Maintenance Loan - Settled Status

Hi! I was wondering if anyone else has had the same issue as me and what the outcome was.
I received Settled Status in October and was told I was eligible for Maintenance Loan so I applied. Last week I received my answer and it was a big fat rejection because I lived outside the UK in 2021 and I started Uni in 2022. I’m in my last year of Uni but the year I was out of the country has really messed everything up.
I had multiple +45 min calls and was told different things in all of them. First it was that I cannot be transferred from EU to UK student because of that and that I should’ve received Settled Status in 2019 to be eligible for Maintenance Loan. Then I was told these rules don’t apply since I have Settled Status and lastly that they actually do apply and it doesn’t matter that I have Settled Status because to them it’s like I have Pre-Settled since I was out in 2021.
I have appealed it but nothing is working. Has anyone had this same issue? Is there anything I could do or should I just give up?

Hi there,
Have you applied for Undergraduate or postgraduate course? Can you confirm your nationality? Can you confirm where you were living when not in the UK? Was the temporary?
Thanks,
Claire

Undergraduate! It’s my last year of Uni and I only received Settled Status in October. I’m Spanish and was living in Spain from Feb 2021 until August 2022 so just before my course started. I said this was due to the lockdowns and losing my job and housing. I’ve been living in the UK since 2022 with no breaks at all.

You mentioned you appealed it. Did you receive a reply from the appeals team?
Thanks,
Claire

I haven’t but I also have not received any emails whatsoever. Everything I found out it’s because I called and was told on the phone, if I hadn’t called I’d still be waiting! The first person I spoke to on the phone who said this shouldn’t have happened escalated my case with the eligibility team and this was denied again because of me being out of the country in 2021. They said I have to go through the migrant worker route buf with Settled Status I can’t do that. They also said I should’ve received Settled Status in 2019.