Student Finance not acknowledging application change??

Heyy,

So was wondering if anyone had had a similar problem...

Basically I accidentally said my parents had separated in the last year and now student finance want evidence of this. I called them up and they said send a cover letter and a screen shot of what needed to be changed and this should be ok.

It's been a couple of weeks now with no change to the application and they're still wanting evidence of my mum's (non-existant) divorce.

Help please?! I'm worried about not getting my finance in time...

It will probably take a few more weeks to get through their system. They take several weeks to open and process anything. On the plus side when they do open and enter it on to the system it should go pretty quickly from then on, you'll be sent an automated letter etc.

BTW have you received a payment schedule and a declaration to sign for a non-income assessed amount? They usually assess you without income assessment so that you have at least something in place for September, then when they get all the evidence etc they re-assess you and pay extra. I would be surprised if you don't get this soon. If you do get a declaration, sign and send it off asap- it's about the terms of the loan, not the amount, and it's one less thing to hold you back.

If they haven't updated online by Friday I would give them a call and continue to do this weekly, just to check how it's going- but I wouldn't expect anything until mid-august. And most of all, don't panic! There are options if the loan is delayed (eg. university hardship fund, help from parents, student overdraft).

xxx

Thank you so much for the advice!
I haven't had a declaration form or anything, but I do have a thing on the site telling me what I'm predicted to get etc. and it does say my application is being processed and things.

I was going to ring again, it's just a got a dodgy email from my uni saying if I don't have a payment for halls or for my university fees in place then I'm not allowed to register back onto my course which is a really really scary thought!!

Thank you though, it's so much nicer to get some advice and understanding from someone who knows what they're talking about

No problem I'm not an expert but I have had 4 years of applications and seen a lot of different issues with friends and on here!

Don't panic about the uni thing. A few years back SF messed up so much that hundreds of people didn't have it in time. The unis know that sometimes SF messes up and are prepared for that. But like said above you should have at least the fees in place if not the whole thing

You may find they tell you on the phone that they've already sent out a letter but it hasn't reached you yet. Did you check the 'correspondence' section online?

xxx

That's true, I keep telling myself that I got the application in before the deadline - just not the evidence that I had no knowledge of until recently, so it's not like my university can blame me or kick me out...can they? Apparently they just charge you more for late fees.

I haven't called yet, so thought I'd do it on Monday when it's been exactly three weeks. I checked correspondence and there's nothing new they've sent me. Should I ask specifically to have non-inconme assessed loan for the time being? I'm just worried if that happens they may never switch me back to income assessed (and I really need the money).

It's really worrying, I'm back in a month!

Thanks though, you've been really helpful. Think I may ring my uni tomorrow, explain the situation with them.

Yeah, I'd ring SF tomorrow, maybe ask them whether they will non income assess you or not- they should know their own policy! If they say no but we can, make sure it would be temporary before saying yes (keep a record of the person you speak to, date, and what they say).

Then after that ring the uni if you need to. I can't see then not sorting fees by September and that's what the uni cares about.

Xxx

posted from the TSR Android app

Great, I'll make a note of that, thanks.

I just realised that in terms of the 'evidence' thing on my application, I hadn't stated what I was sending, and thought that fact I hadn't stated I wasn't supplying evidence may have slowed up the process or something...I don't know, it all feels a bit like a frustrating guessing game as to what they want me to do.

It probably hasn't delayed it because they won't have got to processing it yet

And yeah, I know, it's a frustrating waiting game, you just have to keep chasing it and keep calm.

Xxx
posted from the TSR Android app

So I rang them up and she went about checking my status and things and apparently I was meant to send them finacial evidence....something they never told me about....

They said if they receive it within the next day (I sent it within an hour of calling them) they can process it between 2-3 weeks, maybe sooner.

Gah, why does they have to be so frustrating?!

According to them the divorce evidence thing didn't even matter....