Money worries and household bills

If you are worrying about debt, it can be hard to know where to go. Take pressure off yourself and ask for free and confidential advice from a debt adviser. Seeking debt advice does not affect your credit score. Speaking to a debt adviser may help you feel less stressed and more in control of your life.

There is no obligation to follow their advice but support is free, fully regulated, and can help provide an objective opinion on your situation.

Debt advisers:

• are sympathetic and happy to talk you about any debt problem while providing objective advice
• will provide different ways to solve a problem, even if you have no spare money
• are able to see if you could benefit from a ‘debt breathing space‘ to give you time to take control of your money and provide a break from constant repayment requests

More information can be found online

If your Student Finance is delayed, we recommend that you first check the status of your Student Finance application. Normally, Student Finance is paid within 3-5 working days after stage 2 enrolment.

It is worth knowing that the University will automatically notify Student Finance of your enrolment and attendance on the course. If you have completed stage 2 enrolment and are still experiencing a delay with a Student Finance assessment, you can make an appointment with the Money Advice Team.

It is also a good idea to check your eligibility for a 0% authorised overdraft on a student bank account.

Outstanding course requirements and delays in payments.

At the start of term, fully assessed Maintenance Loans are automatically released, after stage 2 enrolment.

Certain specific courses require an applicant to meet the requirements for Occupational Health (OH) and/or a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Applicants can only complete stage 2 enrolment after these specific outstanding requirements have been cleared.

If an applicant has completed all of their DBS or OH administration tasks and are awaiting a final update, which is causing a delay after the start of term to the maintenance loan payment, they can explore the potential option to have their loan released. This can be done by checking for an email from Admissions to confirm the academic conditions of their offer have been met and they are awaiting the final return of the DBS/OH.

Admissions can be contacted by emailing:

It is worth knowing that the above potential option does not apply to other outstanding entry requirements, such as providing qualification certificates. Loan payments are also always dependent on the completion of the usual Student Finance assessment.

Some students are eligible for Universal Credit (UC) while studying at university. If you are claiming UC it is worth checking with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) directly for information on how your claim will change whilst studying at university.

You will have to submit your full Student Finance entitlement letter when applying for UC to allow them to recalculate your UC payments. Please note that you may receive an overpayment for the first month whilst the UC is reassessing you as a student.

You might want to check the following with the DWP:

• That only the student finance maintenance loan, and if eligible, the Adult Dependants’ Grant are being considered.
• If your student finance entitlement letter mentions that you are eligible for The Special Support Element and if UC are disregarding that part of your loan. For 2024/2025, The Special Support Element is £4327.
• That they calculate the UC during the months of the academic year that you are studying as a student, such as 8,9 10,11 or 12 months.
• That a small amount of monthly disregard income has been considered.

The final amount of Maintenance Loan that is being considered will appear under ‘other income’ on a Universal Credit Statement.

Example (for guidance only)

• A maintenance loan at £11,320 could have a Special Support Element which means the first £4327 is not considered. This leaves £6993 to be considered as income.
• If the term time course is over nine months, then the monthly income is £6993 divided by nine. This results in a monthly loan income of £777 a month.
• The second allowance is a monthly allowance of £110 a month. Resulting in £777 minus £ 110 leaving final monthly loan income of £667.

This figure reduces the monthly, term time UC award and appears as ‘other income’ on the UC statement. 

If you are worried or concerned about bank charges, we have some useful tips for you online.

Studying on a full-time programme can allow a student to be exempt from paying council tax. You can read about the guidance on eligibility and how to obtain a Council Tax Exemption Certificate here.

It can be the case that people on mobile phone contracts are unaware that, after a period of typically 12 to 24 months, they have paid for their mobile phone device and are free to look at shopping around for better deals.

It’s a good idea to be aware of how two parts of a mobile phone bill work – the mobile device payments and the cost of airtime. Some mobile phone firms bundle the two parts of a bill together, while others charge separately.

If you are at a point where you are free to just pay for airtime, then it is well worth shopping round for network only deals.  This can also mean negotiating with the existing provider and shopping around using at least three comparison sites with a range of providers.

Broadband only deals follow the same principle with options to shop around after a broadband deal comes to an end.

It is always vital to check if any price quotes can be subject to yearly price rises in line with what provider sets as inflation linked rises.

It’s also important to know if there are penalties, or if the provider can still charge for the next 30 days or more after you leave a contract. This can mean whilst you are thinking over any new offers, the 30 days will only apply after a new deal or decision to leave has been agreed.

If you need to replace a phone device, it is worth looking at separate deals for the device by considering a network only deal with another provider. Alternatively, bundle deals can initially look cheap but can have future price hikes so it is worth checking.

It is also worth, if eligible, to look at ‘social tariffs’, and also look at sim-only deals as they may work out cheaper.

