Very confusing! Childcare grant etc?

LauraLou1982

Hello! Could anyone hlep me with some student finace questions?
I currently work for the NHS and am being seconded in March to go and do my nurse training. I know this makes me inelgible for the bursary as I will still be paying a wage.
I have applied through Student Finance England for a maintenance loan, childcare grant and Parent Learning Allowance. They have had all my forms and paperwork and were assessing it. I have got an email today saying they are awarding the loan which is great - when I asked about the childcare/PLA she said that they dont do that as I am working for the NHS and gave me another number to call - which turned out to be the NHS bursary line of which I have no entitlement. So I called back and spoke to someone else at Student Finance England, who said that they definatly cant help me as I am not entitled. Then she called me back half hour later and apologised, saying they didnt realise I was being seconded which apparantly means they CAN look into childcare grant/PLA for me and possibly award it.
Then she said that they have sent me a letter asking for more clarification on my living arrangements - I asked her what they wanted to clarify and she couldnt tell me. My living arrangements are that I am housemates with my ex partner and live with our 2 year old. I had already clarified this by letter when I first did my application as the girl on the phone advised. What else could they want? I really wouldnt want his income taken into account as a) I have no access to his money, he pays half the bills and doesnt give me any extra! b) he does earn quite a bit (around £30k) but has lots of personal debt so rarely has any spare money. So its exactly the same as just living with a housemate except we have a child together!
Does anyone know if they will take this into account? I have had this before with tax credits, they told me I could claim as a single person as we were just housemates and after going through all the paperwork and waiting months they told me I couldnt apply and I was lucky a black mark didnt go against my name! Even though they told me to apply!
I have also already waited a month for them to process this so I hope I dont have to wait another month for further answers on the childcare grant/PLA!
I have really rambled know I know, thanks if you got to the end!

LauraLou1982

Hmm have spoken to them now and they are going to have to include his salary in calulations - if we had been married and now divorced they wouldnt include his but because we were never married they will.
Slightly annoying but never mind - does anyone know if its going to be worth claiming now? He earns around 30k and I will be on 16k, is this going to put us over the threshold? Its a blooming long winded form to complete if we earn too much money anyway!

Taiko

Would need extremely high allowable outgoings to qualify, so it is unlikely to be worth completing the form.

I think SFE are going to be right in this situation. It seems odd that both would continue to live with each other after splitting, and you're in a situation where you cannot really prove it to them beyond reasonable doubt I'm afraid.

I've seen these situations before, and refused to accept them myself. Also recall terminating one student's full entitlement as we found they were living as a couple.

LauraLou1982

Its a shame really, its like the world expects every break up to be horrible and unamicable! I do understand however though that if they allowed this though it could be open to exploitation, but I do think its a shame.
However, I am now moving back to my parents with my child as I cannot afford to go through uni and pay half of the bills at my current house. So now my question is whether I will be better of getting childcare element from tax credits or going through SFE? Can I get both of them to do a quote and see whats best? I know its either one or the other and you cant claim both. Taiko you seem knowledgeable on this kind of thing, my wages will be £16200, do you know which would probably come out better?

Taiko

You'd be opening up another can of worms there I think, to be honest.

If you did though, you'd get a potential reassessment for the full 85% of costs. Expect a battle though, as you'll need to provide a lot of evidence as to where you are living, and I expect there to be further queries as to who with.

LauraLou1982

Thank you Taiko.
Well I rang SFE today and they said I need to get a sworn declaration done at a solicitors to prove I am single and back at my parents and then that would be fine! Do you think they will ask for more proof then! Short of them coming round my parents to see my bedroom I dont know what else I can give them!

Taiko

Should be enough, although you'd be looking at a cost for that. But SFE can ask for as much as they like, hence the can of worms statement.