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Benefits

Benefits

Benefits FAQs

Below you will find commonly asked questions about benefits. If your query isn't answered here, please contact us.

You can find information on the Housing Benefit page.

When you make a claim for Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support, you are normally required to provide evidence to support your application.  If you are receiving Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support and have a change in your circumstances, you also need to provide evidence confirming the new details.

The following is a list of evidence which may be needed to support your application, depending on your income and circumstances.  You will need to send proof of each evidence type for you and your partner (if you have one).  Make sure any documents you send have the name and address clearly marked on them.

Identity:

We need proof of identity (unless we have seen this recently).  You can provide things like:

  • current UK/other nationalities passport

  • current UK photo-card driving licence

  • birth/marriage certificate.

National Insurance number:

We need proof of National Insurance number(s). If you are in receipt of benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions, we may be able to get this proof from them.  You can provide things like:

  • P45/P60/Payslip

  • a letter from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

  • a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Residency:

We need proof of your residency, which must show you resident at the address you are claiming benefit/support for.  You can provide things like:

  • recent bank statements

  • recently paid bills (for example, gas, electric, water (not Council Tax))

  • a letter sent to you from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, a solicitor, doctor, social worker or probation officer.

Bank accounts, savings, investments and property:

We need to see proof of ALL bank accounts, savings and investments held.  You can provide things like:

  • electronic bank/building society statements showing the account number and at least the last two months' transactions.  (Pictures or screenshots of statements taken on a mobile or other device are acceptable as long as they are clear and show the account name and number). Summary statements or cash machine mini statements are not acceptable

  • bank/building society or post office books, or full and current paper bank statements showing at least the last two months transactions

  • certificates for premium bonds, national savings certificates, ISAs, stocks, shares and unit trusts.

Earnings:

We need proof of earnings.  We may be able to confirm earnings by accessing information the employer sends to His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs. If a new job has been started recently, we would need to see:

  • the last 5 payslips if paid every week

  • the last 3 payslips if paid every 2 weeks

  • the last 2 payslips if paid every month or

  • the contract of employment if none of the above are available or

  • a certificate of earned income [PDF, 0.2MB], which you can download and ask your employer to complete.

Self-employed earnings:

We need to see proof of self-employed earnings. You can provide:

Benefits, allowances and pensions:

We may be able to confirm some benefit, state pension or pension credit income directly with the Department for Work and Pensions without the need for further evidence from you. We may also be able to verify some private/occupational pension details with information the pension provider sends to His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

However, you can provide current award notices or letter from the Department for Work and Pensions/His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

Private rent and tenancies:

If you are claiming Housing Benefit we need proof of the rent you are charged. You can provide things like:

Childcare Costs:

We need to see proof of any childcare costs paid out. You can provide things like:

  • receipts of payments you have made which show the amount paid and period it covers or

  • a letter from the childcare provider confirming their registration number, the hours each child is cared for and the hourly rate charged or

  • a certificate of childcare costs [PDF, 0.2MB] which you can download and ask your childcare provider to complete.

Non-dependant income:

If you are a working-age applicant and only applying for Council Tax Support, you do not need to provide proof. However, if you are also applying for Housing Benefit, evidence must be provided for each non-dependant you have told us about.

For those in receipt of income from the Department for Work and Pensions, we can normally confirm their income directly without the need for proof, but for all other income you can provide things like:

  • state/occupational/private pension award letters/payslips

  • if working, the last 5 weekly, 3 fortnightly or 2 monthly consecutive payslips

  • proof of any other income.

You can get evidence to us by uploading documents through our customer portal or by emailing them to benefit@huntingdonshire.gov.uk  

We require a current signed tenancy agreement or your rent book.

Under the Data Protection Act and Social Security Acts we cannot automatically give information about Housing Benefit claims to landlords.

However, if a tenant has given us written permission to talk about their claim, we will tell their landlord:

  • whether there is a claim for housing benefit and, if so, whether we have made a decision about it

  • whether we need further information to make a decision on the claim and, if so what information this is.

You can find information about this on the Fraud page.

You can find information about this on the Citizens Advice Rural Cambs website.

You may be able to find further helpful information in the 'Additional help' section at the bottom of the Discretionary Housing Payments page.

Please see the information on the Council Tax Support page.

To find out more about migration to Universal Credit, and how it may affect Council Tax Support please visit our dedicated webpage.