At least 50% of income required to support the loan must be from non-benefit income.

Where the applicant's benefits fluctuate from month to month, take an average over the last 3 months’ payments.

100% of benefit income received by customers is allowable except for housing allowance, which is currently paid as part of Universal Credit.

All forms of tax credits are now paid as part of Universal Credit and can be found on the borrower's Universal Credit monthly statement.

Be mindful not to mistakenly duplicate payments across the benefit income fields.

Packaging guidance:

Benefit income (excluding Universal Credit and Child Benefit) should be evidenced through:

• Latest DWP benefit award statement for the current tax year, and
• Latest month's bank statement