SFE childcare grant overpayment

annacat77

hi, I was wondering if I might have some advice concerning Student Finance England and grant over-payments.

I am in the process of completing a three year BSc Social Work that I started in Oct 2011. I am a single mum with no savings and my course was full time (one day at uni, four days at placement). I worked full time before starting my course , up until the end of Sept 2011 and claimed working tax credit during this time.

When I started my degree I contacted working tax credit and told them that I was a student and closed my account. I gave working tax credit my last working day and when I was suppose to start my course.

During my course I claimed the childcare grant and received the max amount, just over £7,000 for the first, second and third year.
In my first summer (June 2012 to August 2012), I did not realize that the childcare grant covered the childcare over the summer, I thought that it was like the loan part and only covered term time. In my first summer of being a student, June 2012 to August 2012, I got a part time job and worked. I claimed working tax credit including the childcare element. I didn't realize that I was not allowed to do this and have never disputed that I made a mistake.

In January 2013, SFE took all my childcare grant from me and said that I should not have been allocated any childcare grant at all. They said that this was due to me working throughout my first year.
I gave them photocopies of my working tax credit awards from 2011/2012 showing that my claim had stopped in Sept 2011 and gave them copies of provisional award showing my summer work.
SFE then (after three months of no grant, no money, £245 worth of telephone calls to them and a lot of stress) reinstated my childcare grant and informed me that I owed £1340 for the summer 2012 .

They then took this down to £945, no explanation as to why. I asked them if there was any way I could defer the grant overpayment, they said no so I left it at that.

In May 2013, I received just over £500 in my bank account from SFE. I contacted SFE as i was concerned that they had made a mistake and they said that they had done a recalculation and that they owed me this money. I queried this and asked for confirmation that it was not a grant overpayment . SFE assured me over the telephone that this was not an overpayment and that they would not be asking for this back.

Fast forward to 8th Jan 2014, when i was expecting the second to last grant installment in my bank account and ... instead I received a letter asking for £1340 grant overpayment for 2012/2013. I contacted SFE honestly thinking that it was a joke or a mistake however, no they took the grant overpayment out of the remaining childcare grant money i was due. This left me in financial hardship and a bit annoyed with SFE.

I launched a complaint for a re-assessment and an explanation as to why a mistake had been made in March 2013 and then again in May 2013. I told my university about the situation and that i was experiencing financial issues and that I needed more time to pay the last installment of my student tuition fees:£1300.

After two months SFE told me that the current grant overpayment requested was correct and that it had been taken out of my remaining grant and that I did not owe them anymore overpayment. I was almost at the end of my course, still on one full day at uni and then four full days on placement and also trying to complete my end of year portfolio and my project. I could not take on a part time position and earn more money. I still owed the tuition fees but had paid my childcare. (If I had stopped paying my childcare, I would have not been able to complete my placement and therefore my degree)

I explained all my financial situation to various people, both at uni and at SFE and again requested a deferred repayment plan . I stressed that I thought the issue had been resolved in 2013 and that I had budgeted accordingly and that I could not afford to pay all my bills (uni fees etc) without this money.

I had contacted my uni's student advisers and asked them to help me communicate with SFE and they told me about the hardship fund. In May 2014 I sent three months worth of bank statements, a letter explaining situation and confirmation of rent etc. I received nothing back. .

In June 2014, my placement needed to be extended by two weeks (as it had started late) I sent a letter to SFE from my uni confirming this extension and asking for my overall loan and grant to be extended. It was,and I received the money. I then contacted them about my application for hardship as it was now two months on and I had received nothing, no calls, no emails, no letters.

I was told over the telephone that my case had been closed and no reason was given. I escalated the complaint and have received nothing back. I have since called numerous times. The last three times I have been told that the grants for dependents team will contact me with news but that they are operating with a delay of three / four weeks and to call back in 7 working days, which i do to be told the same thing. I still owe the money to uni and they will not release my degree without it. I need the degree to get a job and so am stuck .

Does anyone have any advice as to what, if anything I can do or who i should contact.

I do not have the means to borrow this amount from the bank or from friends or family.

Thank you for your time and help,