See the Money Advice Service website for more guidance on how to save money on your mobile phone bill and also check Money Saving Expert for more advice.

Ofcom the communications regulator also has some useful information if you’re having difficulty paying a bill.

The Energy Price Guarantee

The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) scheme sets a limit on the cost per energy unit used and a limit on the daily standing charge fee for connection to gas and electricity.

This limit is reviewed and then implemented every 3 months on 1 July,1 October and 1 January etc, meaning both charges can potentially fall, rise or stay the same. For July 2024 the cap limit cost per unit fell but the standing charge stayed the same.

It is important to note this is per household and there is no maximum energy bill so if households use less, bills will be less and if more is used, people will pay more.

Bill splitting deals for shared houses

Many shared households consider using a Bill Splitting Package or agents to help organise household utility bills. Before signing up to a particular package it is always worth checking all the terms and conditions and in particular paying attending to any hidden management and exit fees. With energy price rises it is important to check the for rules on any potential ‘catch-up bill’ if a household exceeds an annual allowance. Most quotes are based on estimated consumption and not the amount of resident use, so it’s always worth checking how suggested prices are estimated. As always shop around and check all terms and conditions.

Trust Fund Grants to help with energy debts

Most energy suppliers offer grants to help their customers with energy debts. All suppliers have their own criteria.

Water bills

To look into ways to save on water usage and what to be aware of when considering a water meter take a look at these resources:

The United Utilities Trust Fund eligibility criteria and application form:

• Reflectors such as foil behind radiators.
• Consider the Money Saving Boiler Challenge for Combi Boilers to check if your ‘set up’ is at its most efficient.
• Avoid tumble dryers to save on energy use.
• Consider the costs of air fryers over ovens, especially for lower populated households.
• Shop around and check for household items via a range of sites such as Price Runner.
• Consider off peak night deals. This includes 10pm to 8am and some 11am to 2pm deals. Please note: The actual savings hinge on your electrical energy usage patterns. Often a Smart Meter is required to gain deals.

When looking to rent a property privately, it is important to take your time and really shop around. One of the main concerns for students is budgeting for a damage deposit and checking to see if the rental contract includes a summer retainer.

Letting fees

Shelter and Money Saving Expert have information on fees that letting agents and landlords can charge and those that have been outlawed.

Housing benefit

If you claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA), you might be entitled to housing benefit. Visit the Shelter website for more information and advice.

With car insurance, it is important to get quotes from a number of providers using three or more price comparison websites. Remember that comparison sites do not always feature the same deals and insurers – in fact, a few insurers do not even appear on price comparison sites so it is worth checking with them directly. When you find a deal, contact your existing insurer and ask if they could match or even improve on the deal you have found.

Money Saving Expert has some general tips for reducing car insurance costs.

Less experienced drivers

If you are a less experienced driver car insurance can be expensive if you don’t shop around and do some research.

Young and less experienced drivers may be able to reduce potentially high insurance costs by considering a few suggestions from Money Saving Expert, for example a more experienced second driver, and ways to reduce the costs of an MOT.

Petrol costs

If you are travelling by car on a regular basis, you can register on this petrol prices website to find the cheapest petrol stations in your area.

Car sharing and other information

Edge Hill has information on travel, including an option of car sharing with the benefit of reserved parking.

Train and bus travel costs

Many students incur high travel costs by regularly travelling to university and placements by train or bus. When you receive your Student Finance payment, it might be worth considering paying for a weekly or monthly season ticket to help reduce overall costs.

For regular rail travel, take a look at this calculator from National Rail to see the potential savings you could make.

You can also find some useful tips and advice from Money Saving Expert on how to make real savings on rail costs.

The Trainsplit app and website are dedicated to saving you money on your train tickets by using a technique called ‘ticket splitting’.

Claim back travel costs to placements

Certain courses have placements as an integral part of their course. Normally eligibility depends on the course type and if the distance of travel to the placement is greater than travelling to the University campus.

For education placements, the faculty expense claim desk is open for expenses queries from 8:30am – 5pm. You can contact them via phone or email.

For NHS Health placements please visit the NHSBSA website to claim additional travel expenses.

GamCare helps problem gamblers as well as their friends and families by working directly with problem gamblers, providing advice over the phone and online or through face-to-face counselling. GamCare also have an education and prevention team working to raise awareness and prevent problem gambling before it starts.

The best way for you to access the services is either through the Freephone helpline or through the ‘Netline’ service which provides a live chat with an adviser. The Netline opens in a chat window which is totally private and secure. The adviser is a trained member of GamCare who will be able to give advice about gambling and may be able to help by putting you in touch with a local face-to-face counsellor.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Team can support you with a variety of issues that may be impacting on your wellbeing.