Parental death and student loan/bursary

klakierro

Hello,

my Mum sadly just passed away meaning that the parental income in my family is going to be significantly lower. Could anyone please advise me if I can apply for more support from Student Loans Compay this year or whether it is going to be next year? Any other advice regarding to my financial situation will be much appreciated.

Lavender13

Really sorry to hear about your loss, (((hug))).
Maybe contact student finance and inform them of change of circumstances.Contact student services at your University/College , they maybe able to help with advise and support, contact details are usually on your establishment portal.
Klakierro,hopefully someone more knowledgeable about these matters will be will be along soon to help.

hardleyouth

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, my mum died when I was 15, so I fully appreciate what you're going through and I too am now at uni.

Depending on the specifics of how much your household income is going to drop, yes you will be entitled to either more grant/loan, or more grant and less loan if you already receive the maximum!

It may increase your eligibility for any university bursary at your uni, or eligibility for certain independent charity grants you can apply for. However those are specific to you and your uni.

Best thing to do is phone student finance, not entirely sure if they will instantly remove your mothers income from your entitlement and increase your upcoming payments for this year, or if they will base it on tax year so you won't be entitled until after April which means you won't receive an increase this year, best to call them my friend, good luck!

V_Chic_Chick

Ring student finance first thing on Monday morning, in the hope that you might get a higher payment for January (unlikely, but worth a shot). Be prepared for them to ask for the original death certificate, even though other organisations (e.g. life insurance) may also want them. If I remember rightly, it's possible to get multiple copies, so do that if you have the option.

Worst case scenario is that you have to wait until next year to get a higher rate of student finance. However, for that to happen you will have to ask to be assessed on the current tax year.

If this causes you significant problems, then apply to your university's Access to Learning Fund, which is set up to deal with circumstances like this. In addition, you should apply to your department for mitigating circumstances given that you (presumably) have exams starting in a week or so.

Taiko

Should be an in-year reassessment for this. SFE will need to see a copy of the death certificate, although whether they'd accept a photocopy I don't know these days.

RhiRhiMajic

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.

My dad died in the Feb of my last year at university. From what I can remember, I called up my local student finance office, who were really helpful and understanding. Due to the change in family income they reassessed me and I think I ended up with the maximum. Most of the loan was also replaced by bursary so I'll have less to pay back.

As another poster has mentioned, they did require an original death certificate as proof before they reassess your claim.

I don't remember whether they gave me more money in the interim or whether I just got the full amount in my final payment in April. They definitely reassessed it for the current year though, and you will definitely get more next year too.