How you claim Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Education benefits

We will always expect you to give us evidence of what you tell us when you claim. We don't want you to delay sending us a claim if you are finding it difficult to get the evidence we need but we will not usually be able to make any payments until we have your evidence. You must send your evidence to us within one calendar month of making your claim, unless there are special reasons why you can't.

You must send us original documents. We will not accept photocopies.

Evidence means things like:

• Evidence of your identity and National Insurance number and your partner's identity and National Insurance number.
• Proof of any money you earn: your payslips if you work for an employer or your accounts if you work for yourself.
• Proof of savings and capital that you have: we need to see original bank statements.
• Evidence of any benefits you get, for example a recent award letter from Jobcentre Plus or The Pension Service.
• Evidence of any rent you pay.

This is not a complete list of the evidence we need from you but our claim forms tell you very clearly what evidence you need to send us.

More information about the evidence we need from you.