Grant overpayment?

Okay, so on 11/10/12, a letter was sent to me saying I had been overpaid a grant by £277. I've only just gotten home recently, so I've only just seen the letter.

I'm thinking, this can't be right. Looking at my payment timetable - it says £277 and however much student loan, and I've just checked so when my loan went in I was paid the correct amount as it said on the breakdown. Looking at last years breakdown as well, I received a grant there too though about £60 less, though the overall amounts of the loan are roughly the same (I got like £22 more this year for some reason). Makes sense as nothing has changed, don't see why SFE would need to take this money back -- the grant forms a big part of what I live off.

So I've just given them a ring, explained all of this. The woman asked whether I had applied for a grant, I said "no" as I could not remember specifically applying for one -- I thought it was all automated? She then said that it's not my grant so I'd have to pay back the £277 (if this is true, why would I pay back just a fraction as opposed to the whole thing :confused:

)

And I've just noticed at the bottom of my breakdown it says the amount of your maintenance loan has been replaced with a maintenance grant. So, what :confused:

. Does this mean I am supposed to get a grant?

Sorry for this kind of meandering post, I'm just totally pissed off, SF couldn't find their arse in the dark with both hands. Dunno if this has happened to anyone else on TSR but could anyone shed some light please?

Reply 1

TenOfThem

I am not sure that I have fully understood your post

but

You have to apply for a grant so any that you have been given is in error and you would need to re-pay

When you get a grant they take some of your loan away
I do not know the exact amounts but here is an example
Loan = 300
Grant = 100
Payment = 300 - 50 + 100 = 350

So, although you would get a grant of 100 in this example you would only need to pay back 50

Reply 2

Tipperary

Original post by TenOfThem

I am not sure that I have fully understood your post

but

You have to apply for a grant so any that you have been given is in error and you would need to re-pay

Yeah, sorry, I explained myself pretty badly. I may have applied for a grant, I honestly can't remember but I most likely did. I also received it last year with no demands for repayment. Like I said the breakdown also includes the grant, and an explanation at the bottom of the relation between loan/grant.

Maybe I'm missing something here but I think (hope) this could just be a standard SFE cock up :s-smilie:

Reply 3

Spogg

Hello Tipperary,

The agent should normally be able to see whether you have applied for a maintenance grant or not and also for which AY's also.

Best to call again and query the overpayment. Usually your entitlement will let you know the amount of grant overpayment and also for which AY this has come from.

Remember, your application can be reassessed several times during an AY to make sure the correct funding is awarded. If you were incorrectly assessed and were paid too much maintenance grant, what SFE will do is collect the overpayment using the amount awarded to you from your next AYm if this makes sense. This is what they call GRANT RECOVERY - IN COURSE. Out of course recovery is obviously when you've completed your course fully.

Sounds like maybe they used the wrong household income during your assessment.

Best to call again and ask.

Grant overpayment?

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