Student loan not been paid (teacher training)

pokerpad

Hi guys,

I am writing on behalf of my girlfriend who is very concerned that her student loan has still not been approved.

She has recently started teacher training but has not received her student loan. She applied 6/7 weeks ago and it should take 3/4 weeks max.

She has spoken to the 'hotline' approximately twice a week but they are useless and just say that it hasn't been processed yet and to ring back next week.

She asked this time to speak to someone who could hurry her process along, but there was nobody to speak to. She then asked for the complaints department, but there is only an address (which she has already complained to and they have obviously ignored!).

Is there anything that can be done other than ringing back? We have credit cards, which can just about cover rent but this is obviously not ideal and she is very upset over the whole thing and how helpless she feels.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you

dmg24

Did you need to post this more than once?

As stated on your other thread, if you have confirmed that they have received your evidence, you will need to wait your turn. Applications are processed in order of receipt, there is no way to jump the queue.

Taiko

And if you only applied 6/7 weeks ago, then you applied after the deadline for guaranteed payment after the start of the course. You know applications have been available for new courses since December 2009, right?

pokerpad

Hi guys - sorry for posting twice. I wasn't sure where was best.

It was a bit of a late decision for teacher training.

Thanks for the information. It is just really frustrating that they give you an estimated time, which was obviously not estimated very well. We budgeted based on it taking 4-5 weeks (after them saying 3/4) and it has now been 6/7 and it will clearly be at least another week until it comes in so it is a real concern.

angelofmel

considering there are people who applied back in april who are still waiting for money to be paid you need to be a bit more patient. i understand bills need to be paid etc so maybe your girlfirend should looking to apply to the uni student money help schemes to see you over till its sorted. the best next thing to do is to keep track of your application and make sure 100% that all evidence is sent and recieved by them to make the process run as smooth as possible and that your girlfriend sends her signed decleration (if applied online) once recieved asap and first class to reduce the chances of any other delays

MrsManda

Has your GF got a student account with a 0% interest overdraft? Can she not use this to tide her over?

pokerpad

I didn't realise people had been waiting as long as that. I presumed there may be some problem. Why is there such a delay? I hate places that don't have the appropiate amount of staff.

I think the Uni help scheme might be a good place to start. She has sent everything in and her online application says received all information.

She doesn't have a student account with overdraft. She is meant to also get a bursary (sp?) but cannot get that until the loan is approved.

More patience is the key from the sound of it. I'll look into some more 0% credit cards to keep us going!

MrsManda

pokerpad wrote: »

She doesn't have a student account with overdraft. She is meant to also get a bursary (sp?) but cannot get that until the loan is approved.
I'll look into some more 0% credit cards to keep us going!

The main point of a student account is so that the student can use the 0% overdraft facilitity to tied them over when there's a gap between something needing to be paid (i.e. rent) and getting their student loan.

pokerpad

Ok, thanks MrsManda. We can look into that aswell as an option.

melancholly

pokerpad wrote: »

I didn't realise people had been waiting as long as that. I presumed there may be some problem. Why is there such a delay? I hate places that don't have the appropiate amount of staff.

I think the Uni help scheme might be a good place to start. She has sent everything in and her online application says received all information.

She doesn't have a student account with overdraft. She is meant to also get a bursary (sp?) but cannot get that until the loan is approved.

More patience is the key from the sound of it. I'll look into some more 0% credit cards to keep us going!

ok... i think it's time the pair of you spent some time catching up on what's involved with student finance - it seems like you've come into this and need to learn more. i'd suggest that a student account is a sensible starting place.

fwiw, i'm not sure how you both missed the student loans fiasco of the last two years, but here are some news stories to catch up (after last year, early applications really were needed this year....they have struggled, but applying late isn't helping).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8259099.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8401730.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8575051.stm

pokerpad

Yikes. Thanks melancholly



We clearly haven't been paying attention!



Thanks for the information - fingures crossed it isn't too long to wait now.