Childcare grant - income thresholds and assessment.

Lea28

wannabedebtfree wrote: »

I don't think they take the car loan into consideration, I was told by student finance they only count Rent/Mortgage, Council Tax, House Insurance, Life Insurance. No debts and no other household bills are counted.

Is your rent and council tax £2850 per month or is that the amount over the whole year? Because it seems either ridiculously high :eek: or ridiculously low :T !

They do infact take the car loan into account as I said it has already been calculated by SFE, they requested all the car finance aggreements and payment details.

The rent was that much for the whole year we rent from family, however it is going up in october so I suppose I should have put that cost down but I was just going off what I have told SFE already. The new cost will be £400 per month from october so £4800 for the year.:(

The counil tax is that low because of the 25% student discount.

wannabedebtfree_2

Oh, I'm surprised about the car loan as they specifically told me that debts and other household costs weren't counted, and it says in the guidance notes;

"Financial commitments to include would be insurance policies such as household or medical insurance, life assurance premiums, mortgage

repayments or maintenance payments for a dependant."

I was told that these are the only things that can be counted, and I spoke to several people who confirmed that, so you've obviously struck it lucky there.

Lea28

wannabedebtfree wrote: »

Oh, I'm surprised about the car loan as they specifically told me that debts and other household costs weren't counted, and it says in the guidance notes;

"Financial commitments to include would be insurance policies such as household or medical insurance, life assurance premiums, mortgage

repayments or maintenance payments for a dependant."

I was told that these are the only things that can be counted, and I spoke to several people who confirmed that, so you've obviously struck it lucky there.

I dont think I got lucky, you can actually include this even Taiko told me this a while back and why else would they ask for all the finance doccuments and the car receipt? I would check this again if you have car finance , there are obviously things you can't use such as loans that haven't been used for home improvements and car insurance.

panda_bear

Does anyone know if you can include general car costs? Not finance as I now own it, but things like tax, insurance, etc? I'm on placement 3 times throughout my course, so need the car as I need to get there/back but also have to drop my kids off/pick them up from nursery, otherwise I would just take the bus.

I wish they would explain the thresholds/criteria better, I've just found it all so confusing, and without some help towards my childcare, I don't think I can do the course.

Lea28

I have just replied on your other thread. They did take my car insurance into account but only if it is paid monthly, others on here will tell you they dont include it but on my calculation by SFE they did, apparatly it is only a recent thing that they do this. Think its a no to car tax though.

You have to send off all proof at the start of the year and at the end of the year. Things such as bank statement, financial agreements, pay slips, rent statements.

We were awarded full PLA, AND 80% of child care (my costs were £110 per week)

My partner earned £14800 after tax and Ni

panda_bear

Thanks. I'll send it in and see if it makes a difference.

My partner earns £21000 after tax and NI, but my childcare costs are just over £250 a week. They said we weren't entitled to PLA because he was £1000 over the threshold, but that it was likely we would still get the CG. Got a letter today saying no, but even the guy on the helpline said that he didn't understand how they had worked it out because from the look of it I should be eligible for something.

Taiko

Any help I've offered is now on an indefinite hold I'm afraid. Someone very useful on here, who answers questions when I'm not around and is usually right, was banned for no apparent reason. Until such time as MSE offer a reason, I'm not going to be offering any assistance in resolving cases on here.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

monicamj

No to car related expenses I'm afraid!

wannabedebtfree_2

Taiko wrote: »

Any help I've offered is now on an indefinite hold I'm afraid. Someone very useful on here, who answers questions when I'm not around and is usually right, was banned for no apparent reason. Until such time as MSE offer a reason, I'm not going to be offering any assistance in resolving cases on here.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

No Problem Taiko, I'll wait to see what Student Finance say!

Thanks for the very kind offer x

vroombroom

I got awarded £313 for the year - my fees are £92pw :eek: no idea how they came to that, so have called them and the guy I spoke to has sent it to be reassessed. Fingers crossed:money: