Mature Student Grant Proof of Address

This year I shall be completing the final year of my 3 year course and will hopefully be moving into 4th year. Since I am 25 I am now entitled to the mature student grant. I was in the VEC today asking for information and was informed that I needed a proof of address before October last year for my student home. Unfortunately I do not have this, yet have everything else (i.e last years P21, rent receipts from my landlord [the woman in the VEC said these aren't applicable because they're not official] and other things). So I was more or less informed that there is no way I can get the grant.

Yet today I was talking to a friend who informed me that she had been in a similar position; with no proof of address, yet she was able to get a form from the VEC that she brought to the court house to get them to sign to legally say she was staying at that address. She said it was an affidavit - is there any truth in this?

I would like to gather as much information as possible before I go back.

hapenny

can't you use a bank statement or something???

I haven't got one - they all get sent out to my family home, which, unfortunately, means I will be dependent on my parents in the eyes of the VEC.

Getting the grant next year will determine whether or not I am able to do the 4th year. So any information is gladly accepted.

PeakOutput

brokenlaptop wrote: »

Since I am 25 I am now entitled to the mature student grant.

hey were can i find information on this? i also started college before 23(the cut off for a mature student) but will be 25 in 4th year so ant to find out if im entitled to anything

It depends on if your course is a 3 year course or a 4 year course. Because mine was a 3 year course, the 4th year will be a seperate entity. So if you're 23 BEFORE January the 1st of the year you started your 4th year (in essence you'll have to be 24) you should be able to apply for the mature student grant.

Yet you'll have to be living out of home with a proof of address from at least October of the previous year (so in your 3rd year) otherwise you can't get it, which is the predicament that I'm in right now.

Things you should ensure to get are:

• P21 from the tax office
• Proof of address (bill/bank statement - the one I didn't realise about)
• Full birth certificate or passport
• Rent receipts

I may be missing some things there, so just ensure that you contact your local VEC to get all information.

My current predicament is that, even though I've been living in the same house since December 08, I have nothing official to say this. All my bank statements and bills get sent to my family home for the reason that it is my 100% fixed address. I could use the proof of address for that, but it would mean I'd be dependent on my parents in the eyes of the VEC, which is annoying as hell.

nachoman

brokenlaptop wrote: »

This year I shall be completing the final year of my 3 year course and will hopefully be moving into 4th year. Since I am 25 I am now entitled to the mature student grant. I was in the VEC today asking for information and was informed that I needed a proof of address before October last year for my student home. Unfortunately I do not have this, yet have everything else (i.e last years P21, rent receipts from my landlord [the woman in the VEC said these aren't applicable because they're not official] and other things). So I was more or less informed that there is no way I can get the grant.

Yet today I was talking to a friend who informed me that she had been in a similar position; with no proof of address, yet she was able to get a form from the VEC that she brought to the court house to get them to sign to legally say she was staying at that address. She said it was an affidavit - is there any truth in this?

I would like to gather as much information as possible before I go back.

get a printout of your broadband monthly bill statement, I do this with 3 whenever I need to show prove of address

PeakOutput

brokenlaptop wrote: »

It depends on if your course is a 3 year course or a 4 year course. Because mine was a 3 year course, the 4th year will be a seperate entity. So if you're 23 BEFORE January the 1st of the year you started your 4th year (in essence you'll have to be 24) you should be able to apply for the mature student grant.

ah right gotcha mines a 4 year course so no joy

Dawn86

Hi there, I'm in the same boat myself.. Just wondering if you have got anywhere with it since your post?
I only have proof of address since March 2010 because that's when I realised I needed it! I have been living independent of my parents since Jan 2008, but like yourself I always use my parent's address for all correspondence and so I'm in a pickle.. Have you found out if there is any way around it??

Not yet. I went to the courthouse to get an affidavit, which is a legally binding document stating that I've lived at this address. Damn, it even says it at the top that it's for the maintenance grant - I brought it in and they said they won't take it.

Babalons

Im in the same boat myself, its a pure pain in the Ass! They will also take a letter from the tenancies board (http://www.prtb.ie/) which your landloard may have registered you with. You can check by calling the tenancies board, (01) 6350 600, and asking them to check if youve been registered. They can check with your PPS number.
My landloard had not registered me so.....

rikishirai

Anyone come up with any solutions? College has already began to deregister me, and I can't think of anything. VEC say they won't accept bank statements or broadband bills ect. I dont have any utility bills at all

p28559

Deleted User wrote: »

This year I shall be completing the final year of my 3 year course and will hopefully be moving into 4th year. Since I am 25 I am now entitled to the mature student grant. I was in the VEC today asking for information and was informed that I needed a proof of address before October last year for my student home. Unfortunately I do not have this, yet have everything else (i.e last years P21, rent receipts from my landlord [the woman in the VEC said these aren't applicable because they're not official] and other things). So I was more or less informed that there is no way I can get the grant.

Yet today I was talking to a friend who informed me that she had been in a similar position; with no proof of address, yet she was able to get a form from the VEC that she brought to the court house to get them to sign to legally say she was staying at that address. She said it was an affidavit - is there any truth in this?

I would like to gather as much information as possible before I go back.

a p21, if it says your rental address, is an official document. says so on the grant guidelines. a lease to go along with those receipts would help your cause....if they are dated oct '09. if they are not then they wont suffice. you must have documents from '09 not '10.
i would think that a broadband bill from 3 is as valid as a bill from eircom. given that the range of utility providers has expanded greatly in recent years.

but if you received a grant for the first 3 years as a dependent student then i dont think you can change to independent mature.

i dont believe that a person, who started a 4 year course at 21 as a dependent, can change to a independent mature. i believe that the status you have for the first year of your grant is the one you retain for the duration of that course.

i know from reading the posts here that their is no way around the proof of address requirement. the rational appears to be that if your living independently you will gather all the evidence as a matter of course and therefore submitting it should be no problem.

filmbuffboy

I didnt have a utility bill in my name and got my registration fee paid by galway county council, i didnt get the grant as am on BTEA.

I got my registration fee paid without a utility bill as i was registered for rent tax credits with revenue comissioners and it showed up on my p21. this was proof to them i was living out of home.

hope this helps

ninty9er

If the 4th year is a different course you still won't qualify as an independent mature student as it hasn't been 3 years since you completed your 3 year course.

To qualify as independent mature:

You must be over 23 on the the day of enrolement
You must not have lived at your parents' address after 31 October of the previous calendar year
You must not have completed a programme of study in the previous 3 years


Them's the basics of it.

savagecabbages

I got my letting agency to attach a cover letter to my contract stating I had lived at the address for the last year. The Council accepted that as the landlord hadn't registered us with the PRTB!