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Housing and Council Tax benefit are means tested benefits and your income and savings will effect how much benefit you receive. If you or your partner have savings of over £16,000, you will not be eligible for either of these benefits.

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• Capital
• Income: State Benefits
• Income: Earnings
• Income: Self-Employment
• Income: Other Income

Capital

Benefits Regulations state how we must treat any capital or savings you have. This includes land and property other than your home as well as stocks, shares, bonds, bank and building society accounts.
The first £6,000 of your capital is disregarded (ie: not counted in the benefit calculation) but for every part or full £250 above £6,000, we must add £1.00 to your weekly income when we calculate benefit.
If you are aged over 60, the first £6,000 of your capital is disregarded, but for every part or full £500 above £6,000, we must add £1.00 to your weekly income when we calculate benefit.

The table below shows how any capital above £6,000 (but below the £16,000 limit for Housing and Council Tax Benefit) is converted to a weekly “Tariff Income”.
 

 We need to see proof of all capital held by either:

• Yourself 
• Your husband/wife/partner 
• Your non-dependants

By capital we mean all your money - not just what you would call “savings”. Examples of Capital that we must be told about include:

• Bank and Building Society Accounts (including current/cheque accounts) 
• Post Office accounts 
• Premium Bonds 
• Stocks and Shares 
• Land or Property (but not the home you live in) 
• Cash 

Acceptable forms of evidence or proof include:

• Current Bank or Building Society statements which show credits and debits and the outstanding balance over a period of two months 
• Building Society or Post Office books which show credits and debits and the outstanding balance over a period of two months 
• Letter from the bank or building society is acceptable in the interim, which shows:
  • type of account held 
  • account numbers 
  • balance outstanding

The letter must say whether the details reflect the account for the last two months and provide any information on regular monies deposited into the account. Up to date bank statements for your account(s) may still be required.

• Original documents showing proof of ownership for example, dividend statements detailing assets for:
  • certificates 
  • bonds 
  • unit trusts 
  • stocks and shares etc.
    

A SLIP FROM A CASHPOINT SHOWING THE OUTSTANDING BALANCE OF AN ACCOUNT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AS EVIDENCE. If you cannot provide proof for any reason, you should contact the Benefits office immediately who will advise you what to do, or arrange a visit if necessary.
 
Remember - we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you do not provide the documents we need, your Benefit may be delayed.
 
Income

State Benefits
If you are getting Income Support, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance or income related Employment & Support Allowance, we may already have proof of this. If not, we are able to get proof directly from the Department for Work & Pensions.

Where you, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants are getting any other Social Security benefit, you will need to provide proof.

You can do this in a number of ways, but the best kinds of evidence are:

• Award notification letters that show the current rates of benefit. 
• Benefit payment books (which are current and contain un-cashed orders).

If you are getting Child Benefit and cannot find you last award notification letter, but do not want to send your order book through the post, you can ask the Child Benefit Unit in Newcastle for a CH84 Form. This gives us all the information we need. You can contact the Child Benefit Unit on 08701 555540.

If the State Benefits are paid directly into a bank or building society account and the award notification letter is not available, we can also accept current bank statements or passbooks, which show the payments of benefit received.
 
Earnings

If you are employed we need to see evidence of your earned income and the earnings of your husband/wife/partner or any non-dependants. The evidence you provide must cover either the last:

• 5 weeks (if paid weekly) 
• 3 payments (if paid fortnightly) 
• 2 months (if paid monthly)

The best kinds of evidence are either:

• Wage slips (not handwritten) or 
• A certificate of earnings which has been properly completed by the employer. You can obtain one of these from the Benefits office or please see the Download Application Forms page to download a pdf copy (Adobe Acrobat format) which you can then print off.
  

Other forms of evidence acceptable under the Verification Framework are:

• A letter from the employer or 
• A benefit award notification, which states the earnings.

The Verification Framework states that the evidence should show:

• Name and address of the employer 
• Number of hours worked 
• Period covered (e.g.: week, month etc.) 
• Gross income in year to date 
• Gross income for pay period 
• Income Tax deducted 
• National Insurance contributions deducted 
• Employees pension contributions 
• Method of payment e.g.:
  • Cheque 
  • Cash
  • transfer to bank account etc.

Self Employment

If you, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants are Self-Employed, we will need to see either:

• The most recent accounts drawn up for tax purposes, or 
• An estimate of your earnings based on your income and expenditure.

It would also be helpful if you could send us your latest tax assessment.

If any person is involved in more than one form of self-employment, we need to see separate evidence for each type of work. If you wish to print out a form to complete to inform us of these details, then please see the Download Application Forms page where you can download a pdf copy. Or you can obtain a copy from the Benefits Office.
 
Other Income

You will need to provide proof of all other income received by yourself, your husband/wife/partner or your non-dependants. Income received for child maintenance is disregarded (i.e. not counted in the benefit calculation), but you will still need to confirm the amounts and provide evidence. The kind of proof that you can supply will depend on the kind of income, but as an example, the following are acceptable as evidence of “other” income:

• Working Tax Credit/Child Tax Credit - all papers showing award.
• Last payment slips (for example a Works Pension etc.). 
• Award notifications (for example Court Orders or Child Support Agency notifications). 
• Court Order award notices. 
• Letters from absent parents confirming maintenance payments made.

This list does not cover every type of income but whatever you provide, we need to see the original documents, not photocopies. If you are not sure about what proof to send, you should contact the Benefits Office. If you do not provide the documents we need your Benefit may be delayed.
 
There are certain expenses which can be offset against your income for Housing and Council Tax benefit purposes. These expenses are:

1. Child care expenses. There are certain circumstances in which you can offset up to a maximum of £300.00 per week (dependant upon certain qualifying conditions). You need only give details for this if your child/children are under the age of 15, attend a registered Nursery, out of school scheme or childminder and you (and your partner) are in full time work (over 16 hours per week). If only one member of the couple work and the other is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance or Incapacity Benefit, you may also qualify for this expense as a deduction - contact the Benefits Office for more information.
2. Private Pension. If you pay into a private pension scheme, half of your contributions may be disregarded. You will need to provide original documentation to confirm the amount you pay.
3. Payment towards a student grant.