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The policy start, and end date can be found in your Evidence of Cover or Policy Schedule.
Your student finance provider will pay for your insurance out of your DSA. If you make a claim, you will not have to pay an excess.
Your insurance covers you across the world.
Your insurance covers the following damage;
- Cracked screen
- Fire damage
- Flood damage
- Liquid damage
- Malicious damage
- Theft
Please go to https://www.specialty-risks.com/dsa-claims/ and fill out the online form.
When logging in to the Notetalker Edit phone application, you will need to log in using an email address and a pin code. The email address can be any address that you would like to use to associate with your NoteTalker account. The pin code is exactly the same code as the serial number used to activate the Windows/Mac version of Notetalker. You will be able to find this serial number on your Student Portal.
The DSA software is allocated to you and therefore you are able to install this software on another machine if you desire. Please note that the DSA software only comes with 1 license and therefore will only be able to be activated on one machine. Installing and activating your DSA software on another machine will likely stop the software from working on the original machine due to this fact.
Any faults/damage that have occurred with the machine will need to be repaired through us, as we are the equipment suppliers. If you take your laptop to a 3rd party for repair then you will likely void the maintenance and support contract you have with ourselves meaning we will be very limited on how we can support you going forward.
Microsoft Office is free for all students in education, so you are entitled to a free Office 365 subscription. This Office 365 subscription will be tied to your ac.uk academic email address. All you need to do to activate Microsoft Office is to log in to the app on your machine using your academic email address and the password that you use to log in to that email address.
We would recommend that if you have accidentally damaged your machine, take pictures of the damage so that you have them as a record and then forward those images to us via email so that we can see the full extent of the damage. Once you have forwarded us the images, we will advise you on the next steps on making an insurance claim in order to get the machine repaired as quickly as possible.
You will be able to find your serial numbers and downloads for all of your DSA software on your Student Portal. In order to log in to your student portal, please click here.
You will be presented with a website that is asking you for your email address and password. The email address will be the address you provided us during the initial DSA2 letter process. The password will be your Student ID number (five digits long). If you are unsure where to find your ID number, you will likely find this number on any of the paperwork/emails that has been sent to you from Wyvern Business Systems. If you are still unable to find this number, then we would recommend that you contact us via phone, email or live chat and request this number. Once logged in to your Student Portal, you will be presented with your orders. From this page you will be able to click on any of your orders to show the full list of items on each one. When you click on this order, you will be given a list of items. The software items in this list will have a small “View” button next to them if they have a serial number available.
We would recommend that you make a backup of all of your data if you have the means to. You will be able to make a backup of your data by either saving your documents to a USB stick, external hard drive or the cloud (Dropbox, One Drive, iCloud and many more). Once you have backed up your data, you will just need to make sure you or another household member is available during the agreed collection period. Once the courier has arrived, all you need to do is to hand the laptop and the charger over to the driver and they will pop it into the box we have provided and then seal it up. The driver will then give you a receipt, we would recommend that you keep hold of this receipt as this is proof the collection has taken place.
You will need to register your email address on the Sonocent Audio Notetaker Windows application. You will be prompted 5 days after the Windows application has been activated to register your email address with Sonocent. Once this has been done then you will be able to take that email address and your pin to the Sonocent link phone app and log in. The pin code will be the last four digits of your original serial number.
Once your laptop has been fully assessed, the results of the health check are forwarded to Student Finance for review. If your machine has passed the health check then you are able to have your machine sent back to you next working day. If the health check has failed then we will need to inform Student Finance who will make the decision as to how to proceed.
Click on the start menu, type in control panel. Click on “User Accounts”, then click on “User Accounts” again and then click on “Change Password”. From here you will be able to set a password that you will be able to use to log in to your account. You may also set a password hint on this screen to help you remember.
Click on the start menu, type in control panel. Click on “User Accounts”, then click on “User Accounts” again and then click on “Change account name”. From here you will be able to input the name you would like to change your username to. Please note you will need to restart the laptop for the change to take effect.
Whether or not you must pay the £200 contribution depends on a number of factors, most students will be required to pay this, as Student Finance will not always fund this payment. If Student Finance Wales are listed as your funding body then you will never be required to pay the £200 contribution. However, if you are listed under Student Finance England you may be required to pay this.
Student Finance England request that a £200 contribution be made if there is a laptop on the order, this goes towards the cost of the laptop. E.g. if the laptop that has been recommended for yourself is £375 then £200 of that value is your contribution and the £175 left over will be funded by Student Finance England.
There are three instances where Student Finance England may not require you to pay the £200. The first being you do not have a laptop on your order therefore no £200 is required. The second being that you are transitionally protected; this means that you are not required to pay the £200 as you have been studying for longer than the contribution has been in place and would therefore no effect you. The last is if your University has agreed to pay this amount. Should you University agree to pay the £200 contribution on behalf of you then you would no longer be required to pay this.
