Student Finance England problems?

LauraLou1982

I have called again today to get another update - to say they are inept is putting it nicely! Last week they told me they were processing papers recieved on 14th Feb (mine was recieved 19th) and today apparantly they have gone back in time and are processing papers recieved on 11th Feb! He said they must have made a mistake last week.
So have been informed now its highly unlikely I will know what childcare help I am going to get before I start on 18th march. I asked can my paperwork not be looked at quicker as I have already waited and its not my fault someone deleted my file in error -he said no the only thing I can do is complain via the website and it may be looked at quicker. So have sent a complaint email and it says that it should be looked at within 5 days - I dont hold out much hope! Arrrgh this is stressful!

trundlecat

Good luck with it Laura (& the course too).

I applied for student finance in May 2012, started uni in Sep 2012 & MAY be getting my first loan payment next week..... the grant element is still up in the air (I'm a single mum of 3) but that's due to my local council cocking up my council tax bills. I had to submit the forms 3 times because they kept processing me as a returner to an NHS course even though the paperwork clearly stated I had transferred to a different (non-NHS) course. If it wasn't for the council mess-up, meaning I had 25% of all the council tax I'd paid since 2008 refunded, we'd be eating dust right now.

If you continue having problems with them ask to make a complaint, you then get a designated contact who oversees your application from then on & things go much more smoothly/quickly.

Fun & games

LauraLou1982

I made a complaint last week and got an email today saying they will respond in 15 working days. God its such hard work! I dont understand how it can all be so unorganised! At least they have sorted out my loan so I will be getting some financial help next week! headache lol! Thanks Trundlecat!

trundlecat

Any news yet Laura? Still waiting for mine but apparently they're just waiting for uni to confirm my attendance now..... I'll believe it when I see the cash in the bank though.

LauraLou1982

Yes actually Trundlecat! Someone from complaints rang me friday to let me know they were looking into it and then same bloke rang me Tuesday night to say they had sorted it all and apologised. He got it all sorted for me and the extra funds I am entitled to should be in my bank account tomorrow. Yaaay! I got my first payment before i even started uni (got it friday and started monday) but i had been fully registered so maybe thats why...can you chase your uni up at all?