Single occupier review

All households in Stratford-on-Avon District Council's area claiming a single occupier discount of 25% as of June 2014 are having their Council Tax charges checked for authenticity using sophisticated data matching technology.

This is part of an ongoing review to validate legitimate Single Occupier Discount Claims and identify and remove those being claimed in error or fraudulently.

A 25% discount, worth a minimum of £250 a year, is given to anyone who claims to be living in a property on their own; currently 16,516 properties are subject to the discount.

In partnership with CapacityGRID, Stratford-on-Avon District Council will check to see whether people are genuinely single occupiers, by cross-referencing 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 July to October, during which time, any persons whose claim for Single Occupier Discount is under question will be contacted via letter and / or telephone as part of the review process.

Any persons failing to respond to requests for further information in relation to their claim will have the discount withdrawn from the beginning of the current financial year or from the date the discount was applied if within the current financial year. If, during the review process, checks indicate that another adult is living at the address, the discount will be withdrawn.

Cllr Maurice Howse, Enterprise, Housing and Revenues says: “The District Council will be contacting all those who may be claiming incorrectly, but in the meantime, we would urge anyone who is claiming the discount and whose circumstances have changed to contact us immediately by telephoning 01789 260990.

“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 a single occupier 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 discount have nothing to worry about, but anyone found to be deliberately misleading us could face a fine of up to £70."