Students' entitlement to benefits

chr1sbean

Please sign this petition which calls for the government to review policy which includes the student loan as income when calculating benefits entitlement.

Full details are under the petition page.

This issue affects any student eligible for housing/council tax benefits which is generally those with children.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/student-benefits/

Thanks

Gemmzie

That makes no sense at all. Student loan is an income so it's counted as such. There's times that'll work to your advantage and times when it's a disadvantage, but that's true of everything.

chr1sbean

Hi Gemmzie,

The student loan is NOT an income, it's a loan, it is repaid later on when you are working. If you took out a personal loan that wouldn't be counted as income so why count the student loan?

But each to their own, I am happy for people to air their counter views

dmg24

I agree with Gemmzie. The big difference between a student loan and a commerical personal loan is the interest rate, and as such the student loan is heavily subsidised.

The alternative is not to go into higher education until you can afford to do it without resorting to benefits.

CLAPTON

why way of interest as I didn't know that Student Loans count as income for these purposes, is there a website that explains what is included and what is excluded?

dmg24

CLAPTON wrote: »

why way of interest as I didn't know that Student Loans count as income for these purposes, is there a website that explains what is included and what is excluded?

Google is your friend ...

Gemmzie

Yes it does count Clapton, I found this out as you can count it as income when applying for a regular loan or credit card.

So you'd have to change those rules too, which means most students would have zero income which I think might mean that it would be bye bye student overdrafts due to the fact that you can't get credit if you're income is £0?

CLAPTON

dmg24 wrote: »

Google is your friend ...

i agree, i often recommend it but
my google wasn't successful, perhaps you could share yours with me

Gemmzie

I don't think all the new Housing Benefit legislation is online yet actually, since it's all changing. I can't find it from my usual links.

Is that what you were asking Clapton?

OohSoHolly

When i tried to apply for a Credit Card, when asked what income i had i told them about my Student Loan (was a phone call) and they said that it didnt count as income so i couldnt apply for the credit card. Just my personal experience. :]

CLAPTON

Gemmzie wrote: »

I don't think all the new Housing Benefit legislation is online yet actually, since it's all changing. I can't find it from my usual links.

Is that what you were asking Clapton?

Thanks for your reply

I've tried numerous sites, gov and local gov but can't find any specific reference to benefits and student loans as income.

If possible, I always like to check information for both completeness and accuracy.
(I only like to to be wrong once.. sadly not always so)