Fraudulent student loan application- maybe ?

[yellowglass]

Sorry , wasn't sure which topic to put this in as it could belong in numerous ones .

My DSS who is 21 and has just started his 3rd year at uni .

Prior to starting uni he lived with dh after he moved in when in sixth form aged 17 . I met dh not long after.

He didn't have much direction after leaving school so had a gap year and then with some encouragement applied and was accepted for a course that meant he would live away from home . He is doing well and is enjoying all the things that uni brings .

The first 2 years of uni finance were correctly applied for via his df , all above board and correctly processed .

He came home during covid and towards the end of the first lockdown moved back to his dm's home . Around this time dh and I got married (the 2 were not connected , we have a great relationship, his DB moved out and he had the opportunity of his own bedroom in the village he grew up in ) .

It was coming up to the time to apply for student finance for his last year and we had the conversation with him about how that now that he lives with his DM she has to fill the form in and it will go on her income and coupled with us now married he wouldn't be eligible for the full loan (as in previous years) as my income would now be counted .

He assured us that he would talk to his DM about it and that was that , it's not been mentioned again so we have presumed all was well .

Today he has received a letter setting out his finance schedule to our home address .

I am hoping the student loan team have made an admin error and not changed the address but if he had applied giving his DM's details , wouldn't the letter have gone there ?

DH is furious , i don't want anyone being accused of anything but it does look like DSS could of fraudulently filled the paperwork out ( he is a good lad but His DM may of refused and he's got backed into a corner) or It might be an admin error with the addresses .

Relationship between dh and DSS has cooled of late so I don't want dh storming in and accusing him of something but equally don't want any official letters coming our way demanding we pay back money we don't owe .

Has anyone got any experience of a similar thing and how did it go ? What should we be doing to get the bottom of this ?

It’s a loan
He will still have to pay back
Yes he’s been loaned potentially more than he’s entitled to
However it just means he has more to pay back.
I would let it go myself.

They might not accept the change of parent as it will look like he has used his mums address to get around the fact you are now a two income family.

Who would be the higher earner? His mum or you and your husband?

@Marmitemarinaded
That's a relief to know .

I think Dh is more annoyed as one of the things they have fallen out about is that dh was accused of lying to him (he hasn't but being 21 and knowing everything about everything he has refused to listen to his df's side of the story)
So this has got dh'a back up a bit .

I'm all for leaving sleeping dogs lie and see what comes of it

@knittingaddict

About the same I would think although we dont know the In's and outs of her finances .

Even if he's used your address, he will only get minimum load unless the household income is declared. Your husband would have had an email asking if he wanted to support his application for more loan if that was the case so he's not gaining anything for doing this. Depending on his DM income, he may even be entitled to more by using her address. However, if you were living in the household when the claim was made for previous years, then your income should have been declared, even if you were not married. It's one of the unfair aspects of student finance that the income of a residents parents partner is counted in the household income but not the non-resident parents.

I'm pretty sure it's based on the previous year, too. So I had to declare 19/20 income for DD's application this year.

Isn't the loan based on earning for previous tax year.

Cross Post with 20:16Theimpossiblegirl

@CushionMountain

It was all done above board , i didn't get involved as it wasn't anything to with me prior to this years as I didn't live with them when the previous years applications were going on .

We are very newly married and didn't move in together officially much before the wedding .

DH hasn't had an email this year (he has previous years) which is leading me to think it's something and nothing