Financial Contingency Fund

DomTom

Hi all,
I'm applying for a financial contingency fund. Thing is, it says I need to declare my savings. I'm not going to go in the detail of my financial difficulties, however I do have an ISA account that contains £3600. You might think "what the hell does he need help for, hes got loads of money". This money is from my grandparents inheritance I've recently got and decided to put most of it in the ISA account, and is to be used later on as money for after I finish my studies.

Will the support service say, get lost, use your savings, or will they see this the same way they look at a part time job?

Lokolo

"get lost use your savings". There are people who haven't got inheritence and really have no other way or surviving, you could be taking that oppurtunity away from them.

And you don't have a parttime job? :cool: *sarcastic cool*

The_One_Who

I know at my uni they won't even consider you until you have used all other means of finance, this includes overdrafts and savings. They only have so much to go around, and if you have three and half grand sitting around then you don't need any of the university's money. There are people who are financial difficulties but do not have the luxury of having any inheritance moneys.

DomTom

ultimately wouldn't i just have to not mention it to them and they would never know?

i do have a part time job, don't get many hours as its a first come first served kind of shift operation they have going. earns me a max of £60/week, usually about £30 and that pays for my food and nights out

Oldernotwiser

I think that this is a totally immoral suggestion and you should be ashamed of yourself!

MadeInTheDark

Do you really need this assistance? I don't know the details of your situation but it doesn't seem like you do, correct me if I am wrong. I am not sure if you could get away with just not declaring the savings you have, maybe technically you could, but what about morally?

When I was at undergrad I knew loads of people who exploited this service, they would get the money, and spend it all on going out and shopping, then get more money from their parents once it had run out. It annoyed me because I never used this service, instead I worked in a restaurant for up to 50 hours a week to support myself through uni.

It isn't a bottomless pit of money that universities have and its sad that people exploit it. However as I said I don't know the ins and outs of your situation, so I am not trying to say you are exploiting it, rather you should ask yourself do you really need it.

I know its hard to dip into inheritance savings, when you have other plans for that money in the future, but most people don't even have such a safety net.

DomTom

I've known many people who have cheated the system and got themselves thousands of pounds when they deserved nothing, such as people rich enough to buy themselves a property and declare themselves as living there and therefore having no household income! i'm against it, and i've found it unfair that throughout my life the government has assumed I was in an ok situation as my parents earn just above the threshold, when people who got that money splashed it out on useless things. Now i genuinly need it, and i have some "if it all goes to sh*ts money" but i wont be entitled to help because i should use my last resort money. if i could get more hours at work i would, but then that would screw up my revision efforts, seeing as my work hours are from 10 till half 2.

MadeInTheDark

But many people would see this as a situation where last resort money should be used. You are desperate. Yet you have a considerable amount of money in the bank. It is a last resort situation unfortunately.

Your revision won't be compromised if you manage your time well. If you don't have enough time to revise/do uni work, work at your job and have fun/socialise/go out, something's got to give. And unfortunately its the fun. I worked hectic hours throughout my degree and got a first. It can be done.

bestpud

Are you winding us up OP?

If not, have you considered working more hours and swapping the nights out for revision time?

Perfect solution - more money coming in, less money going out, and no lost revision time! :j

salesadmin

this annoys me having been refused when I've got no savings, partner out of work and a mortgage and bills to pay!!! You should be ashamed of yourself