Maintenance Loan & Universal Credit

[pxris]

I started the Open University in October and was accepted for a maintenance loan as I’m doing distance learning due to a disability.

I’m a single parent of 3 so I am of course on UC as my youngest is currently too young to attend school.

I changed which degree I’m working towards during the second week after beginning my studies. Ended up with them accidentally putting me on a course that starts in 2026 and then eventually being moved on to another October start so I’m catching up with my studies atm.

My maintenance loan was approved for approx. £10k and was due around 2nd Nov but with me changing studies I have to await a new payment date and confirmation.

UC expected me to get Maintenance loan and keep booking appointments to check if I have it or not.

I’m aware that the loan counts as income and lowers UC entitlement but im wondering if I’ll be even worse off if my first payment doesn’t arrive until Mid-late December as the second payment is due January.

How would the late payment affect my UC claim? My work coach knows nothing about it so I don’t know who to ask. Worried I may lose my UC entitlement if SFE pay out so close together

UC divide the loan into 12 equal payments and count that as your monthly income. You get to keep £130 (I think) of the loan the the rest of the loan amount is deducted £ for £ from your UC payment.

I don’t know how they will process it if the loan is late though. They may divide it into however many months of the year are left or they may treat it as an overpayment for Oct/Nov and ask you to pay it back. Not the same scenario, but a family member had to pay back the money as an overpayment. However, the loan was only a few weeks late and they were no longer entitled to UC after it arrived.

Have you tried asking the UC and CAB helplines for advice?