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Student Debt

Student Debt Help - Personal debt help for Students in the UK

• Are you a student in debt?
• Has your student loan already been swallowed up?

If you’re a student with debt problems and are finding it difficult keeping up with the cost of living, Lewis Alexander may be able to help you.

It’s tough being a student, studying for your future trying to have fun and just general living, it doesn’t come cheap. For those of you who have a student loan which is normally around three thousand pounds a year, this automatically pays for the university tuition fees and then we have maintenance fees which is another loan also around three thousand pounds a year leaving you with debts of six thousand pounds just to start with. Maintenance fees are your general costs such as food, rent, bills etc.

Some students find that they are still short of money despite their existing loans, some may apply for credit cards or further loans, some students may have already been refused loans due to not being in full time employment because they are a student.

At Lewis Alexander we can help find out why you’ve been refused a loan and discuss all of your other options. We want to help you manage your finances properly.

Student parents

• Student parents are being disadvantaged by the current Student Support System. The various dependants' grants which are available are a great idea in theory, but the reality is a different story.
• Student parents MUST take out their full student loan before they can receive any dependants' grants. This merely furthers debt and greatly disadvantages ALL student parents.
• Students with their own children are classed as individuals who are still DEPENDENT on their parents' income if they do not fit the criteria for "independent" student status: Being a DEPENDENT student means that the details of your income AND YOUR PARENTS' INCOME are required when you apply for financial support from your LEA, unless you apply for the non-income-assessed loan only. This means that students with children may have to pay TUITION FEES, and may not be allowed dependants' grants.
• Student fathers cannot usually claim dependants' grants for his children! The Local Education Authority expects the mother to claim through the benefits system or her own LEA. Only when she is declined by both the Benefits Agency AND her LEA can the father claim dependants' grants. (If he is under 25, this is also subject to his parents' income!)
• Current legislation is such that EVEN LONE STUDENT PARENTS ARE BETTER OFF THAN STUDENT PARENT COUPLES! Lone student parents are entitled to Income Support., Student parent couples are not. Why are student families viewed so differently by two government departments? The Department for Work and Pensions DWP ex DSS views an unmarried couple (under 25) with children as a family unit, independent of their parents, and uses this as an excuse to refuse them funding. The DWP states that "couples, whether married or unmarried, are treated as a single unit for benefit purposes. It would not be practical to give entitlement to all adults as individuals and would entail considerable expense." However, the DFES views an unmarried couple (under 25) with children as two individuals, still dependent on their parents, and uses this as an excuse to refuse them funding. Perhaps because it would not be practical to give entitlement to all student family units and would entail considerable expense...? The criteria used to define whether student is dependent or independent MUST BE CHANGED.
• Surely students who are married or have their own children are independent of their parents, regardless of their age. Students are being forced out of education as a result. Lewis Alexander can help you understand the best way to clear personal debt based on your current circumstances.