Esa, Pip, student loans, single mother and so confused

thegirlwiththecrown

Hello im wondering if someone could shed some light on this. 
I get income based esa (support group) and PIP (standard care) and housing benefit (i have to top it up by 100 every month to make rent as housing dont cover it all) 
I get ctc of 47 pw (apparently i was over paid last yr ?) and cb goes to credit union. 
Im a current university student and ive just been given my entitlement. This is my 1st year.
It says

Maintenance Loan £9916.00

Of which the Special Support Element equals: £3680.00

The Department for Work and Pensions won’t count £3,680.00 of the maximum Maintenance Loan

for living costs as student income when they work out what benefits you can get.

Is anyone/has anyone been in this situation? I know it will effect my esa, however im not sure how much they will reduce my award by. Im worrying out my mind ? 

sarah50

Hi ?. @thegirlwiththecrown sorry I can't help you I think the rules must have changed as when I was a single mum and student I was on income support, they made me stop that and borrow all my living costs in the form of student loans. I hope you can find somebody to give you good advice. Is there anybody at Uni that could advise?

Sam_Alumni

@melaniethorley can you help?

Sam_Alumni

I have asked @BenefitsTrainingCo to take a look too to see if they can help

thegirlwiththecrown

I have had a chat with some advisors in the university, however they couldnt really help
I did ring the esa team but again they didnt have any odeas and said youll have to just check your payment when you get it - very unhelpful from jobcentre plus x

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @thegirlwiththecrown

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, and sorry this is causing so much worry.

Your tax credits, PIP and child benefit should be unaffected by your student income.

Your ESA and Housing Benefit will be affected as you say. The way it works in general is that loans and grants are taken into account if they are in respect of living costs. And so your maintenance loan will be taken into account, although £390 should be ignored for books and £303 for travel.

As you say also, the special support grant should be ignored completely.

Once the total student income has been assessed they then use all of it to reduce the ESA. Whether you continue to get any ESA will depend on some of your other circumstances. If you continue to get at least some ESA then your housing benefit will continue to be paid at a maximum amount. If not, your housing benefit will be reduced by 65% of the income you are deemed to have above the amount the government says you and your child need to live on (i'm assuming you don't live with a partner).

I hope this helps

David

melaniethorley

in addtion to the advice already given, I would suggest contacting Disability Rights UK. They have a wealth of knowledge regarding benefits and education:

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-we-can-help/advice-and-information