Single Person Discount checks

Do you currently claim Single Person Discount on your Council Tax?

We are checking all claims to make sure that the discount is only given to those people who are correctly entitled to it.

What is Single Person Discount?

A large number of Edinburgh residents currently claim Single Person Discount. It gives people who live alone in their household 25% off their Council Tax bill.

Why are we checking these claims?

To make best use of Council money, we want to ensure that that this discount is only given to people who are entitled to it. This is one of a number of initiatives we are carrying out to ensure that the right people are getting the discounts and benefits due to them. It also helps us to improve Council Tax collection so that we have more money to improve services for you.

How are the checks being carried out?

The Council is using Experian, a leading company in providing information solutions to organisations, to help check the Single Person Discount claims. We are the first Scottish council to use this service, which has been successfully used in England.

Experian will compare the details of the claimants with their databases to see if there seems to be more than one person living at the address. If this is the case we will send the claimant a form to confirm their details. Previously, we had to send all claimants a form to confirm their circumstances, but now we only need to send a form to those claimants who do not appear to be living alone.

If the claimant confirms they are no longer living alone we will stop the discount and they will need to pay back any money for the time they were claiming incorrectly. If the resident still claims that they live alone but we believe they are claiming the discount incorrectly then we will need to carry out an investigation.

I live alone, how can I claim Single Person Discount?

Please contact us, using the contact details above, to confirm:
• your full name
• address
• that you are the only person over 18 living in the property
• the date this situation began.