Were You A Student In 2020-2021? You Still Have Time To Claim £5,000 In Compensation
The Covid compensation battle is still ongoing.
For students who were in uni between 2020-2021 during lockdown, this meant constant disruption and uncertainty to their studies. From being forced to self-isolate in halls with strangers to having to move everything online to Zoom, it definitely wasn’t a year to remember for the right reasons.
Back in 2022, we reported that thousands of uni students from across the UK were suing their universities over disruption to their studies and demanding compensation. This was mainly due to students having to adapt to blended learning and do everything virtually, instead of benefiting from the resources and in-person tutorials their £9,250 a year tuition fees should cover.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the legal system things can be slow and there hasn’t been a huge amount of updates in this case—until now.
What’s happening with the COVID compensation trial?
Although unis from all across the UK are involved, students from UCL have been leading the way with the court proceedings.
In July 2023 a judge ordered a stay of proceedings to get the Student Group Claim (SGC) and UCL to try and settle out of court, putting the claim on pause for 8 months— however, all attempts at mediation failed.
Now, we’re in early 2024 and the UCL trial will now be going to High Court, as UCL’s legal team has tried to block all claims made against them.
The SGC represents thousands of students across the UK from multiple universities, all of whom could be eligible to compensation from their universities if the claim is successful. The SGC team is preparing cases for 80 other universities with letters already sent to 17 other universities, pursuing similar compensation claims but the UCL case is the first one to go to court.
While there are no massive updates or set trial date yet, the trial is still ongoing and SGC is determined to fight for their rights.
Can I still apply to claim compensation money?
Yes! If you were a student between 2020-2021 at any UK university you can still join the claim. You can find out more information on the Student Group Claim website, which details the claims and provides regular updates on the legal proceedings. It’s easy to sign up, and the more students who do sign up the greater the chances are of SGC winning the case.
You could be eligible for £5,000 of compensation and this could benefit thousands of students because if SGC is successful, universities from across the UK will have to pay out to the students who were impacted.
Of course, the legal proceedings have been slow and could still take several years to reach a decision, but joining the claim could only benefit you if SGC is successful.
While things are still uncertain in terms of the legal proceedings, SGC are pushing on and you still have time to claim if you believe your studies were impacted by lockdown.
