Hello
I am a young uni student with a son under one. I currently live at home but I am having to move in to a private rented flat by May due to my mum and her husband moving to France. They have said that they will act as guarantor and will pay first months rent/ deposit and help with furnishings so in that aspect all is planned.
Currently at home I pay £200 rent a month (for 2 rooms of the house including bills wifi tv etc) and pay for my own food/babies milk and nappies. So that is not a lot. My main income is student finance and I get child benefit and child tax credit.
I am currently filling in an income support form as student finance only covers you for 8 months of the year so I am allowed to claim it during the Summer months, I am filling it out now so there won't be a long delay in my claim when it is summer and when I will be in my new property as I need to be able to pay rent bills etc as soon as they come in. I will also be filling out a housing benefit claim form when I move.
I need advice from other student mums in regards to filling out the form. I get student loan, special support grant and the parents learning allowance. I have read on multiple websites including "gov" guidelines that the special support grant and the parents learning allowance DOES NOT count as income when assessing benefit entitlement, it also says that they should deducted £10 per week of the loan. Can be found here: www.nidirect.gov.uk/which-types-of-student-finance-are-counted-as-income-when-working-out-benefits
When I fill out the forms and it asks for income do I just give them the income from the loan? I don't want to do anything illegal but nor do I want to do anything that stops me getting money that I am entitled too.
Thanks