FIFE Council will shortly be contacting some residents to check their circumstances as part of a regular council tax discount review.

And if you are a single resident living in a property in the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area you can get a 25% discount on your council tax bill, worth at least £250 a year.

But councils have a duty to collect council tax from every household and to make sure people claiming discounts are entitled to them which is why the check is being carried out.

Lochgelly and Cardenden Councillor, Linda Erskine, Executive Member for Finance & Corporate Services (pictured) said, “We encourage people to apply for the benefits that they’re entitled to.

“The single person discount can make council tax a lot more affordable for households with lower incomes, including pensioners living alone and single parent families.

“You can apply for different types of discount or let the council know about a change in your household by managing your council tax online at www.fifedirect.org.uk/counciltax “However, the council has a legal and social responsibility to collect all the council tax that we’re legitimately owed. This money funds local services. Discounts obviously reduce the overall amount we can collect so, to be fair to all council tax payers, we need to make sure people are eligible for any discount” She added, “We regularly review our records and people who are already receiving a discount may be contacted over the next few months. If someone is no longer eligible for a discount then we will adjust their council tax bill so that they contribute to vital services on the same basis as other residents.” This review will be carried out between this month, October, and January 2015. Fife Council will carry out a data matching exercise to compare council tax records against external databases including credit reference data to check people’s entitlement. If there appears to be a difference in someone’s circumstances the council will write to the household asking them to confirm their circumstances.

Anyone who currently receives a single person discount could be contacted by letter. This doesn’t necessarily mean your discount will be removed but it does mean the council needs updated information from you. Anyone who receives a letter must follow the instructions in it, otherwise their discount will be cancelled and they could face a penalty of up to £500.

Remember: You must tell the council about any change in your circumstances which might affect your entitlement to housing benefit or council tax reduction. It’s not enough to say you forgot or hadn’t got round to it. For any queries over your entitlement or to report a change in circumstances, call Fife Council on 03451 55 11 55. Report suspected benefit fraud on 01592 583637 or at www.fifedirect.org.uk/benefitfraud