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Student allowance : Contents

Family breakdown

A family breakdown can include the following situations:

  • the applicant has been subject to severe mental cruelty by parent(s) or
  • the applicant is estranged from their parents to the extent that contact would have a detrimental psychological effect on them or their parent(s) or
  • the applicant has a parent who is in prison or in a psychiatric hospital and is unable to take responsibility for them or contribute towards their support and they are unable to live with or depend on their other parent or
  • the applicant has been subject to physical or sexual abuse by their parent(s) or
  • it is clearly detrimental for the applicant to live with or depend on their parents for financial support

Evidence of these matters can include a recommendation from a certified psychologist or counsellor who is aware of the applicant's circumstances.

Important points to consider when assessing a family breakdown

  • The applicant is not expected to live with, or be dependent on, the other parent in the same household if it is established that there is physical or sexual abuse caused by a parent. However, where parents are separated, applicants are normally expected to depend on the other parent for financial support.
  • When the applicant is subjected to, or at risk of, physical or sexual abuse from some other person (i.e. not a parent), this will not normally amount to exceptional circumstances making it unreasonable for the parents to provide financial assistance. In this case the applicant may live away from the parental home but the parents are still expected to support the applicant financially.
  • An applicant who has been subjected to physical or sexual abuse in the past may have recently resumed contact with the parent responsible for the abuse. In this situation, the applicant is not expected to live with or depend on that parent for support, if evidence shows that the applicant's dependence on the parent would harm their new relationship.
  • If the applicant is not living with their parents you must check that there is no one 'acting in place of a parent'.
  • When an applicant has a sibling who has had an Independent Circumstances Allowance application, it is still necessary to confirm the nature of the applicant's own relationship with their parents. This means that siblings have to individually provide evidence of their circumstances.
  • When an applicant has lived away from their parents for some time simply because of a desire to be independent, that will not on its own meet the criteria for Independent Circumstances Allowance.

Legislation

  • Eligibility for independent circumstances grant regulation 8 Student Allowances Regulations 1998
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The parental home is the home where a student is living with a parent. They are not sharing accommodation with them.

There will be situations where even though a parent is living in the same home as the student, it is not the parental home.

There are a number of questions to consider when deciding if the home is the parental home.

Not all of the questions below will be applicable in every case. ...