Urgent help required

nickwilks7

Hi, need some advice asap
decided to go to university to better myself, so started a course at Bolton university back in September 2009!
After 6 weeks I had to withdraw from the course because my student loan hadn't come through after chasing it for weeks and I couldn't afford to get there.
As I was still living at home in Preston, fuel costs were £45 a week so banked on the loan to cover these costs!
Now I am receiving threatening letters from debt recovery agencies chasing £1,600 tuition fees for that year!
Do I have a leg to stand on as I physically couldn't get there due to not having my loan come through!!

Any help really appreciated

Taiko

Not really.

For it to be 6 weeks late, you must've applied extremely late or not provided all the information needed to award you the bare minimum loan.

Even by taking a place, you sign a contract with the university. However, The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2009 state that to qualify for the fee loan from the SLC you must be in attendance 3 months after the first day of the academic year. With this not being the case, the university have every right to chase you for these, and it is something you do owe.

ViolaLass

Taiko wrote: »

For it to be 6 weeks late, you must've applied extremely late or not provided all the information needed to award you the bare minimum loan.

Not necessarily. The SLC are notorious for being rubbish and slow; I had great problems with them in my last year.

That said, was there no one you could approach for help at the time, such as your university/student services hardship grants?

nickwilks7

I went to see the financial department, they said they could loan me upto £250, but when I spoke to SLC, they said it could take another couple of months to get my student loan through due to a backlog. So that £250 wouldn't of lasted very long!
Is there not something in the terms that if you don't study for x weeks you won't be charged tuition fees?

Taiko

I actually tested the system this last year, a sort of mystery shopper if you will. Despite the way I'd set my application out to be complex, it was fully processed within 5 weeks. My application was done just before the June deadline. I know the methods used for assessments, so based on this, you would have to say that the OP either submitted late or did not submit all the documents that are asked for on the application.

Delays mainly applied to those who did not supply or applied late.

ViolaLass

The problem with the SLC isn't just that they're sometimes slow (and they are) but it's also that they don't communicate. The year I had trouble, I submitted my application in April but heard nothing for months. When I phoned them in July to ask how my application was going, I was on hold for 30 minutes costing me over £10 and when I finally got through, they told me it was still being processed but nothing more.

I contacted my MP who got the education department to chase the matter. At that point, it transpired that the SLC needed more information about my mother's income, which I then sent them. I hadn't sent it before as I didn't know they needed it; not helped by the fact that when I called to ask about my application, they, for some reason, didn't tell me that more information was needed. The SLC is well known for having big problems in managing its workload. I was not the only student who got her money late although they sped up considerably once the education department got involved in my case!

It doesn't necessarily follow that the OP applied late or incorrectly as the SLC are not the most helpful of people. Taiko, your one application being done on time is hardly proof that all application are dealt with on time. It's a story that's appeared in the papers on several occasions. However this is not the point of this thread.

OP, it's too late to point out that you should have had a back up plan i.e. some savings and that six weeks was far too early to give up. That said, the terms are usually that if you complete more than so many weeks of the course, you are liable for the fees. I don't know how many weeks that is but I suspect you're over the limit. I think the best you can do is ask the university for more time to pay - it is possible that if you explain your situation, they may be sympathetic. Do you want to go back next year or have you dropped out for good? If the former, there may be some room for negotiating that you deferred rather than quitting.

MrsManda

nickwilks7 wrote: »

Do I have a leg to stand on as I physically couldn't get there due to not having my loan come through!!

In short no, as you will have signed a contract with the university to say that you will pay these fees. Many universities do have a policy that if you withdraw from the course within a set period then you are not liable for fees but you attended for over half a term which I would have thought is far too late for them to get someone else to take over your place. It could be worth contacting the university to see if they have such a policy in place and what the dates involved are.

One other avenue is to have a look at the correspondance from your university when you chose to withdraw. If you officially withdrew from the course, following the appropriate proceedures you should have paperwork stating that you've withdrawn and this is likely to state whether you are liable for fees and what fees you need to pay.

Though you are not eligible for a tuition fee loan because you weren't in attendance for 3 months it may be possible to claim that it was due to the SLC delay which caused you to drop out and thus may be able to convince the SLC to give you a loan to cover this cost.
(I don't work within the system so I may be wrong but it seems like it's at least worth a try).

Did you follow the SLC complaints procedure when you realised you had to drop out due to their delay? What was the outcome?

Can you prove that you submitted your application for student finance before the final date?
I believe for 2009 the deadlines to ensure you get your finance in time for the first day of term were:
24th April for non-income assessed
26th June for income assessed

devildog

I think we all know that there are problems with SF and tbh we do not know all the facts regarding op's application only that the money wasn't received when it would of been liked.
ViolaLass-If SF needed more information from your mum, then usually she would be the one told this(that was my experience anyway as a parent)
Taiko has vast experience with SF not simply 'one appplication done on time' and knows the rules and regulations inside out. He replied to op stating the rules/regs in this case. From my past readings on these threads when he knows that SF are not acting within the set regulations he has no qualms about highlighting them and on several occasions has got personally involved to help students.

ViolaLass

devildog wrote: »

ViolaLass-If SF needed more information from your mum, then usually she would be the one told this(that was my experience anyway as a parent)

All I can say is that she wasn't and they wouldn't tell me when I called for a progress report.

devildog wrote: »

Taiko has vast experience with SF not simply 'one application done on time' and knows the rules and regulations inside out. He replied to op stating the rules/regs in this case. From my past readings on these threads when he knows that SF are not acting within the set regulations he has no qualms about highlighting them and on several occasions has got personally involved to help students.

Taiko quoted his/her experience of sending an application in that was dealt with on time. That was what I responded to.

Awec

I'm struggling to think what you could have done that the SLC said it would take ANOTHER few months for your loan to come through. I've never heard of anyone with this problem and I can only deduce that you applied extremely late or didn't give them enough info?

Taiko

To not have any money at all would have to be the fault of the student. In August, all students who had submitted enough for a basic assessment were automatically assessed for it, with any means testing to be done at a later date. That was the cause of the delays, with people having to wait some time.