The easiest way to see if you are required to pay the £200 contribution is if you go to the second page of your approval letter, under the specialist equipment allowance if there is a box that reads “Amount you are required to pay the supplier” and if this includes the £200 that means you will have to pay a contribution.
We would advise that you go back to your Assessment centre as they recommend the products we supply to yourself. If you cannot afford the upgrade, they have the ability to recommend a higher specification machine and put this forward to the funding body. Alternatively, you may also apply for a hardship fund should your university support this.
Please send across a copy of your DSA 2 entitlement letter, either from Student Finance or NHS bursaries, you can either forward the email to our email address or you can take pictures of the letter and send them across.
We are bound by our agreement with the DSA and your assessment centre to provide what they have recommended.
As a result, we cannot remove items from the order to put towards an upgrade.
The amount of funding on your laptop will be the value of the laptop, minus your £200 contribution if applicable. For example, if the laptop is valued at £360, once your contribution is subtracted we are left with £160, which is how much your funding body is putting towards the laptop on your order. The rest of the funding goes towards the other items listed on your sales order.
If you have to pay a £200 contribution towards the order, the funding provided by your funding body will be £200 less than the value on the sales order. Your £200 contribution is paid towards the laptop value on your order.
If you have a look at your Sales Order, you will see that the total value of the order will match up to the amount detailed on your funding letter. Each item on the sales order will have a cost next to it, where the allocated funding is going.
As there is a laptop on your quote we are unable to take items off ourselves. You will need to contact your funding body they will then update the quotation with the laptop taken off and then send an updated DSA 2 entitlement letter to you.
Please send your letter to our email address.
We have our online portal which shows our upgrade offers, this will show how much the upgrade is and how to do so. The portal information will be included in your confirmation email you will receive once we have processed your order.
Once we have processed your order you will be able to arrange a delivery date and training sessions either by our online portal or over the phone. The information to do so will be in your confirmation email.
Once we have processed your order you will receive a confirmation email which shows the sales order, which has a breakdown of the items on your order.
If you are considering purchasing your own computer; here is some information to help you decide if it’s the right decision for you.
You may not be aware of some of the benefits to ordering equipment from an approved DSA supplier that has been quoted in your study needs assessment report, here are a few:
- Your funding body pays the supplier directly for your equipment so you don’t need to fund all the cost upfront yourself
- High level of after care services
- Experience of providing equipment to disabled student’s and understanding of their needs
- They will ensure any assistive software recommended in your needs assessment is set up and runs correctly on your computer
If you’d still like to purchase your own computer from another supplier such as an internet company or high street store you can do so, however you’ll need to pay for this yourself and then send your funding body a copy of your receipt for reimbursement. The amount will be confirmed by your funding body and will be the same amount they would have paid towards a computer if you had not decided to purchase your own.
You will also need to make sure you have sufficient warranty and insurance on your computer for the duration of your course. Your funding body will also be able to reimburse you for this cost if you send them a copy of your receipt.
The computer you buy needs to meet the following minimum specification to be eligible for reimbursement:
Before you carry out any updates to your operating system, please contact the supplier of your software to confirm compatibility. If any problems occur with your computer you’ll be responsible for repair or replacement, DSA won’t be able to provide any funding to you for this.
Your next steps:
- Confirm you do wish to purchase your own computer by emailing DSA_Team@slc.co.uk or by calling 0300 100 0607 (Please ensure you use the e-mail address registered on your account and that you state your full name and customer reference number. If you are purchasing a Mac, please let the funding body know so they can re-quote for correct versions of your assistive software)
- Your funding body will confirm that you can go ahead and purchase your own computer.
- Your funding body will request a re-quote of your DSA IT equipment order minus the computer currently on there, and issue you with an updated funding letter.
- Purchase the computer and send them a copy of the receipt.
- Forward a copy of your updated DSA funding letter to the selected equipment supplier, who will be able to install the equipment on your order onto the machine you have purchased.
- Your funding body will pay the amount listed above directly to your bank account once they have received the invoice from your supplier confirming the installation was successful and specification is sufficient.
Our listed Mac upgrades are the default specification for each model as detailed by Apple. If you wish to change aspects of the Mac such as processor, RAM or storage, this changes the Mac into what is known as Configured To Order (CTO). Apple do not hold CTO Macs in stock and can increase the time to source and deliver the machine by up to 4 weeks. If you wish to discuss a CTO Mac upgrade, please contact us.
As long as the assistive software and hardware on your order is compatible with an Apple Mac, you can. If you have items on your order that does not have a Mac compatible version or alternative, the portal will prevent you from upgrading, and display an error message. In situations like this, we recommend contacting us via our live chat facility or calling 01432 845143 to discuss your order further.
Occasionally when using your Mac, it may prompt you to type in a password to authorise an action, in such instances there is no password actually set. You can simply press enter, and it will allow you to proceed forward with the action that you wish to do.