at [email protected] or telephoning 01427 676676. The longer you leave it, the larger your backdated bill will be, so it makes sense to tell us as soon as possible.
“Even if you were living alone when you received your bill for the year, if another adult is living with you now, we will need to re-calculate the amount you need to pay.
“People who are genuinely claiming the discounts have nothing to worry about, but anyone found to be deliberately misleading us could face a fine of up to £70 in addition to increased payments and face legal action.”