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Evidence for ALF: guidance on the prinicples of document selection

What documents you’ll need for ALF depends on your individual circumstances. Instead of a list, this document is intended to brief you on the principles involved so you can work out for yourself what evidence you’ll need to give them.

The principles are:

Income:

For each piece of income you (and your partner* if you have one) have: give ALF a document from the person or agency that provides the money.

Examples of this would be:

Benefits – copy of a benefit decision letter.

Tax Credits – copy of the decision letter from HM Revenue & Customs.

Wages – three consecutive wage slips or a letter from your manager/Human Resources department confirming your average wage. Exception: full-time Undergraduates do not need to provide wage slips (but you can if you want to)

Career Development or Professional Studies Loans – a copy of the loan agreement.
...and so on.

* NB: For Student Loans, the Fund wants two documents: both a copy of your full Student Finance support notification e.g. Student Finance England; and a copy of your Student Loan Company (“SLC”) payment schedule.
If you don’t still have the Student Finance notification: you’ll need to ring them for a replacement or print one out from your area of the website (it’s a .pdf file in the “correspondence” section and opens as a “popup”).
If you don’t still have the SLC payment schedule: ring the Student Loan Company for a replacement.

Expenditure:

For each piece of expenditure you (and your partner* if you have one) have - apart from things covered by “standard figures” – give ALF a document from whoever gets the money.

You do not need to provide proof of food costs, household bills costs, leisure costs, clothing costs, the cost of course books/materials/photocopying, or petrol/car expenses. This is because all expenses in this list are taken into account by the Fund using “standard figures” printed in the “How to complete the 2007-8 application form” notes.

But, you will need to provide proof of all other expenses; for example:

Rent – tenancy agreement or letter from landlord specifying the rent
Mortgage – copy of a mortgage statement
“Priority" debts – latest letter from the creditor (for HP – a copy of the agreement)
Public transport – a used “sample ticket” or a photocopy of a current ticket/bus pass.
Childcare – a letter or invoice from the provider.
* Household bill arrears – a document from the utility showing the arrears (because these might be classed as “priority debts”).
...and so on.

Bank Statements:

Give ALF three full continuous months of recent bank or building society statements for every account you (and your partner* if you have one) have; on which you must write:

  1. Where all deposits (“money in”) came from
  2. What any withdrawals (“money out”) of £50 or more were spent on

The Fund will accept internet downloads if you have internet banking; provided your name is on the download.

The Fund will accept sheets printed off inside your bank branch.

The Fund will not accept ATM (“Cash machine”) slips.

If you get a Student (“Maintenance”) Loan, one of these bank statements must show an instalment of this going into your account.

If you need to order replacement bank statements and the bank says it will charge you for them, ask the Union’s Student Advice Centre or the University Information Centre for ALF’s “standard letter” to banks asking them not to charge for such replacement statements.

If the last date on your three continuous months of bank statements is more than a month before the date on which you submit your ALF application, it is wise to explain to ALF why this is (e.g. “my bank will only send me statements in three-month batches – the enclosed are the latest statements I can get”).

Unusual or Exeptional Circumstances

If you are asserting your situation (or that of your partner* if you have one) has been affected by unusual or exceptional circumstances, give ALF a document to prove this if one is available.

For example:

- a crime reference number
- a letter from the fire brigade
- a note from a GP or counsellor
...whatever professional or person you saw about the incident in question.

Photocopies

Give photocopies of documents to ALF – not originals

ALF must keep every document you submit in support of your application for government audit; so if you give in your original documents you will not get them back. Ever.

If in doubt...

If you’re not sure whether ALF will need a particular document, give in a copy with your form.

There is no penalty for providing too many documents. If you provide too few, this will delay ALF’s decision.


*What do we mean by “partner”?

ALF is not interested in your sleeping arrangements. For the purposes of ALF, a “partner” can be a person of the same or the opposite sex but is a person with whom you share pooled finances as well as being a couple. So if you live with someone but pay separate rents, split the bills 50-50, each buy your own food, and so forth, you and s/he would not be “partners” for this purpose. If you live with someone and the two of you share resources (e.g. you have a joint account from which bills etc. get paid; or if you regard your money as communal; or if you financially support each other as and when a need arises) then you and s/he would be seen as “partners” for this purpose.

 

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