Information you need to provide

You will need to provide some information and evidence to support your claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support.

You will get Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support faster if you have this available when you make your claim.

What evidence do I need to provide?

You must provide all the evidence we need or we might not be able to award you support. We need the same proof for you and your partner, if you have one, and for any other adults living in your home. 

National Insurance number shown in one of the documents below:

• Latest P45
• P60 within last two years
• Official wage slips within last three months (not handwritten)
• Letter from Tax Office dated within 12 months
• National Insurance number card
• Current benefit award letter from the Department of Work and Pensions
• Bank or building society showing welfare benefit paid showing national insurance number

Proof of Identity which is one of the documents below:

• Home Office document
• Full UK driving license
• Birth or adoption certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Divorce, annulment or separation documents
• Bank statement or building society statement
• Letter from solicitor, social worker or probation officer
• Life assurance or life insurance policy
• Medical card 

Income

• State benefit income award letter or bank statement showing payments
• Tax Credit or Pension Credit letter
• Universal Credit award letter
• Earnings – last five weekly payslips, last two monthly payslips or last three fortnightly payslips
• Self-employed earnings – accounts from an accountant or your own profit and loss accounts
• Other income – payment advice slip, bank statement showing transactions, award notification letter, student loan award letter or print out of online account, letter from absent parent confirming payment made, letter from organisation which gives you money showing how much you get and how often it is received

Capital and Savings

• Bank/building society statements showing the last two months’ transactions
• A savings book showing the current amount
• Current proof of assets for certificates, shares, bonds, unit trusts a letter from CREST (a certificate holding company)
• Evidence of all accounts within you name on including joint accounts

Outgoings

• Child care charges – letter from person you make payments to showing the amount you pay and how often
• Maintenance payments for your children who are student

Non-dependents

• Income and savings of people who live with you

Why do I need to keep updating the Benefits Service with proof of income?

It is very important that you let us know immediately if you have a change in your circumstances as you may receive too little or too much benefit.
By providing us with proof of your income we can ensure that you are receiving the correct amount of benefit entitlement.
For more information please view our changes of circumstances page.

Why do you need to see bank statements?

Bank statements are requested for proof of capital/assets and sometimes for proof of income as we can see the income being paid into your bank account and accept this as evidence of the income that you receive.

It depends on the amount of capital that you and your partner have as to whether it will affect your benefit entitlement.

• If you have £16,000 or more capital/assets then you are not eligible to claim Housing Benefit you can have up to £6,000 for working age and £10,000 for pension age before it will affect your benefit
• If you are under state pension age a tariff of £1 income per week will be applied for every £250 or part of above £6,000. For example if your capital is £7,000 we will take £4 a week into account as income for your capital
• If you are state pension age or over a tariff of £1 income per week will be applied for every £500 or part of above £10,000. For example if your capital is £11,000 we will take £2 a week into account as income for your capital

I am on a zero hour contract and my hours are always changing – what do I need to do?

You need to provide proof of your earnings when you make a claim for Housing Benefit:

• your last five pay slips if you are paid weekly
• your last three pay slips if you are paid fortnightly
• your last two pay slips if you are paid monthly
• if you have only just started work and not yet been paid, your employer can complete an earnings form to give us the information we need. Please contact us to request this

We will take an average of your earnings and an average of the number of hours you worked over a two month period, and use this to assess your entitlement to benefit.

If the number of hours you work and or the amount of earnings you receive changes by a significant amount (either more hours/pay or fewer hours/less pay) then you must notify us of the change in your circumstances.

You will be asked to provide proof of your earnings as above and we will re-calculate the average earnings that you receive and adjust the amount of benefit that you are entitled to according to your new circumstances.