refused student finance as lived abroad- please help!

jimjam1

yeah, i wasn't thinking straight and thought the earlier i appeal, the earlier i sort this. Stupid now, i know.

Oh well, cheers for trying guys, looks like another year on benefits.

robpw2

speak to your uni for access funds , they may be able to help

jimjam1

I already have, since they cannot be sure SF are going to pay any money to me, they cannot help. Their funds are for those that are eligible but have not received the payment (due to lateness etc).

Appeal is my only route and i should have posted here before sending off a rant! Very stupid of me.

devildog

That was a pretty swift response to your appeal
If there is no other way, would it be possible to defer your entry for another year and then reapply both to the Uni and Student Finance?
I know it is not an ideal situation but may be an option.

I do believe that you can go further up the chain and make a further appeal but obviously I do not know the 'ins and outs' to this and whether it would be worth your while(likely to get anywhere)
Taiko-thoughts??

jimjam1

I was surprised how quickly they responded too.

Putting off to next year would mean me having to leave the place i have now in the uni town. At present, i have been put on Income Support again as i have no money. My landlord doesn't want housing benefit claimants living in his property, so I am paying my rent from the IS which leaves me about $15 to live on a week.

I am not in contact with my family since 1998 due to abuse towards me and due to my behavior from my health issues, i have no friends to ask for help or to go crash for now. The only place i can go is back to is my old house in the town i lived before moving, but the ticket costs more than I get a week after rent.

So, i can either try the next 2 appeals as im allowed 3, but, i cannot see the point of prelonging the inevitable. Plus, i have fully enrolled at uni, meaning i'm signed up to this years tuition costs. As it's past clearing, my place cannot be filled easily therefore i will have to take on the 3000 something debt.

Appeal really is my only option.

devildog

Have you still got your funding letter(from previous application) saying you are entitled to loans etc ? I am also assuming that all calls to Student Finance are recorded! Even if your appeals are not sucessful there surely must be some sort of redress against the system.

jimjam1

Although the contract does not give an end date, i do have an official document from Chinese Imigration titled "Registration Certificate of temporary Residence", which was issued 24/04/2008 and my latest date of departure (end of the certificate) was 18/10/2008. It also shows i was on a (F) business visa, which "is issued to an alien who is invited to China for a visit, an investigation, a lecture, to do business, scientific-technological and culture exchanges, short-term advanced studies or internship for a period of no more than six months".

It is all stamped, could this be of use. It shows my stay was temporary.

jimjam1

devildog wrote: »

Have you still got your funding letter(from previous application) saying you are entitled to loans etc ? I am also assuming that all calls to Student Finance are recorded! Even if your appeals are not sucessful there surely must be some sort of redress against the system.

That's what's wound me up more, when i took the bad-news call on the 13th, i opened the letter in my electonic correspondence and read it to the woman. 10 minutes after the call ended, i clicked on the same letter, it said this document is no longer available to me. I took a print screen of the main screen which shows on the XX of september 2009, i was sent an entitlement letter, but i do not have any copy of the letter. If genuinely did sy i was fully entitled to the loans/grants. The woman on the phone said I shouldn't have been sent the letter, so i guess she took the copy off (although the link for the letter and the date etc are still on there site now).

I've made some amateur mistakes, this is one heck of a learning curve.

Taiko

I think may have shot theirself in the foot by stating the nature of employment at this stage, other than it being temp. Need to trawl depths of the regs for this one, it's more complicated than most I handle.

jimjam1

Yes, i agree.

My thinking at present is that the temporary residence certificate said i was entitled to stay to XX of 2008 but i came home 4 months earlier than that, therefore showing I chose to come home, which, how can that mean i intended it to be a permanant stay? Also, i spoke to my contact at the hospital that treated me at the time just a few hours ago and he said he will write whatever is required, as he still has my notes that show we discussed my decision to return to the UK once i was stable and he will happily disclose this if i sign something allowing disclosure. He is also a diplomat, which may hold more weight.