Appropriate maximum loan?

What is the difference between a maximum maintenance loan and an appropriate maximum loan?

I've read a few documents that mention both and was wondering if it was the same thing

Appropriate maximum loan isn't a phrasing I've noticed before. Can you link to any of the documents you've seen mentioning that phrase?

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/6934/sfe-1617-assessing-financial-entitlement-final-11.pdf

Page 84, FAMILIES WITH TWO OR MORE AWARD HOLDERS (SPLIT CONTRIBUTIONS), paragraph 3

I know the max loan is £8,200 but whats an appropriate max!? cheers

That's talking about the maximum loan cost *appropriate* to each student where 2 students from the same family are due an award. So if one student is studying in London away from home and the other is studying while living at home the maximum loan available to each would be different. (for example in this case: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4009043&p=64065323#post64065323 the maximum loan amounts for each student is different so the calculation is done for each student using the appropriate maximum for their circumstance)

Could you possibly work it out for me? What information would you need?

Your best bet is to apply - that's the only way to get a full assessment of what you're entitled to.

I have applied but there telling me that appropriate maximum is different to the maximum.

I'm a triplet and all 3 of us have applied to Uni, they've worked out our finances and we've received an award for £6018 each. We are all going to be studying outside of London and away from parental home. So our maximum would be £8,200 right? We were expecting a higher amount but I've been given advice saying our appropriate maximum is not far from the £6018 so that's why we got that but we were expecting nearer £8,200 as this is our maximum right!?

Your household income must be fairly high for that to be the case.

If they've granted you £6,018 each that means they've deducted £2,182 from each of your loans. At £8.49 per £1 deduction that means that your household income for each student has been calculated as £18,525 + £25,000 + £2,260 (2 siblings) + pension contributions.

That means your household income must be in the region of £82,835 after pension contributions.

My parental income is £47,000! what does this mean!? please help

It sounds like there has been some sort of error then (don't panic!)

Did your parents link their finance with all three of your applications? That would be the most likely issue - if for some reason SFE didn't recognise that the household income would be split across all three of you then it might have assessed each of you as if you didn't have siblings.

I'd recommend phoning up SFE - preferably with all 3 of you and your parents present so they can check that the assessment has been linked properly to all three applications.

We applied online, then by post with PFF2 and PN1 forms (all together, including parents), We attached a letter to ignore our initial online applications as we were advised to do. We've called up SFE multiple times and no one seems to understand, you are actually the first person who's given me useful information.

They keep telling us that they've added a disregard my 2 other siblings like you just said so they've taken of £1,130 per other siblings, reducing income. Instead of applying the split contribution. It doesn't seem to go any further than that and all they keep saying is appeal.

When you call (and this applies to everything around university) ask for the full name and job title of the person you speak to and write it down (and let them know that you're writing it down - ask them to spell their name and make loud keyboard noises in the background! it's amazing what a difference you get in advice and responses when the people on the phone know they can be help responsible for any answers they give!). If possible ask to speak to the supervisor or manager explaining that your situation is complex and that your loan amounts as calculated reflect a household income in excess of £80k.

If need be ask them to confirm what they say to you on the phone in writing. You may need to put in a formal appeal to get this seen by someone who knows what they're doing