Housing Benefit Madness

Oldernotwiser

Hoonercat wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.
Ok, maybe things aren't as bad as they seem. I've just looked into student loans and you don't have to pay them back until your earnings reach £15k. As already stated, she has not been given any info regarding student loans and I think her biggest fear was that, in the current economic climate, she might finish her course only to find she can't get a job but would still be expected to pay off the loan. She hadn't even considered the loan because she can get by without it, though if her HB is cut then she will. She was working part time before she became a student, her income has not changed except for the student grant (which, according to the council, doesn't get counted as income, yet a loan that you don't take does:think:)

I still don't think it's right that not taking can count as income though. There are tens of thousands of people who get partial HB and would qualify for a personal loan, those don't choose to take it don't have their HB reduced. I can't see how anything that requires you to pay it back can be classed as income as you don't gain financially from it.

Many people never pay their Student Loan off (I'm an example) and it's well known that it's classed as income whether you take it or not.I cannot believe that someone on a full time, degree level course can be unaware of the student finance package, particularly as she must have already applied for a loan to pay her fees.

She may still be in time to take out the loan and grant for this year (not sure on the deadline on this, ask at Student Services). At least next year she'll be much better off as she'll get this extra money.

PS. Does this mean that she hasn't applied for the Parental Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant either?

Edit: She can apply for student finance up to 9 months after the start of the course so if she gets herself into gear she can claim the finance for this year and use it to pay her arrears and have some left over. I suggest she gets herself down to Student Services/Welfare/Finance pretty sharply and belatedly gets herself sorted out.

Hoonercat

She didn't apply for a loan to pay her fees, the county council pay them as they need more qualified people. She was on a course (arranged by her work) when someone told her she should consider becoming a full time student as she is already over qualified for the job she does.

She only found out about he student grant recently, and as far as I know she doesn't know anything about the Parental Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant. Basically, all the info she gets is from other students rather than the college, no doubt she will have received written info on all of these but with 2 jobs and 2 children she has very little time to read up on them. Will the Parental Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant affect her HB? I will mention these to her and tell her to apply ASAP.

As for her not being aware of the student loan, bare in mind that she's in her mid thirties and had no intention of becoming a student until someone at a course (a student teacher I believe) advised her to become a student. Before this point she wasn't even aware that could become a student, never mind funding options.
Thanks for your help, much appreciatted

Oldernotwiser

OK, I can see that's an unusual situation. The best starting point for information is https://www.direct.gov.uk which will cover all areas.

I should have also said that as a lone parent she should be applying for the Special Support Grant rather than the Maintenance Grant as there are advantages in this.


" More about the Special Support Grant
Certain groups of students can get the Special Support Grant instead of the Maintenance Grant.
If you get the Special Support Grant, it won’t affect how much you can get through the Maintenance Loan - and it won’t be counted as income when working out if you’re entitled to income-related benefits or tax credits"

I have to ask whether she has been claiming her council tax student exemption ( if she's the only adult in the household) and, if she's working for at least 16 hours, has she been claiming Working Tax Credit which she can get in addition to her student funding package.

There is a lot of help for lone parents who are students and she may well be considerably better off, even if she loses HB.

Hoonercat

She has received a grant but I'm not sure which one it was, it was for about £2900. She does receive Working Tax and she recently applied for a rebate on her Council Tax after being advised to do so by another student. She really needs to sit down and talk to someone about what she is entitled to rather than getting snippets of info from fellow students.
I've suggested that she registers on this forum as I don't know all her details, though she may not have time until the weekend.
One thing I do know: she has an old car which will not pass its next MOT. She's been told that it will cost more to repair the car than the car is worth so is desperate to replace it as she needs it for taking her kids to school, going to work and going to college. Getting the kids to school and then getting to college would not be possible without the car. Getting the student loan may mean she can replace the car or get it fixed for the MOT. Every cloud has a silver lining:D

Hoonercat

Thinking about it some more, she must have got the Special Support grant as the council have said it won't be counted as income against HB.

danielanthony

I never got HB when I was a student :-\

karenx

danielanthony wrote: »

I never got HB when I was a student :-\

Do you have children? If no then that is why