Benefits and Student finance

gymcoach

Hi, I was wondering if anybody can please help me. I am a mature student just about to start my final year at university. I have recently seperated from my husband and i am now a single mum . Up until recently I did not receive any benefits and applying for student finance has been really easy as only my husbands income was taken into consideration . I only work part time as a sports coach for a few hours a week. I have spoken to the benefits office who said that I cannot claim housing benefit as I receive student finance. My income support claim would be affected because i work for a few hours a week and my student finance will be taken into account. It is so confusing. I could work a few more hours and claim WTC and CTC which looks like my best option. I have been told so many different things i have no idea which option financially would be best. At this time i am considering not bothering going back to complete my degree . Any help would be really appreciated.

Pokey_2

Hi

I can empathise with you; figuring out entitlement to finance and benefit is difficult. From what you have posted, your situation is complex. If it was just you then things would be clear cut, and you wouldn't be entitled to housing benefit or means tested benefits. However, you said you're a single Mum; does your child/children live with you? If so then you could well be entitled to quite a lot of support, including income support and housing benefit. You won't be eligible to pay council tax, as you're a student living alone. You might be entitled to the Special Support Grant of, I think, £2,835 a year, on top of the full maintenance Student Loan. There could also be access to the Childcare Grant to help with childcare costs, the Parents Learning Allowance and Child Tax Credit. You should already be receiving Child Benefit.

It's quite confusing. You can have a look for yourself here. However, you would be better off finding a student advisor at your university or paying a visit to your local Citizens Advice Bureau, who will be able to help you find all the financial support available. Try this before giving up. Good luck.

Oldernotwiser

The main thing that you need to be aware of is that you need to take out all the available student loans and grants, details of which you can find on www.direct.gov.uk Although these all count as income and will affect your benefits they will do so whether you take them out or not. I doubt that the CAB will be much help but the university Student Support office should be able to help, as will a Lone Parent Adviser at the JCP.

Don't be put off by the complications, thousands of lone parents study successfully and you're so near getting your degree. Now you're on your own it's even more important that you should get qualified so that you can be independent and support your child(ren). Good luck.

paulwellerfan

If you are a full time uni student you wont be able to get housing benefit except during the holidays, when you can also claim income support.

Oldernotwiser

paulwellerfan wrote: »

If you are a full time uni student you wont be able to get housing benefit except during the holidays, when you can also claim income support.

It's worth pointing out that you can't get HB because your income will be too high, it's a rather scary thought otherwise!

redmel1621

Who isn't eligible?

You can't usually get Housing Benefit if:

• you have savings of over £16,000, unless you are aged 60 or over and getting the 'guarantee credit' of Pension Credit
• you live in the home of a close relative
• you're a full-time student (unless you're disabled or have children)
• you're an asylum seeker or are sponsored to be in the UK

Other restrictions

If you live with a partner or civil partner only one of you can get Housing Benefit.
If you're single and aged under 25 you can only get Housing Benefit for bed-sit accommodation or one room in shared accommodation.



I would double check whether you will be entitled to housing benefit!! We are eligible to apply.....as a family of four my dh is about to start Uni in Sept and we got the full entitlement to all loans and grants available.....We have yet to find out how much benefit we may recieve as like Oldernotwiser says it will effectively go on your total income ie Loans grant and wages, but remember they discount certain amounts for the children and then 65% is deducted from HB....Basically it is complicated and rather than just being fobbed off it may be worth putting in an application anyway, you would have noth ing to lose.



Mel x

Pokey_2

Taken from the direct.gov website here:




"Who may be able to claim income-related benefits as a student?


Full-time students

Although most full-time higher education students are not entitled to income-related benefits, certain groups may be able to make a claim.
The full rules are listed in the Income Support and Housing Benefit regulations. But as a general guide, you may be able to claim income-related benefits if you:

• are a lone parent
• have a partner who is also a student - and one or both of you are responsible for a child
• have a disability, and qualify for the disability premium or severe disability premium

And there are certain other groups who may be eligible - for example, people who have been treated as incapable of work for a continuous period of at least 28 weeks.
Your local authority will be able to confirm whether you belong to a group that is likely to be eligible.
If you have a partner who is not a student and they’re eligible for any income-related benefits, your partner can claim on behalf of you both."

If you are a lone parent student, then you might be entitled to some housing benefit, and possibly also other benefits. The only way to find out is to go talk to someone in the know with details of all your income from student finance and your job, and let them work it out.

DrFluffy

You have children, so you should be entitled to some benefits.

Also, if your ex's income impacted on your student support allocation, you will now get everything - full loan, full fees help etc...

mummytofour

May I suggets that you contact the uni finace office, mine were very helpful and did a massive break down for me. My situation is very complicated for the purposes of benefits ,,

cardiffforthefacup

You will be entitled to housing benefit as the rules changed a couple of years ago. My rent is reasonably low ~£130 a fortnight and I pay approximately £15 towards it out of my student funds. So definitely apply.

gymcoach

Thankyou for all the help and advice. It is very much appreciated. I feel so much better now . All forms are now filled in and am awaiting to see how it goes. Once again thanks.