Hi, newbie here hoping someone can help as I seem to be struggling to find out.. and suspect the answer will be no, but noone has said a flat no to me yet, so still investigating.

I am 2 years into my 3 year funded PhD and it has become necessary for me to apply for a suspension basically due to mental health issues really and am planning on suspending for 4 months in the first instance. My industry funders have confirmed that they will not fund me for this period (fair enough.. wasn't expecting them to). This obviously isn't a decision I have taken lightly but am concerned that this basically leaves me with no income for this period of time and am wondering if I might be eligible for any support from elsewhere, benefits etc during this time or not because I will still be registered as a student? Has anyone done this or know?, student finance at my uni and CAB have not been particuarly useful atm.

I am trying very hard not to think about the money side of things as in the great scheme of things of what is going on right now thats pretty unimportant, I have savings but would pretty much use all of them up to fund myself during that period and feel a bit old to call on family but will do if necessary it just gets a bit complicated.

I have not been officially signed off by a doctor so to speak, as I dont need to be but am pretty sure if I was in a proper job I would be and hence receiving sick pay and alike, it seems a bit of a bummer if I am not entitled to anything, I'd get another temp job but that kind of defeats the object of me trying to sort my head out and I don't think that would work.

so any thoughts much appreciated!

======= Date Modified 16 Sep 2010 02:33:28 =======
Sorry - I don't know the answer to your question, but I would simply contact DWP and apply. They'll soon tell you if you're ineligible. If there is anyway that you can get a sick note, it might be worth doing so; Incapacity benefits (if such a benefit still exists or its equivalent) would probably be less tricky, but you would most definitely require a sick note. Otherwise, you will probably have to apply for JSA, which is far from ideal if you don't intend to search for work. They will probably (definitely for JSA) ask what you did before and request a letter from your uni confirming that you no longer attend. As you haven't officially left, this might cause problems. Also, your savings could preclude any entitlement to benefits (if you tell them about that bank account). I suppose it could be tricky as, from the perspective of the DWP, there might not be enough people in this situation for them to have an adequate procedure in place. Still, I would definitely apply - there's no harm in trying. And if you intend to apply, the sooner the better; they won't backdate JSA.

Good luck (up)