Hardship

The principle underpinning the consideration of hardship claims is that a students' union could not have reasonably planned for the financial hardship.

Finance Committee will consider hardship claims at any point and will, subject to the Data Protection Act and confidentiality requirements, publish its decisions in respect of hardship claims.

NUS has a very limited budget earmarked for hardship claims and the Committee’s considerations will bear this in mind.

Hardship claims will only be considered if a union can demonstrate that it:

1. Has suffered an unforeseen shortfall in income or has incurred unexpected exceptional expenditure
2. Has already taken measures to mitigate its adverse financial position
3. Has no reserves or other funds to reduce or eliminate its losses or liabilities
4. Is treating NUS as a priority creditor, eg, not paying other bills which leaves insufficient for NUS affiliation fees, or embarking on major investment which worsens its financial position.

In addition, the following information must be provided:

1. A full set of accounts for the last two years
2. Latest management accounts for the current year
3. A statement of how much the union proposes it can afford to pay, after taking into account any arrears as well as the affiliation fees due.

Hardship claims will not be acceptable on the grounds that the fee has gone up from one year to the next.

All hardship claims must be structured around the above seven points. All points must be addressed. Any questions should be directed to Brenda.scott@nus.org.uk. Complete claims should be emailed to Brenda at the same address.