Maintenance Loan Amount Dropped?

I've just applied for student finance for the second year of my degree, and I've noticed that the amount of maintenance loan I'm due to receive has dropped by over £500, even though the amount that my parents are earning has dropped over the past year, and nothing at my end has changed.
What would've caused this? Or is it a mistake?

Reply 1

claireestelle

Original post by l1lvink

It seems like a mistake, did your parents fill in a change of circumstances form?

Reply 2

l1lvink

Original post by claireestelle

It seems like a mistake, did your parents fill in a change of circumstances form?

Thanks for the response, I'll have to ask them. I'm guessing that they should have if they are earning less?

Reply 3

claireestelle

Original post by l1lvink

Thanks for the response, I'll have to ask them. I'm guessing that they should have if they are earning less?

If their income dropped by 15% or more, yes they should have.

Reply 4

l1lvink

Original post by claireestelle

If their income dropped by 15% or more, yes they should have.

OK great, what if their income has dropped by less than 15%?

Reply 5

claireestelle

Original post by l1lvink

OK great, what if their income has dropped by less than 15%?

Then they might have assessed it off of the previous years income rather than the one which is less, but your loan shouldnt have decreased by £500 unless its the last year of your course.

Reply 6

Tiger Rag

Have you changed where you live? IE, were you living away from home last year and now living at home?

Reply 7

l1lvink

Original post by Tiger Rag

Have you changed where you live? IE, were you living away from home last year and now living at home?

No, nothing on my end has changed (literally the only thing is moving from Uni halls to private accommodation, and I know that that has no effect whatsoever).
I've asked my parents about their earnings, but they still live in the age where the fastest method of communication is carrier pigeon, so I just have to wait.

Edit: I don't think this should make a difference but: I am classed as a UK student, as I've lived in the UK for 17 years, but I am an EU citizen (and hold an EU passport), so could it be that the Brexit referendum has already affected this?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

Tiger Rag

Original post by l1lvink

Brexit won't have anything to do with this. We're not leaving for 2 years and I'm not too sure what happens with the student loans after that.

Reply 9

l1lvink

Um, I've just heard from my mother that they haven't actually completed their part of the student finance yet, so I'm not sure why I've had the approval letters back yet.
I've just had a look at the 'correspondence history' section of the SFE website and it looks like there was an email reminding them to complete the student finance assessment, and an email called 'Forced NMTO Assessment Chaser E-mail' which basically says that the process will start in 28 days regardless of whether or not they submit their details (looks like this is what has come into effect). There is a clause that says that

•

If you don't return the evidence in time we will process your application without taking into account your household income. We will then carry out a full financial assessment at a later date and issue you with notification of this. Any difference between this and your previous assessment will be paid to you as quickly as possible.

Does that mean that they can still submit the application?

As an edit, these emails in the correspondence history section are addressed to me, but I am not getting them through to my email...