Find documents for proof of your finances

Preparing for the financial assessment

After you’ve had the results of your care needs assessment, we’ll ask you to complete a financial assessment.

The financial assessment looks at all your income, savings and investments in detail. This will determine:

• how much you have to pay for your care and support
• how much, if anything, the council will contribute to these costs

Watch a video about the financial assessment process

When to complete it by

You'll have 14 days to complete the assessment and provide your supporting documents. This starts as soon as we ask you to take the assessment.

It might take some time to find all the information you need to provide. We recommend you start finding these documents as soon as you can.

Evidence you need to provide

The financial assessment looks at your:

• capital: all of your savings and investments
• income: including pensions and benefits
• costs: including housing and things you pay to help with a disability

We will need to see proof for anything we ask you to provide for the assessment. You can find a list below of the evidence we accept for each type of financial information.

How to send your documents

Make sure all copies of documents are clear and high quality. The better quality the scan or photo is, the less likely we'll need to contact you for another version.

Email

We prefer to receive your documents in PDF format.

Email copies of the documents by:

• scanning them using a printer
• taking a photo using an app like Adobe Scanner, which can convert them to PDF
• taking a clear photo on your phone

Post

You can send photocopies of your documents with the assessment form by post. We recommend that you use a signed-for delivery service to make sure your documents get to us safely.

If you send an original document to us, please tell us. We will make a copy and send the original back to you.

Evidence we accept

Open a checklist of evidence in a new tab 

You only need to provide evidence if you have or pay for something. You don’t need to prove that you do not have something.

Make sure you provide all the evidence we need alongside your completed form. If you do not, you’ll be charged the full amount for your care as we will be unable to complete the financial assessment.

Bank, savings and investment accounts

• bank account: last 6 months' bank statements
• building society account: last 6 months' bank statements
• cash: no evidence needed
• income bond: if this bond has life assurance, we will need to see the bond confirmation letter
• individual savings accounts (ISA): latest statement
• investment bond: if this bond has life assurance, we will need to see the bond confirmation letter
• national savings account: statement
• other savings: latest statement or document
• personal injury awards: award letter
• post office savings: recent statement
• premium bonds: document stating the value
• shares: certificate or shares document

Benefits

• attendance allowance: award letter or a bank statement
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - care component: award letter or a bank statement
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA): award letter or a bank statement
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP): award letter or a bank statement
• Employment Support Allowance (ESA): a decision letter from the DWP or a bank statement. You can find this figure on your bank statement with the reference ‘your national insurance number followed by DWP EESA’
• income support: award letter or a bank statement
• job seekers allowance: award letter or a bank statement
• universal credit: award letter with a breakdown
• carers allowance: award letter or a bank statement
• incapacity benefit: award letter or a bank statement
• industrial injuries disablement benefit: award letter or a bank statement
• severe disablement allowance: award letter or a bank statement
• pension credit: award letter or a bank statement
• working tax credit: award letter or a bank statement
• child tax credit: award letter or a bank statement
• constant attendance allowance: award letter or a bank statement
• child benefit: award letter or a bank statement
• housing benefit: award letter or a bank statement

Pensions

• occupational pension: either salary/payslip or bank statement
• state retirement pension: bank statement
• war disablement pension: a letter or a bank statement
• war widows pension: a letter or a bank statement

Other income

• annuity: a letter or bank statement
• other income, including rental income, maintenance payments, and spousal support: bank statements, rental agreements, or copy of agreement
• salary or earnings: payslip
• trust fund income: trust documentation

Essential household expenses

• Council Tax: Council Tax bill
• mortgage: bank statement or mortgage statement
• rent: copy of rental agreement
• ground rent: copy of rental agreement
• service charge: annual statement
• other essential expenditure: bank statement or agreement
• statutory debts: court order papers
• statutory order: court order papers

Disability-related expenses

If you have extra expenses because of your disability or illness, like higher heating bills or transport costs, you will need to provide evidence of your outgoings. 

You only need to provide this information if you will get care at home.

• heating and electricity: gas and electricity bills for the last year
• community alarm system: bank statement or letter
• medical costs not covered by the NHS: 8 weeks of receipts
• garden maintenance: 4 weeks of receipts
• wheelchair, hoist, stair lift or power reclining chair or bed: invoice or receipt
• food or drink costs: 4 weeks of receipts
• toiletry or cleaning costs: 4 weeks of receipts
• clothing or shoes: 6 months of receipts
• services on your care plan that you pay for, like physiotherapy or podiatry: 8 weeks of receipts
• laundry care, including specialist washing powder: proof of purchase like receipts

Property

You only need to provide information about the value of your property if you’re moving into a care home.

• documents showing the sale of any property in the last 7 years: solicitor’s letter of completion

Power of attorney or deputyship

Someone else can complete the form and sign it on your behalf only if they have power of attorney, deputy, or appointee status.

The types of evidence they will need to show if they are a signatory include:

• enduring power of attorney
• lasting power of attorney
• deputyship or receivership
• power of attorney application

You need to provide a copy of one of these documents to prove that someone else has the legal authority to act on your behalf.