Proving your income
When you apply for a current account, personal loan or credit card, we may need proof of your income. We may need this from you, a joint applicant or both of you. Here are the documents we accept and how to return them to us.
What's on this page
What documents can be used to prove your income?
We'll need one document for each applicant.
If you have a joint applicant and we've asked for proof of income from them too, they'll need to provide their own separate documents.
You can use copies of original documents as long as they're clear copies.
Self-employed proof of income
We need proof of the income you've declared over the last 12 months if you're:
- registered as self-employed
- a partner in a partnership, or
- a company director.
You (or your joint applicant) can use either:
- Your last 12 months’ worth of tax calculations (from HMRC) or SA302 forms dated within the last 12 months
- Your last 12 months’ worth of tax year overviews dated within the last 12 months
- a completed accountant's certificate - PDF, 507KB (opens in a new window), signed by your accountant. They may charge you for doing this.
Employed proof of income
You (or your joint applicant) can use either:
- a copy of your most recent weekly or monthly payslip. This must show the name of your employer, your year to date income and the tax and National Insurance that’s been deducted,
- a handwritten payslip with a P60, or
- a job offer letter or contract of employment showing your annual salary. You must send this document if you've been employed for less than 3 months.
Pension proof of income
We'll need to see proof of income for all pensions declared on your application, including those of your joint applicant if you have one.
We can accept:
- Private and/or state pensions.
- War Widow's and/or Widower's Pensions (also known as Bereavement Allowance).
- SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions)
You (or your joint applicant) can use:
- your most recent pension statement – must be an original and no more than 12 months old
- your annual SIPP statement
- your most recent bank statement showing your pension – only send this if you can't provide a pension statement, and highlight the pension or detail the payments in a covering letter.
Unfortunately, we can't accept joint account statements because we can't always tell exactly who the payment is for.
Benefits proof of income
Benefits can include:
- Court-ordered maintenance – as long as this runs for the term of the loan
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Incapacity Benefit
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) – if it's permanent
- Attendance Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- The Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA), element of Universal Credit.
You’ll need to provide either:
- a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions confirming what the benefit is for and how it will be paid, or
- a copy of the court order for maintenance.
Information:
Could you be missing out on benefits? You can check if you are eligible for unclaimed benefits using our Better Off Indicator tool on our benefits guidance page.
Types of income we can’t accept
There are some types of income that we can’t accept for applications.
These include:
- non-sterling income
- university funding, like bursaries and student loans
- income from a zero hours contract
- commission, bonus or overtime payments
- gambling.
How to send your documents
To find out how to send your proof of income documents, let us know whether you're applying for a current account or a personal loan.