The documents needed to claim benefits

If you or your partner have earnings, we must see either/or:

• the last five weekly wage slips
• the last three fortnightly wage slips
• the last two monthly wage slips

The evidence must include:

• names and addresses of employers
• the number of hours worked and over what period
• gross income for the pay period and the year to date
• income tax deductions in the pay period and the year to date
• national insurance contributions
• occupational or personal pension contributions
• the method of payment for example by cash, transfer into a bank or building society account, or by cheque

If you do not have wage slips, you can ask your employer to complete a certificate of earnings. If you have just started work, an employer’s letter stating your gross and net pay will be enough, until you get the required wage slips. When you get them, you must send them in.

Benefits

You must provide evidence of all your benefits. This should be your letter of entitlement, and if you have your benefit paid into a bank account, we can use the bank statement too.

Capital, savings and bank accounts

You must provide evidence of all capital. This includes all bank or building society accounts you have, as well as other investments like shares.
Original bank and building society statements that show debit and credit entries for a two-month period before the application was made must be provided. A slip showing the outstanding balance is not acceptable.
Original documents showing proof of ownership of other investments such as share certificates, dividend statements, bonds, unit trust stocks and shares, must also be provided.
If you own a property apart from the one in which you live, you will need to provide information about the property’s value. You should also provide details of outstanding mortgages or loans secured on it.

Other income

Evidence of all income must be provided.