Evidence and Information Table

To prevent fraud we need to verify who you are and confirm where you live. By providing these documents a check can be made. Please note that these documents must be up-to-date and correct to be accepted.

To assess your claim correctly and ensure you receive your full entitlement your earned income needs to be established. Please note that we need to know the income for All members of the household over 16 years of age. Although exceptions do apply for children in full time education, disabled people or other benefits received such as Disability Living Allowance – Carers Allowance. Please contact the benefits department for further advice.

The incomes received from these sources still contribute to your monthly earnings and evidence is required. In cases where child maintenance has yet to be established a written letter from the claimant showing how much money is received and a bank statement showing the deposited amount can be accepted.

To qualify for benefits you must have less than £16 000 in capital and savings. In order for us to have a ‘complete picture’ of your personal circumstances we need to establish how much you have in total. Benefits are for the more ‘vulnerable people’ in our community and therefore this is reflected in your entitlement.

Housing Benefit (HB) is only paid on rented properties; it is a legal requirement that all tenants have an agreement regarding their rent. In order for us to award HB residency needs to be established and the market rent for the property. Please note that we can pay maximum entitlement depending on circumstances and your 'Local Housing Allowance' rate. Housing Associations are considered to charge a market reasonable rent and may not require being referred to the rent officer.  

When taking other benefits into consideration as part of your income some will be disregarded or have an underlying entitlement in regards to Housing Benefit. However we need to know everything that comes into the household to determine the correct applicable amount or you could be missing out.

Many people believe that Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credit are not counted as earned income as it is received from the government. This is NOT true it is still an income coming into the household and MUST be considered when determining benefit entitlement. 

Grants are still classed as an income as it is money received and therefore is included. Dependent upon individual circumstances some child costs can be disregarded therefore we need to know these costs in order to determine the correct benefit.