CSA1 - does income include student loans and grants?

drsue2012 · 24 March 2011 at 2:23PM

Any help appreciated please.

My friend has a case under the old CSA scheme (pre-2003).

He is currently suffering from depression and his job is insecure. He has been offered a full time place at University. If he takes up the place, he intends to continue working part-time and apply for student finance. He will be entitled to a student maintenance loan and a maintenance grant.

I have scoured the booklet which explains how assessed income is calculated. Student loans and grants are NOT mentioned.

Are student maintenance loans and grants classed as income when calculating assessed income?

Thank you for your help.

mrsspendalot · 24 March 2011 at 3:14PM

Under CSA 2, as a student he would get a nil assessment, but if he continued to work part time and earned over £100 per week, he would get assessed on those part time earnings. Not sure how it works on CSA 1, but I can't imagine it would be too much different.

drsue2012 · 24 March 2011 at 3:23PM

Thanks mrsspendalot. Just not too sure with CSA1 - as they seem a law unto themselves! He asked the financial adviser at the university - and they didn't seem to know but assumed that student loans and grants would be counted as income. I can find NO evidence for this anywhere - but he needs to know. It could mean the difference between him being able to take up his place at University or not.

mrsspendalot · 24 March 2011 at 3:37PM

I'm sure that later on Kelloggs36 will be on the board, and she used to work on CSA1 cases (if I recall correctly) so she will know a more accurate and definitive answer. I wouldn't have thought that Uni financial officers would know about CSA1 in enough detail to be able to answer that anyway, as it is very complex, and it is an old system now too.

Has he phoned the CSA to ask them?

drsue2012 · 24 March 2011 at 3:54PM

Having had a lot of hassle with them - I don't think he is any longer capable of talking to them in a civil manner! I have emailed a general question to them - but I am very aware from some of the postings that their advice can be contradictory on different occasions. Just trying to gather as many facts and as much evidence as possible to enable him to plan, and budget, and make a decision about his future.

kelloggs36 · 24 March 2011 at 7:51PM

i'm sure that the loan and grant are counted as income - but as with CS1 it isn't as simple as just looking at the income. What are the housing costs too?

drsue2012 · 24 March 2011 at 8:10PM

Thanks for your reply. Housing costs - current mortgage is £341 a month.

His current situation is a monthly gross income of £2500, just over £1800 net of which he pays £513 to CSA for his 12 year old daughter. ((I'm staggered that nothing can be done about this as it seems a rather hefty sum. I'm in the other foot. My ex earns £57k per annum and I get £600 a month for my 2 daughters.)) I am trying to help him with a few budget scenarios - working 2, 21/2 or 3 days a week - with a resulting net earned income varying between £876 and £1330 a month, topped up with loan, grant and bursary.

I can't actually find any written statement that student loans etc are considered in the assessed income calculation.

sarflee · 24 March 2011 at 9:36PM

I know nothing about student income and CSA, but from a logical point of view (not that logic and CSA should be used in the same sentence), how can a loan be classed as income??

drsue2012 · 24 March 2011 at 9:55PM

I have just found some information on the Gingerbread site, though I think it refers to new scheme . It states that a NRP who is a full time student is eligible for the nil rate of child support. However the PWC can ask for a variation if part-time earnings exceed £100 per week.

Does this also apply to CSA1? And does this mean that child support assessment disregards the loan and grant and the first £100 per week of earned income before calculating the assessed income?

LolaLemon · 24 March 2011 at 11:54PM

sarflee wrote: »

I know nothing about student income and CSA, but from a logical point of view (not that logic and CSA should be used in the same sentence), how can a loan be classed as income??

As its a loan that u can potentially never pay off, unlike a bank loan.

I had to go on IS when i started college as i am a single parent and was told that i was unable to apply for a bursery, then when i started uni, this year, i had to come off IS as my student loan is classed as income. i get a grand total of £379 a month, which im assuming stops in may when uni finishes.

kelloggs36 · 25 March 2011 at 1:35PM

drsue2012 wrote: »

I have just found some information on the Gingerbread site, though I think it refers to new scheme . It states that a NRP who is a full time student is eligible for the nil rate of child support. However the PWC can ask for a variation if part-time earnings exceed £100 per week.

Does this also apply to CSA1? And does this mean that child support assessment disregards the loan and grant and the first £100 per week of earned income before calculating the assessed income?

You are looking at CS2 cases and this is CS1 so the rules that apply are different.

CSA1 - does income include student loans and grants?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free