The Student Room Group

Application for National Insurance Number

My daughter's application has reached the "waiting for national insurance number" stage. Our understanding is that SFE will have contacted the DWP, who will be sending her an application package.

Her application reached this stage around 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting for anything from the DWP.

Is there anyway we can check if the DWP process has been started? Is there a phone number we can ring, or an email address we can contact?

We live abroad, so mail can be slow reaching us, and we are concerned that, if there is a delay in starting the DWP process, it may be a long time before we discover that there is a problem.

Combined with the fact that apparently the application process itself can take several months, we are getting concerned that the process may not be completed before the start of the academic year.

Thanks.
Reply 1
Hi we have just received the email, no nino no loan. We live in the EU, but are british nationals with no uk address, so not sure how to proceed
Original post by Rule4567
Hi we have just received the email, no nino no loan. We live in the EU, but are british nationals with no uk address, so not sure how to proceed

Have you actually been denied a loan, or do you mean you are at the "waiting for NINO" stage? Assuming the latter, this is the same stage as my daughter. In theory, SFE is meant to contact DWP, who should then send you an application package through the mail (I presume to whichever EU address you used on your SFE application).

I am hoping someone from SFE will jump in and indicate how we can check if the DWP are actually sending out the application package (we have been waiting for 3 weeks so far).

(if you have been denied a loan, that is a different issue and I suggest creating a new discussion thread)
Original post by Steve H.
My daughter's application has reached the "waiting for national insurance number" stage. Our understanding is that SFE will have contacted the DWP, who will be sending her an application package.

Her application reached this stage around 3 weeks ago and we are still waiting for anything from the DWP.

Is there anyway we can check if the DWP process has been started? Is there a phone number we can ring, or an email address we can contact?

We live abroad, so mail can be slow reaching us, and we are concerned that, if there is a delay in starting the DWP process, it may be a long time before we discover that there is a problem.

Combined with the fact that apparently the application process itself can take several months, we are getting concerned that the process may not be completed before the start of the academic year.

Thanks.


Original post by Rule4567
Hi we have just received the email, no nino no loan. We live in the EU, but are british nationals with no uk address, so not sure how to proceed


Original post by Steve H.
Have you actually been denied a loan, or do you mean you are at the "waiting for NINO" stage? Assuming the latter, this is the same stage as my daughter. In theory, SFE is meant to contact DWP, who should then send you an application package through the mail (I presume to whichever EU address you used on your SFE application).

I am hoping someone from SFE will jump in and indicate how we can check if the DWP are actually sending out the application package (we have been waiting for 3 weeks so far).

(if you have been denied a loan, that is a different issue and I suggest creating a new discussion thread)


Hi, if a student applies for SFE funding without a National Insurance Number (NINO) then we send their details to the DWP.

The DWP then send the student an application pack in the post (we have no information on timescale). The student can then complete the application to apply for a NINO. The DWP will inform us once the student has a valid NINO.

The students funding will remain blocked until they have a valid NINO on their student finance account.
Thanks, Isaac
Original post by SFE Isaac
Hi, if a student applies for SFE funding without a National Insurance Number (NINO) then we send their details to the DWP.

The DWP then send the student an application pack in the post (we have no information on timescale). The student can then complete the application to apply for a NINO. The DWP will inform us once the student has a valid NINO.

The students funding will remain blocked until they have a valid NINO on their student finance account.
Thanks, Isaac

Hi Isaac, thanks for the response. Is there any way to confirm that the DWP process is in progress? For example, do the SFE systems contain any indication that the necessary details have been passed to the DWP? Can we contact the DWP to verify that the application package has been sent out?
Original post by MemoriesOfFields
Hi Isaac, thanks for the response. Is there any way to confirm that the DWP process is in progress? For example, do the SFE systems contain any indication that the necessary details have been passed to the DWP? Can we contact the DWP to verify that the application package has been sent out?

You're welcome.

Is there any way to confirm that the DWP process is in progress
In your online SFE account it shows if it has been sent to the DWP, this process is automatic and happens after being approved.

Can we contact the DWP to verify that the application package has been sent out?
I am unsure about this. I don't think any DWP advisor will fully aware of the process or if something has been sent in my opinion.
So I don't think so.

Thanks, Isaac
Hi IsaacMy daughter is also waiting for a national insurance number and has been for over 16 weeks! The application was done online but every time we miraculously manage to speak to someone they just keep saying it takes time! Nobody from DWP has contacted her and we are still in limbo with payments and she started University in September. What can we do? Thank you
Original post by liverpoolgill
Hi IsaacMy daughter is also waiting for a national insurance number and has been for over 16 weeks! The application was done online but every time we miraculously manage to speak to someone they just keep saying it takes time! Nobody from DWP has contacted her and we are still in limbo with payments and she started University in September. What can we do? Thank you

Have you tried speaking to Student Finance?

In any event, is there any possibility that your daughter ever received child benefit or a child trust fund in the UK? If so, her NINO may be listed in any documentation you have related to this. In particular, the Unique Reference Number used by the child trust fund should be the same as her NINO.

If she does have this, she should try ringing HMRC helpline (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/national-insurance-numbers) and checking what the state of the number is; it may be all setup and ready to use, or it may need "activating", which they may do over the phone (although it may depend on who you speak to, so sometimes it pays to ring a couple of times).
Ho IsaacNo, she never received child benefit nor the trust fund. I was told by DWP that we applied for the student loan early and so the SF wouldn’t have us out an application and so it wouldn’t be worth starting the process again with them as it would take too much time. I just need to know the quickest way to get this Nino. My daughter is getting very stressed as no fees have been paid to uni and she can’t pay her rent.

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