Incapacity Benefit, have they changed the rules this year?

kr15snw

My mum doesnt work as she injured her back a few years ago at work. She is currently on incapacity benefit as she cant work. My dad earns £16,500 a year.

Last year they said that the incapacity benefit does not count towards the families income and so I was awarded the full £2,700 maintenance grant. As I got this I got a further £1000 bursary from the college.

Well Im currently filling out the forms for next years finance and it now asks if anyone receives incapacity benefit and if so how much.

If we include the benefit in the income then we will be just over the £17,000 limit and I wont get the full grant, meaning no bursary Ive struggled enough this year to live and without the bursary I dont think I will be able to afford to go to uni. I very nearly didnt go to uni, due to money problems. But the college assured me I would be getting a bursary from the colleges hardship fund. So I was able to afford it. Without the bursay, well its not going to work...

Does anyone know if theyve changed the rules? And if so, can they do this? I didnt think they would be able to change the rules part way through my course?

gregrichards

I would fill the form in and see what happens you have nothing to loose. You could ask someone from student finance etc or your local citizens advice to find out more.

I understand your problem and wish you all the best.

kr15snw

O.k, just scared Ill have to drop out. Meaning I have to have the debt but with no qualifications to show for it

anewman

Hmmm I am sure my mum's IB was taken into account (and the education authority wanted proof), but as it was the only income in the household and I had shown the divorce certificate supporting that my dad was no longer financially responsible, I got the full level of financial support when I went to university.

You can just play off your parents and make it their fault you cannot go to university if a certain amount of money is required. When you go through the process of filling in the form they will know about this, so when you get a letter asking for a certain amount of money, show it to your parents and tell them you need it. It may be a choice between your education and a new car or holiday, but it keeps you on the course.

I certainly do not think you should drop out for the sake of money alone.

Oldernotwiser

anewman wrote:

You can just play off your parents and make it their fault you cannot go to university if a certain amount of money is required. When you go through the process of filling in the form they will know about this, so when you get a letter asking for a certain amount of money, show it to your parents and tell them you need it. It may be a choice between your education and a new car or holiday, but it keeps you on the course.

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Did you bother to read the financial situation of the OP's family? I doubt very much that they're in the situation of buying a new car!

On the other hand, I don't think that OP should drop out because of money. Even if you don't get the extra grand, ask about money from the hardship fund. The extra grants are new this year, so if you'd gone any other time you'd just have your student loan. As long as you get most of the £2,700 grant you really ought to be able to manage; do you have a part time job? Do you go home for the holidays and your parents keep you? Is there some other reason that you're having financial difficulties? I don't mean to be nosy but you need to look at ways round the problem (if it's going to exist) rather than just dropping out.

alba37

I am presuming your parents aren't willing to help? So many students have part time jobs now, that may be your only way forward. I know it shouldn't be that way, it must be hard to enough getting through the course & studying. But it will be worth it in the end. Try every way possible not to drop out. Good luck.

raa_thistle

I'm not sure if I've got the figures right, so forgive me, but how are you struggling financially this year? You have a loan of at least £3k (probably more by the sounds of it), £2.7k grant plus £1k from the hardship fund, giving at least £6.7k a year. Fees can be paid by the new loan, so there is no expenditure there, so you have rent, bills, food and books to cover.

People have to do all that on just the loan, so to say you are struggling financially (unless you have a massive unrelated cost like children) seems a bit bizzare.

If I have got something wrong I appologise, but from the info given it seems hard to believe.

kr15snw

I only get 2k from the loan as they reduce that when you get the loan.

My parents want to help me as much as they can, and to whoever said it means no holiday or a new car then I dont think you even read my post. No one in my family has been on a holiday for 5 years. Partly because we cant afford it and partly because of the amount of pain my mum is in its impossible for her to travel in a car more than hour. We then have to stop for about an hour so she can rest. Unless we flew from plymouth to a bigger airport then out we just couldnt get away. And as you know this isnt cheap.

A new car? Well we just sold the main one in the family because we couldnt afford to run it. We now have a small run around car that my mum used to go to the doctors / physio / pain clinic and my dad uses to get to work (or my mum takes it in if needed).

My parents dont want to charge me rent but they just cant afford to cover the bills if I dont. Theyve told me not to worry but I have to, otherwise I can see them encountering serious problems.

I need the money so I dont need to bother my parents for a penny. My mum is already seeing a physcologist as her injury has affected her so badly physically and mentally and now shes constantly worrying about me. I dont want her to worry about me, I want to support myself.

My course is expensive, oh the joys of being on an art and design course. I have to buy books, sketchbooks, all art materials, new software for my computer (which they love to change every year!) and it soon adds up. Add this to food, rent, general bills (my portion) and it comes to over my limit. So I cut back.

I spend most of my time at my boyfriends now, as its actually cheaper than being at home. This means I dont need to give my mum as much money as Im rarely there. But I do need to help my boyfriend with all the bills as hes only on 12k and there is no way he can support me atall.

I did have a part time job that paid around £400 a month but I left / got pushed as my boss was making me work the hours he wanted. Meaning I was missing lectures / deadlines. So he told me to put up with it or get out. So I left. I now have a casual job where the boss is wonderfull and super understanding. But there arnt many hours, so I tend to only get £150 - £200 a month. I'm looking for jobs but the hours dont work for me. We just have so much project work to complete out of lecture times.

Oh and I have to pay for the insurance / tax / breakdown cover / service / petrol for my car. Which we all know isnt cheap. Id love to get rid of the car but the local bus service is terrible. I now use park and ride as it stops right outside the college and is very good. The normal bus is always full, if it turns up, and is so expensive. Plus I struggle to get on the bus with all of my stuff for uni (portfolios, sketchbooks and materials).

So yeh, this year I have struggled financially I have given up all perks (following my football team away, skiing (I was on the devon ski team but cant afford to attend the competitions anymore, let alone the training!), ski holidays and seeing my mates). I now spend every evening sat at home doing work or watching tv as I cant afford to go out and do much. At least me and my boyfriend are much closer now, as we see so much of each other.

I'm just worried, I dont think theres much more I can cut out to make life cheaper.

Oldernotwiser

kr15snw wrote:

I only get 2k from the loan as they reduce that when you get the loan.


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Could you clarify this as it doesn't make sense?

I appreciate that you get some of the student grant deducted from your maintenance loan, so perhaps this is what you mean. I would assume that you get the £3,495 living at home loan, minus £1,200 because you get the maintenance grant of £2,700. That would mean that without the university bursary you would have an income of about £5,000 to cover 40 weeks of the academic year. That's £125 per week plus £50 that you earn.

I appreciate that you need to contribute to living costs at home and it's right that you should do so (although how your family manage without this when you're contributing to your boyfriend's bills is a bit of a conundrum). On the other hand, even paying for your keep out of £175 per week shouldn't leave you on your uppers. Running a car at university is something of a luxury, I feel, although I know that many people do not.

How did you manage to do the skiing, football following and other stuff before you went to university; who paid for it then?

kr15snw

Ooops, yeh I meant I get a lower loan because I get the full grant. Typo...

I used to pay for it, as I was only at college I didnt have to buy anything as it was all included in the costs (which the government paid for because of my age). I now dont pay for home football games as Im working at the club (which gives me free access to home games, major saving!). The skiing was also saved for and paid for by me. I tell ya buying a £700 pair of skis each year took a lot of saving!

I still pay for sky / internet at parents home aswell as a lower rent for bills. But not as much as I did as I dont each much here now (only lunch a few times a week). So my parents dont have to buy much food for me / any bath stuff etc. So their bills have gone down.

Lifes just got more expensive