Reduce Fraud and Incorrect Single Person Discount Claims

Councils could be losing an estimated £90m per year in council tax revenue due to incorrect or fraudulent Single Person Discount (SPD) claims. Similar to conducting an Empty Homes Review, data and personal contacts can be used to verify SPD entitlements and improve the accuracy of council tax collections going forwards. In addition, councils can leverage online self-service to make processes such as applying for SPD or e-billing more straightforward for residents and more manageable for staff.

For example, in 2020 St Albans council uncovered incorrect SPD claims across all council tax property bands in the area. There were 17,588 claims for a discount, putting a huge pressure on staff to sift through. By implementing a dedicated single person discount mailbox, staff were able to quickly identify which applications were costing the most money and reduce the caseload by 430, achieving £217,719 in savings.

Capacitygrid can help councils deliver an SPD review and can manage the full review process, from data analysis to investigation, handling all citizen correspondence and updating your council tax records if required. We also use templated letters and an intelligent online web form to help support councils’ digital channel shift whilst also offering a number of communication methods to allow residents to respond to the review.

Contact us for more information on how we can help your council.