Anyone Still Waiting for their loan?

roxalana

Shivster wrote: »

Any University that is charging variable (top-up) fees should provide financial/debt advice, either through the Students' Union or as a department of the University itself.

Anyone who is having difficulties because their loan hasn't come through should access this service. It's possible that the adviser can get the Uni to hold off on collection of tuition/hall fees while you wait for your loan. They may be able to help you access an emergency loan even if you don't have your support notification from SLC. They may also be able to get through to the SLC more easily on the HEI Helpline.

Of course, they might not be able to do any of these things, but they may have other suggestions to help.

Please contact one of these services if you are struggling.

I second this - please speak to the welfare/student finance dept at your Uni. I don't know what they will be able to offer you as they look at things on a case by case basis, but they should be able to give you the best advice.

EthelBloggs

roxalana wrote: »

Sorry that you are having problems with this. The SLC don't email your LEA. They set up a 'task' which appears on your PROTOCOL computer record. Unfortunately (I'm not defending this system) unless someone looks at your computer record they do not see the task to contact you is there.

Please ring your LEA directly (it is unlikely they will see the task from the SLC and ring you).

Hope this helps because I can appreciate yoru frustration.

That's the thing... a task I had forgotten the name of it

Problem is that my LEA is part of the pilot thing so there is no one to contact other than a central number where you leave your details and they get back to you supposedly within 10 working days.. I'm waiting on that call back at the moment but I think they have another 5 working days left. My uni can't help as I don't have the provisional assessment thing (forgot the name of it) and there is another hardship fund but the administrator retired and they can't do anything until they've replaced her so I'm kind of screwed whichever way I turn. I don't think I can take out any other kinds of credit ie 0% card because my credit rating was ruined years ago by my ex husband and I don't think it's fixed yet. As it is now, I think my course will be messed up because I simply can't get there so I'm going to fall behind and I really really feel like giving it all up now

roxalana

I have to confess i am running out of suggestions Ethel - sorry. I don't know of a way to speed things up in pilot areas.

With regards to your University what advice has the welfare dept given you (apart from that they can't pay hardship funds). I can't speak for how Uni's do things but usually they are willing to help if you can prove you have made an application (even if you haven't had a provisional assessment). This proof would normally be the automated letter that says thanks for your application and gives you your ART ID number.

I really hope you find a way to continue with your studies.

pink_princess16

Hi yea I'm still waiting for my loan too. I applied online around about June which I know was late but I am a top-up student and was unsure whether to return or not until then. So then my mom went online to complete her parts and found my application wasnt there so I rang the SLC and despite receiving an email confirming they had received my application, they claimed I had never applied.
They then told me I had to contact my LEA for a paper form so I rang them, informed them of my circumstances and requested a form. Almost a month later the form still hadnt arrived so I rang them again and asked where it was, they said they would send out another.
Miraculaously they both appeared within days of each other so I filled it in and returned it. About one month later I was sent a letter saying they had received it but due to the recent postal strikes I didnt receive this until a fortnight after it was sent.
I thought everything was finally going ok with it until I received a phone call about 4 days ago saying I had filled in the wrong form so now they have sent me another one which I have had to fill in and return again.
This treatment of us all is unbelievable, how do they expect us to live while they are mucking up our loans?!
As I said I knew my loan would be late due to my late application but i have been back at Uni almost two months now its getting stupid. I am having to depend on my boyfriend financially and am trying to work two jobs around uni.
I dread to think what else is going to go wrong with it now and although I desperately need the money I can't see it being in my account before christmas.
How can they claim this service helps us?!

flake_2

roxalana wrote: »

Yes we would like more people to be hired too! Unfortunately, unless the powers-that-be receive complaints they will assume we are coping and complaints from the staff at the department do not count. We did all we could but they made a lot of staff redundant anyway...(blamed on restrictiosn on council tax rises)

In comparison to last year, I am doing work that last year I would have started in late July/August.

Sadly all LEAs will be going the way of the pilot schemes (all new entrants for the 2009/10 academic year will be processed by the SLC instead of the LEA) despite the problems that have been highlighted and I can't help but think this might be why student support is not a priority in Council budgets. Plus I guess if the service seems poor at the LEA it will make the service at the SLC seem better...

but perhaps I am just cynical!

So the people in charge of up there don't know that there is a problem?! Can't they just look at the facts...how many people haven't received their loan yet? Well i guess maybe this guardian article might bring the problem to their attention lol.
And if they are all going like the pilot-schemes...well, we will all be ethelbloggs next year! what idiots..:rolleyes:

I really hope you find a way to keep up uni too ethel...even if you fall behind a few weeks work-wise it won't be the end of the world, and you'd waste 3 or more years if you stopped now. I'm sure you can find some helpful tutors. Though i guess it depends on the workload of the degree. Only other thing i can think of is student overdraft, but you probably have considered that..this is what i am living on!

EthelBloggs

flake wrote: »

So the people in charge of up there don't know that there is a problem?! Can't they just look at the facts...how many people haven't received their loan yet? Well i guess maybe this guardian article might bring the problem to their attention lol.
And if they are all going like the pilot-schemes...well, we will all be ethelbloggs next year! what idiots..:rolleyes:

I really hope you find a way to keep up uni too ethel...even if you fall behind a few weeks work-wise it won't be the end of the world, and you'd waste 3 or more years if you stopped now. I'm sure you can find some helpful tutors. Though i guess it depends on the workload of the degree. Only other thing i can think of is student overdraft, but you probably have considered that..this is what i am living on!

Apparently some LEAs don't even have the call back within 10 days thing, I think she mentioned Darlington as one of those, how awful is that!

Workload at my uni is very high compared to others, so I'm not sure how it's going to work, at the mo I'm using google scholar to get about 75% of the readings so it's not disastrous yet, but I am very disheartened. Credit rating is screwed so I don't have a student account/overdraft or anything and at the moment my mum's feeding us, luckily she lives in the next street and has been very kind but it's not ideal and my kids are teens so are not happy with the lack of cashola :rolleyes: . I've got three weeks of the 4-6 weeks left so I'm hopeful.. and child benefit is due in a couple of weeks so hopefully we;ll manage til then

flake_2

Glad to hear you are holding on in there ethel :T , keep it up! And don't feel too disheartened, i'm sure everyone has a time during their degree where something inteferes and they lose track for a while...maybe you are just getting your bad time out of the way early!

roxalana

Let us know how you get on Ethel x

flake_2

hey guys, the guardian journalist is phoning me today and would like to speak to all of you too...

Jessica_Shepherd

Hello,
I am very keen to hear from you if you applied on time for a loan and still have not received your money. Please contact me at jessica.shepherd@guardian.co.uk This can be in the strictest confidence if you wish.
Many thanks and hoping to hear from you today - 6 November -, if possible.
Jessica