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Evidence Required to support your claim
If you are claiming Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (income based) or Pension Credit, the Department of Work and Pension will give you a form HCTB1 in the claim pack.
You should complete both sections of this form if you wish to claim both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. If you wish to claim Council Tax Benefit only you can ignore the section relating to rent.
Return it as soon as possible to the Department of Work and Pension who will then send the form to us with confirmation of whether or not you are entitled to Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance (income - based) or Pension Credit.
If you rent your home we will need you to provide your tenancy agreement.
If you are over 60 and would like to apply for Pension Credits, for more information about the Pension Credit scheme visit the Pension Service website
If you are not claiming Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based), or are not in receipt of pension credits you need to fill the green claim form “Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit” available from the Housing and Council Tax Benefit Department or you can print off and complete our claim form 
To enable us to assess your claim you must provide:
Your National Insurance number, proof that the number is yours,
- original proof of identity and
- original proof of all your income & savings.
Full details of the type of evidence that is acceptable is stated on the claim form and is also available from the benefit section. Please contact us
If applicable you will also have to provide:
- proof of rent
- proof of earnings
- Proof of income, this may be Contribution based Job Seekers Allowance or Incapacity Benefit.
Couples
If you are married or living with someone as if you are married to them, you only need to fill in one claim form. You must however provide your partner’s National Insurance number, proof that the number is theirs and proof of their identity. We will need to know about the money you both have.
Family
We need to see proof of child benefit for all children you receive child benefit for that live with you. If you have any non dependents living with you we also need proof of their wages or benefits they receive.
Proof of Rent
If you rent your home you need to send us proof of how much rent you pay and what, if any, services are included. Services include things like heating, water rates and meals.
If you have a tenancy agreement, we will need to see it. If you do not have a tenanci agreement contact us and we can send your Landlord a letter asking them to confirm your rent.
Benefit can not normally be paid for any time before you move into a new home. If you take on a tenancy but can’t move in straight away, you should ring the Housing Benefit section for advice.
Proof of earnings
You must send proof of the money you earn so we can work out your benefit.
If you work for an employer, please send in the following:
- Your last 5 payslips if you are paid weekly
- Your last 2 payslips if you are paid monthly
- Your payslips should show cumulative totals of Gross Pay, National Insurance Contributions and Income Tax paid, and be the most recent payslips received.
If you cannot do this, please contact us and we can send you a form to ask your employer to complete a certificate of earnings. If you have more than one job you must send in proof of wages or a certificate of earnings for each job you have.
If you have just started work, send the completed application form back straight away with a note saying when you will send in proof of earnings.
Further information is available for those who are Self-Employed.
Important Note
Do not delay in sending in your claim form even if any of the proof we ask for is not available at the moment - you could lose benefit. However, you must send the information as soon as possible. We cannot work out your benefit without it.
You may apply for backdated benefit to allow you to claim from an earlier date, if you can show that you had a good reason for not claiming earlier
If you have any further queries, please contact us.
