Help With Student Loans - HERE!

Cupcake9

I have just had my entitlement to Widowed parents allowance stopped, which has reduced my income by over £800 a month. I will have 3 of my kids at uni in Sept, and my eldest also at Uni doing a PGCE. I rang Student finance who sent me a form for change of circumstance which I filled in and returned a fortnight ago. This morning I have had a letter back for one of the kids dated 4/08 with the same figures on as before, £3711 standard loan and £956 standard grant. After accommodation is paid, this will leave my son with under £9 a month. I will be able to help out a little bit, but I'm panicking and don't understand why, when my income is down by £12000 a year, the loan and grant amount have remained the same. All my kids are working part time over the summer to save what they can, but are all on minimum wage. Any help would be very welcome as I don't know how we are going to manage this! I don't have a partner, it's just me and the 4 kids.

bobothebear

Cupcake9 wrote: »

This morning I have had a letter back for one of the kids dated 4/08 with the same figures on as before, £3711 standard loan and £956 standard grant. After accommodation is paid, this will leave my son with under £9 a month.

This seems fairly standard from my experience of University. When I was at Uni I got £2900 Student Loan per year. My Accommodation including Food was £2700 and my Tuition Fees were £1000. That left me having to find an extra £800 for tuition fees and then any other spending money I needed throughout the year. I just used to work every holiday at Sainsburys and seemed to get by ok.

Oldernotwiser

vickipompey wrote: »

SLCWorker

I'm about to start my 3rd year at Uni. My loan entitlement this year is less than the last two. I live with my parents, but I'm 28 and they do not financially support me and I do have to pay them £100 a month rent/keep but I never put this on my SLC form. Should I do it? Will I get a lot extra from the SLC?

I'm not a SLC worker but I believe that the entitlement is less in the third year because it doesn't have to cover you for the summer holiday when your course finishes.

I don't understand why you would think you would get any extra from the SLC if you put the rent you pay down. Most people pay rent and, in fact, if you only pay your parents £100 per month I think it unfair to say that they're not supporting you! As I assume that you get the maintenance grant as well as the loan ,you are likely to be one of the wealthiest students around!

Oldernotwiser

Cupcake9 wrote: »

I have just had my entitlement to Widowed parents allowance stopped, which has reduced my income by over £800 a month. I will have 3 of my kids at uni in Sept, and my eldest also at Uni doing a PGCE. I rang Student finance who sent me a form for change of circumstance which I filled in and returned a fortnight ago. This morning I have had a letter back for one of the kids dated 4/08 with the same figures on as before, £3711 standard loan and £956 standard grant. After accommodation is paid, this will leave my son with under £9 a month. I will be able to help out a little bit, but I'm panicking and don't understand why, when my income is down by £12000 a year, the loan and grant amount have remained the same. All my kids are working part time over the summer to save what they can, but are all on minimum wage. Any help would be very welcome as I don't know how we are going to manage this! I don't have a partner, it's just me and the 4 kids.

That certainly sounds as if they've done the calculation incorrectly. Is there any possibility that the notification you received on 04/08 might have been sent out automatically, based on your previous income? To have a change of circumstances calculated within a week seems very speedy for most LEAs and I wonder if the information has crossed in the system.

There's a calculator on www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk which you might like to use but I really think that you need to go back to your LEA and query whether they've done the new calculation. Good luck.

paulwellerfan

If not, it's eventually written off and doesn't affect your ability to get a mortgage etc. Don't worry about it!.... dont be so sure of that... doent the debt stay with you until your 65 or dead!!!

Helix

paulwellerfan wrote: »

If not, it's eventually written off and doesn't affect your ability to get a mortgage etc. Don't worry about it!.... dont be so sure of that... doent the debt stay with you until your 65 or dead!!!

Its written off after 25 years now on the new system that started in 2006. Before that it was when you reached 65.

paulwellerfan

Helix wrote: »

Its written off after 25 years now on the new system that started in 2006. Before that it was when you reached 65.

well its all the same to me.
i was under the older system so i would be 65 when the darn thing is paid off anyway- mind you under the new system i would be 65 as well...
:rotfl:

Oldernotwiser

paulwellerfan wrote: »

well its all the same to me.
i was under the older system so i would be 65 when the darn thing is paid off anyway- mind you under the new system i would be 65 as well...
:rotfl:

Under the old system it was wiped out when you reach 50 unless you were over 40 when it was taken out then it's wiped out at 60.

Oldernotwiser

paulwellerfan wrote: »

If not, it's eventually written off and doesn't affect your ability to get a mortgage etc. Don't worry about it!.... dont be so sure of that... doent the debt stay with you until your 65 or dead!!!

Well, I am sure of that as I've got one myself. This is also Martin's advice.

bestpud

It depends if you are talking about the old, old system, or just the old system!

For students taking their loan out between 2005 and 2007, it is written off at 65.