despair at student finance-don't know what to do

Catbag

The problems started in the yr 2008/2009. My partner started a foundation degree and we had all sorts of problems as he went from working full time to being a full time student in a week. This left us living on child tax credit for nearly two months while the student finance was sorted out. We spent week and weeks calling to see what the problems were, just being fobbed off each time. Eventually, we decided to go to the Student Finance offices in Darlington to try and see someone face to face. We trooped up there and refused to leave until someone sorted our issues out. They sent a manager down and he explained that the 2008/2009 year was a pilot. All people within their area who were applying for the first year of higher education were having their applications dealt with by Darlington, with a view to all new applications from the rest of the country coming through their office in 2009/2010.
He apologised and blamed teething problems for why we had not been dealt with quicker. At the time we pointed out that if they were planning to deal with ten times as many applications next year, then they had better raise their game significantly. Unfortunately, it would appear that they haven't and we are still having the same problems. They are understaffed now and it will hit critical mass in August/ September when students start trying to chase up unprocessed applications. Trying to get through on the telephone is almost impossible during these months. I spent hours on hold, waiting in a queue to speak to someone last year.
I'm not trying to worry you unnecessarily, but i wish someone had warned us prior to applying just how useless they were going to be - forewarned is forearmed, and all that. My advice to you would be:

1. NEVER send anything by standard post, always by special delivery. (I made that mistake early on - if you can't prove that you sent it and they received it, they won't bother looking for it after they lose it)

2. Always chase up things that you have posted in to make sure they have received it.

3. If you do have to call, try to do it as early as possible in the day. Their helpline is open from 8-8 in the week and i have found i am more likely to get through between 8am and 9am. (Presumably the younger students are still asleep then!)

4. Don't take for granted anything that you are told on the phone. I have called them three times in one day after thinking that they hadn't quite got it right the first time. I was told three completely different things by three different people.

5. Keep hold of every piece of paper they send you. I was sent 7 different payment schedules over the course of this academic year, all completely different. I then had nearly three thousand pounds deposited into my account in January from them which wasn't mentioned in any of the payment schedules. I chased it up, was informed that was correct and duly paid my rent and nursery fees and various other bills. A month later i received a letter stating i had been overpaid by £3000. Called back, they said it was because i hadn't returned a particular form yet but not to worry, just get the form filled in, return it and all will be fine. Did that, waiting a month for it to be processed, job done i thought. Nope, come May when the last lot of money was to be paid before the summer i got a quarter of the money i was expecting deposited into my account. Horrified, i called them, only to be told that they had decided to pay it all to me in January instead. They never bothered to let me know that they were paying me money 5 months early and there's !!!!!! all i can do about it now. I intend to be a lot more wiley about it all this coming academic year and have a stash kept to the side for emergencies, something i failed to do this year

Stay on top of them and cover your back with paperwork etc. It's tedious but definitely worth it. The only thing i would say in their defence is that they have paid me the money the said they would, they haven't tried to weasel out of paying any of it. It's just that it is generally not when they said they would. Be prepared!

divastrop

I sent everything recorded delivery as advised by some current uni students who visited the college. Despite having been told that my application has been processed now, I am still unable to access the account online-it's still coming up with 'error', and no letters have been sent yet (I have always read the correspondence online as I have found the paper variety arrives about 7-10 days after it claims it's been sent).

Catbag

Hmm, the correspondance link online has been better of late, but there was a period of about 3 months last year when i couldn't access any of the letters. I think maybe they stop updating it when they start to get busy?

Neopan

Taiko wrote: »

Which is great, considering your local authority don't have anything to do with your application anymore....

Well, isn't 'Awaiting LEA approval' a status on the LA Portal?

SFE are essentially the local authority, even though they are not 'local'.

Taiko

Neopan wrote: »

Well, isn't 'Awaiting LEA approval' a status on the LA Portal?

SFE are essentially the local authority, even though they are not 'local'.

Portal? Never heard anyone outside LA circles using that term before.

It's also worth noting that by merely saying "local authority", students will assume their council are holding it up. This is evident by an increase in phone calls of late about this same situation. It would be much clearer to tell the student that it's waiting for a senior member of staff to sign off the application.

wobblymummy

Catbag wrote: »

No, that's not quite correct. The verification of your attendance does occur that way, but that is basically just the uni approving the release of funds from student finance. Your payment schedule should be sent to you around about 5-6 weeks prior to the start of your course. To date that appears to be the only thing that SF managed to get right for me, grrr.

Hi

I already have a schedule sent to me along with the letter from student finance telling me what is available to me and when I will get it, should I be worried ?I just assumed everything was sorted as the status on my online student login is "approved" for everything and I have been given dates when I will get the money, do I need to do something else ?

Catbag

I shouldn't think so yet....my (as opposed to my partner's) SF woes began in earnest when i had to submit the CG2 form confirming my daughter's nursery fees. Before you start you fill in a CG1 form in which you estimate what your nursery fees will be. That was next to impossible for me as i had not the foggiest what to expect from the uni timetable, plus the fact that we have an hour's commute from where we live. I have one child aged 2 and two others who are at primary school. Would i have to pay for after school care for them or would i be back in time to pick them up? No clue. Unfortunately, this is what they use to pay you the Childcare Grant, meaning that if you have estimated incorrectly they'll correct the mistake by adjusting your next payment either up or down. You have to send in a CG2 form quoting your actual payments at the end of each payment period.
Sounds simple enough, but the payment periods don't really match uni periods and it confuses the hell out of the staff on the telephone at SF. I have an invoice outstanding from the nursery for the last six weeks of term, about £660. I filled in the CG2 form for this period, but have since found out that this period actually runs from January to August, meaning that they will not process my claim until the end of this period, leaving me about £2200 out of pocket as i have already paid the fees from January to April. Sorry if this all sounds complicated, i'm only just keeping up with it all myself!

If it's all approved then there is nothing else for you to do for now. Just stay on top of it all and try not to get too bogged down!

Kaleidoscope27

I haven't really got any advice for people fighting with SF. Just that you have my upmost sympathies. I remember the pain well. I'm just dying to see how they mess up if I ever actually have a job where I earn over the threshhold to pay back my loan.

Best of luck x