The 2011 National Fraud Indicator estimates that housing tenancy fraud costs local authorities in the UK £900m each year.

While the majority of tenancies are legitimate, misuse is increasingly in the public spotlight, this is raising widespread concern about the financial losses incurred and the reduced availability of social housing for those who are eligible and in need.

In 2009, the Audit Commission estimated the size of single person discount fraud as £90 million.

It also stated that this could be prevented by local authorities through the use of proven data matching and sharing techniques.

Now, two years on, Councils yet to act on the Audit Commission’s recommendations will have failed to recover potential savings in the region of £150 million.

Channel Shift is the drive to deliver services through the most appropriate, efficient and cost-effective means.

Delivering citizen services across a range of channels offers real savings in cost and efficiency.

For example it is estimated that a face to face transaction costs local government approximately £8.00, the same interaction by telephone around £3.00 and via web visit just £0.30.

The CRB’s identity checking process is being strengthened to improve public protection and these measures represent a significant change for organisations looking to conduct CRB checks.

From the 1st September 2012, Route 2 checks will require an organisation to make an appropriate external ID validation of the applicant.

Agilisys case study - click here

Unicard case study - click here

Hillingdon case study - click here

Social Housing Tenancy Verification datasheet - click here

Identity Authentication brochure - click here

Social Housing Tenancy verification press release - click here

The latest news and events from Experian Identiy and Fraud - click here

More Public Sector services from Experian - click here