Disabled Student Allowance

Bryando

I have been told I can have a taxi payed to bring me to uni. The taxi ride will be about £60.

Will I be given the money to pay for the taxi or have to send in proof to claim the money back?

Will the DSA cover a taxi to take me back home?

saving_pennies

Hi Bryando,

You need to clarify this with DSA. Either phone Student Finance England or email the DSA team (dsa_team@slc.co.uk).

In my case, my travel support is reimbursed when I provide proof. However, I cannot say what the arrangement is in your case as this will be dependent on what your assessor recommended when you had your needs assessment and what DSA agreed to fund.

Re: return trip. If when you check with DSA it is not covered, then you can request this. I think my DSA paperwork says something like one journey per day which was interpreted by one DSA worker to mean a single one-way journey, however this was amended to one return journey per day when I challenged it. It seems obvious to me that if someone has a need for taxi provision to get to uni, then surely they will have the same needs to get back home.

I wish you well for your uni course.

Bryando

Thanks.

Just think I will need to sit skint if am having to pay out taxi fares, if you see where am coming from. Might be a case of them setting up an account with the taxi firm?

Do you think I could get a taxi for like going to the library?

saving_pennies

I understand where you are coming from. Given the cost of the taxi journeys I think you have a good case for requesting a solution where the taxi is paid direct from DSA, for example the taxi firm could invoice DSA or like you suggest DSA can set up an account with the taxi firm.

Re: taxi to go to library -
If you believe there is a need that is not met by the support agreed by your assessor and DSA then it is possible for you to request it. After all, the worst outcome is they say no! I had to make additional requests via my assessor who then decided if she could make a recommendation for the support to DSA.

Bryando

Spoke further during the week. If I commence uni full time a Taxi account will be set up. So good news!

[Deleted User]

Bryando wrote: »

Spoke further during the week. If I commence uni full time a Taxi account will be set up. So good news!

for you perhaps.for the taxpayer maybe not
is it impossible to live nearer the uni?i equate a £60 fare to around 30 miles,surely the travelling time alone(ignoring the cost)would put most people off?

Bryando

woodbine wrote: »

for you perhaps.for the taxpayer maybe not
is it impossible to live nearer the uni?i equate a £60 fare to around 30 miles,surely the travelling time alone(ignoring the cost)would put most people off?

Why would it put me off? Take I say 45mins to travel. People travel further for work.

The DSA fund in Scotland has been set up to help those with disability, my consultant says he will give me a letter explaining the use of public transport. So can't see the problem to be honest!

To move nearer the uni would mean leaving a secure tenancy, getting new GP and new consultant. Mental health team have spoken to me and suggest moving might not be the best approach. Various reasons.

My disability means I need the help of getting to uni. So the DSA comes into play. Just the same way a person needing Braille would be accommodated by the DSA fund.

crazy_girl

I got DSA whilst I was at Uni and I got books due to my OCD preventing me from using library ones and computer consumables for my dyslexia. I had to buy the stuff first, then take the receipts in and the money was paid back into my bank account a week or so later.

crazy_girl

woodbine wrote: »

for you perhaps.for the taxpayer maybe not
is it impossible to live nearer the uni?i equate a £60 fare to around 30 miles,surely the travelling time alone(ignoring the cost)would put most people off?

I don't think you understand mental health problems very much. For some people leaving a secure tenancy and their clean, safe environment is more than they could bear to go through. I moved house last year due to having a baby and I had a major break down over the upheaval.

Also, there's such a thing as 'reasonable adjustments' in the disability discrimination act. This person obviously struggles with public transport so a reasonable adjustment would be to provide them with a taxi. That puts them on par with a person who lives near them who is able to catch a bus.

Dunroamin

woodbine wrote: »

for you perhaps.for the taxpayer maybe not
is it impossible to live nearer the uni?i equate a £60 fare to around 30 miles,surely the travelling time alone(ignoring the cost)would put most people off?

I started to do the sums of £60, 3 or 4 times a week for 3 academic years and it's really eye watering. :eek:In situations like this the Open University is likely to be the best option.

Bryando

Dunroamin wrote: »

I started to do the sums of £60, 3 or 4 times a week for 3 academic years and it's really eye watering. :eek:In situations like this the Open University is likely to be the best option.

4 years in Scotland. So I have to be denied doing a degree I wish due to my disability? The OU does not do the degree I want.

DSA is a fund set aside for this sort of purpose!