Review finds £150,000 Derby council tax evasion
A fraud initiative pilot in Derby has found more than £150,000 in council tax discount being wrongfully claimed.
The city council used the electoral register to check households claiming the 25% single person discount and identified nearly 500 discrepancies.
Inspection teams visited these addresses and then changed 496 accounts to reclaim £154,355.
Officials said there would be a review of all 40,000 claims for single occupier discounts in the autumn.
The larger review will use records, such as credit cards addresses and mobile phone bills, kept by private data reference companies.
Sean Marshall, cabinet member for resources, said: "In these difficult financial times it is important the city council makes every effort to ensure that deliberate attempts to unfairly claim single person discount are identified.
"The vast majority of city residents who pay their full council tax each year should not have to subsidise those who choose to claim discounts they are not entitled to."