Adult Dependants Grant - refused but on what grounds?

Yockie

Hi all,

I have applied (all the way back in May) for Adult Dependants Grant (ADG). After asking for additional information (twice!), yesterday, I was told I will not be receiving the grant. When asking why, they told me because the Adult I am claiming for (my mother) has too much income. That seems insane considering all her so-called "income" is non-taxable.
She gets DLA, ESA (income-related), Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit. All, according to HMR&C are NON-TAXABLE. Yet, when I spoke to SFE they said they take all of that to be "income" and as such she is over the threshold.
But here is the real-funny part: SFE are refusing to write me a letter stating out right and explicitly their reasons why I have been refused (ADG). Also, they dont want to point me to a document that outlines the thresholds. As a matter of fact, they are refusing to send me any letter. Not even a letter saying "You have been refused the Adult Dependants Grant". (They say I have to use the Student Entitlement Letter to ascertain from it that I have not been awarded).
What do you suggest I do - complain to SFE (considering the fact that they will be the same people who refused the grant), my local MP, both, neither...? I have tried to find advise over the phone - the Jobcentre Plus, DWP, Carers Helpline, ACAS; but nobody seems to be clear how this grant works.
Please help.

flea72

Although non-taxable they are classed as income for ADG. Your mum is not reliant on you for money as she is getting enough in benefits already and you are most likely getting full grant/loan, which should be enough to support yourself

Yockie

Thank you, flea72,its seems logical what you say. I am a bit frustrated because of the grey zone created around this grant- I could find anywhere detailed information what's what and how much (threshold),etc.I believe what you are saying, but it would be nice to have some official word on it. Thank you very much.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

flea72 wrote: »

Although non-taxable they are classed as income for ADG. Your mum is not reliant on you for money as she is getting enough in benefits already and you are most likely getting full grant/loan, which should be enough to support yourself

How do you dare to state such things? Show us please exactly.

How is post#2 a useful one ? Perhaps those of you who think it is useful can explain more exactly too since you already seem to be confident of far more information about this case than I can deduce from the thread.

Yockie

TurnUpForTheBooks, thank you for your post. I am glad to see that I am not the only one finding this whole explanation rather fishy. If they consider non-taxable benefits as income, I think this will make them the only institution in the UK to do so! However, as flea72 was the only one who actually answered something, I felt it was appropriate to thank him/her for the time taken, even though I disagree with his/her opinion. That is why I have asked to b shown the official document where it states non-taxable benefits are income. I am still waiting for such a document to be shown to me...I just received again the students finance breakdown, where they did not explain at all anything, just state that my adult dependent grant i £0.00. There is nothing I can do, I suppose, especially with no clear rules about this around. If anyone has any other idea- please, dont be shy, I real need the money!

jacques_chirac

flea72 is correct. Your mother is claiming benefits in her own right, and from the information given has dependants of her own. How are you suggesting she is dependant on you? I take it your income in not declared towards her benefits, except perhaps as a non dependant for housing benefit purposes?

flea72

The main hint is that some of these benefits are not in the list of benefits that you dont need to declare. So therefore the fact they have to be declared would to most people, deem them to be classed as income, for SFE purposes

Dont shoot the messenger. I agree that the OP should be entitled to more money if she has someone financially reliant on her, but the fact her mum claims benefits means she isnt dependent on the OPs income, as the DWP are providing for all her financial needs

The way the DWP works, the likliehood is if the OP did get ADG, then her mums benefits would be reduced accordingly. Luckily her mums housing benefit isnt affected by the rent the OP will pay her from her maintenance grant/loan

silvercar

That seems insane considering all her so-called "income" is non-taxable.

If her income is non-taxable, she keeps it all, so as more money in her purse than if it were taxed. Why should the fact it is not taxable mean that SFE wouldn't look at it?

Are you over 25? Do you have dependents of your own? If not then SFE will class you as a dependent of your mother and base your student finance on her income.

Is your mother dependent on you financially? Do you subsidise her living costs?

Taiko

Paragraph 44(2)(b) of The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 states:

44.—(1) An eligible student qualifies for an adult dependants’ grant in connection with the student’s attendance on a designated course in accordance with this regulation.

(2) The adult dependants’ grant is available in respect of one dependant of an eligible student who is either—

(a)the eligible student’s partner; or
(b)an adult dependant whose net income does not exceed £3,796.

SFE's decision is correct, but they could've explained it to you just by directing you to the regulations.

Yockie

It is rather unfortunate that the SFE count income money that is not actually incoming in the household budget at all. The council tax gets paid to the council, the housing benefit gets given to the housing association/landlord/etc. and the DLA is actually used for the Motability Scheme, so it does not come in either. The child benefit and the child tax credit too have stopped since the child (not me) is now an adult and so all the money that are coming in are the ESA once a fortnight. And that is not a lot, believe you me.

Is your mother dependent on you financially? Do you subsidise her living costs?

Silvercar: the ESA money needs to cover all food, petrol, household bills (phone, internet, gas, electricity, water), etc. So, yes, I significantly help out in that department! Hence, why the ADG would have been an enormous help!!!

I take it your income in not declared towards her benefits, except perhaps as a non dependant for housing benefit purposes

jacques chirac: my income is indeed declared and counted as a non-dependent for housing benefit purposes. So I am not the one dependent on her financially, but the other way around.

Dunroamin

Yockie wrote: »

It is rather unfortunate that the SFE count income money that is not actually incoming in the household budget at all. The council tax gets paid to the council, the housing benefit gets given to the housing association/landlord/etc. and the DLA is actually used for the Motability Scheme, so it does not come in either. The child benefit and the child tax credit too have stopped since the child (not me) is now an adult and so all the money that are coming in are the ESA once a fortnight. And that is not a lot, believe you me.

Silvercar: the ESA money needs to cover all food, petrol, household bills (phone, internet, gas, electricity, water), etc. So, yes, I significantly help out in that department! Hence, why the ADG would have been an enormous help!!!

jacques chirac: my income is indeed declared and counted as a non-dependent for housing benefit purposes. So I am not the one dependent on her financially, but the other way around.

So, should those of us who work to pay our rent/mortgage, council tax and car running expenses not count those sums as part of our income either?

No wonder people on benefits think they're so hard done by when they only count the money they get in their hands as income!