PENSIONERS living alone have been left upset, angry and confused at “threatening” letters saying their council tax discount might be stopped unless they can prove they are entitled to it.

Thousands of people claiming single-person council tax discount have been contacted as part of a review that has been carried out on behalf of Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills councils.

Residents are worried that councils are wasting taxpayers’ money with the review, which is being carried out for the councils by Capita Local Government Services.

But officers say the benefits will far outweigh the costs and not carrying out the review would cost law-abiding taxpayers even more money in future council tax rates.

It is not known how much benefit cheats are costing our councils, but if 10 per cent – a figure typically recovered by councils who carry out this exercise – of the 25,000 residents claiming the discount in Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern are found to be abusing the system, that could bring in about £750,000 across the three councils.

Seventy-two-year-old Margaret Makranczy, of Gilmour Crescent, Claines, Worcester, said she reluctantly replied to an intial letter sent to her at the beginning of the month only to receive a second more threatening one this week.

The first letter said “Failure to return this form within 21 days may result in your discount being cancelled” while the second one said: “If you do not contact us within 21 days we will assume you are no longer living alone and your discount will be removed.” Mrs Makranczy, whose husband died 10 years ago, said: “I’m so furious this sort of letter can come out to elderly people. I find it absolutely insulting.

“You spend your lifetime paying your way, abiding by the rules, and then you end up in your 70s getting letters like this through the post.”

Another Worcester pensioner, who did not want to be named, also contacted your Worcester News to say how distressed they were by the letter.

Councillor Ralph Madden, chairman of south Worcestershire’s shared services joint committee, said he recognised, in hindsight, that the letters could seem “threatening” to elderly people and that he has arranged to discuss that with Nick Jefferies, head of services, next week with a view to changing future correspondance.

One of the main reasons why Capita has been employed, other than the fact it has more robust checks in place than simply using an electoral register, is because south Worcestershire’s shared services department is still struggling to cope with the increased administrative workload on benefit claims following the impact of the recession on residents across the area. It also works out cheaper than hiring staff, officers said.

Grahame Lucas, head of financial services at Worcester City Council, said: “The amount of money we will get in total, even on very prudent estimations, is much greater than the amount of money it is costing us to carry out the exercise by far.”

Mr Lucas assured residents their discount will only be stopped once “valiant efforts” have been made to assess the case.