Factsheet 4 – Students

DOCUMENTS NEEDED TO MAKE A LEGAL AID APPLICATION

Once your online application is submitted and all your documents are correct, a decision on your case will be provided within 7 working days. Do not contact Direct Mediation Services within this period.

Being a student

• A combined household income, from work, benefits, parental or third-party support or student loan, of less than £2657 per month
• If you are living with a new partner, we will need to make an assessment of their income as well
• Just because you get less than £2657 a month, you do not automatically qualify for Legal Aid
• Capital and savings will also be taken into account – if you have more than £8000 in savings, you will not qualify

Evidence 

You need to send the following evidence for your Legal Aid application:

1. Bank statements – the last four weeks’ If you have other individual or joint bank accounts, you will also need to provide statements for these for the same period. (See Photo A for an example.)
2. Student Loan – the award letter stating the amount received. This will then be divided by 12 for the purposes of the assessment. See Photo B for an example.)

EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCE

Photo A – Bank statements

The easiest way to get your bank statements for the last four weeks is to go to your bank and ask them to print them out. If you have more than one bank and/or building society account, we need statements for all of these as well. This includes joint accounts

You may also be able to download them as a PDF

We need to see clearly:

1. The four edges of the page
2. Full pages
3. Your full name
4. Your full address
5. Account number
6. Period covering the last four weeks
7. Page number sequence 1, 2, 3 …

DO NOT SEND SCREENSHOTS OF YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT FROM YOUR MOBILE

Photo B – Student Loan Awards Letter

We need to see clearly:

1. The four edges of the page
2. Full pages
3. Your full name
4. Your full address
5. Date of the letter