Student Loan Repayments/Reductions?

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Hi.

I know that not many people worry about their student loans, but mine has been causing me sleepless nights! Fortunately, I only took one out in my final year, as I was unable to work and the total amount I borrowed was £2832. I've just received my annual statement and with interest, the amount I will have to repay is £2875.33.

I really want to pay this back as soon as possible, or even better, get this reduced! Is this possible? What do people advise me to do? Will a plea letter to the SLC asking them to reduce the repayments work? Any ideas will be much appreciated as I am really stressed about this whole situation!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HGLTsuperstar

Sweet_Sugar_1984 wrote:

Hi.

I know that not many people worry about their student loans, = THEN I AM IN THE MINORITY!
but mine has been causing me sleepless nights! = NOT THE ONLY ONE! Fortunately, I only took one out in my final year, as I was unable to work and the total amount I borrowed was £2832.= AND YOU'RE LOSING SLEEP, I'LL BE A PERMANENT INSOMNIAC I've just received my annual statement and with interest, the amount I will have to repay is £2875.33.= PETTY CASH VS MINE!

I really want to pay this back as soon as possible, or even better, get this reduced! Is this possible? = IN AN ALTERNATE REALITY MAYBE! What do people advise me to do? Will a plea letter to the SLC asking them to reduce the repayments work? =REDUCING REPAYMENTS MEANS YOU PAY FOR LONGER SO INTEREST BUILDS Any ideas will be much appreciated as I am really stressed about this whole situation!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND THE SLC ARE THE MOST UNHELPFUL, INCOMPETENT B"£$%!££ ANYWAY AS MY PHONE CALL TO THEM RE : THEIR MISTAKE TODAY PROVES!

Karnam

It is next to impossible to get this reduced as it is one of the best loan rates around. However you can make overpayments to pay it off quickly if you really want to... it is an inflation based interest rate so you're not actually accumulating any interest as such though.

cheapskaterwanabee

The Current rate of interest accoring to the SLC for year 05/06 is 3.20% !!!. Considering that when you take out the loan it is marketed as "interest free" this is a big con. For those of us who have taken out loans the threshold before repayments is now £15,000 which means you have more hope of dying before repaying it!

Mrtickle_3

cheapskaterwanabee wrote:

The Current rate of interest accoring to the SLC for year 05/06 is 3.20% !!!. Considering that when you take out the loan it is marketed as "interest free" this is a big con. For those of us who have taken out loans the threshold before repayments is now £15,000 which means you have more hope of dying before repaying it!

The interest rate you pay on your student loan is in line with the current rate of inflation, it is not a con. You are not being charged 'interest' as such. If this percentage was not added on you would technically be paying back less than you took out.

cheapskaterwanabee

So what happens when you dont get a pay rise in line with inflation? Does that technically mean that you are paying more than you should?

anneANNE_3

For those of us who have taken out loans the threshold before repayments is now £15,000 which means you have more hope of dying before repaying it![/QUOTE]

My SL is nearly £18,000, if the threshold is now £15,000 I hope i will be repaying before dying, also the Law Society says training contracts must have a min wage of just over £14,000.
I would hate to think that I have gone through all this to earn less than £15,000.
:beer:

houndour

You really don't need to worry about your student loan.

I am assuming that you've only just graduated? It depends on when you graduated as to your situation. I'm not sure how things stand now but for me...

I graduated in July 2002. I took out £5700 student loan to buy a car (the best loan I was ever going to get). I didn't have to start paying it back till April 2003. Then it automatically came out of my wages. at silly amounts might I add. At that time the threshold was £10000.

Now it's gone up to £15,000 and I'm paying back £30 a month which is nothing. I have the money to pay it back in full, but i'm earning more interest on my ISA than gaining interest on the loan.

You can pay off as much as you like at a time. Or the whole lot in full. I was paying off £100 a month for a while, but soon reduced it back to £30. My loan no longer comes out of my wages because the IR have messed up my tax code, so I pay by Standing order, which I like cos I can change it easily online. I believe the details for paying standing order are on the website, but I phoned up and got them to make sure they were right.

Anyway, it's a very flexible loan and the best part is if you earn below the £15k then you dont have to pay anything (but you can if you want). And if you're jobless you won't get the bailiffs coming round when you cant pay it off.

peace123_2

Could someone let me know how i can set up a standing order to pay my student loan? I graduated last year and want to get rid of the debt asap!

hitman_uk

I thought it automatically sets up a standing order of the minimum amount when you sign up..thats what mine did. As soon as I earned 15k after graduating it automatically took aout the money. I was lucky in a way cause i lived at home and had a part time job and qualified for 1500 quid a year grant. I owed 2k when i finished and forgot all about it. After a couple of years of bening in full time employment i got a anual statement saying id payed of 500 quid...i now owe next to nothing and will be straight this year

ReportInvestor

cheapskaterwanabee wrote:

The Current rate of interest accoring to the SLC for year 05/06 is 3.20% !!!. Considering that when you take out the loan it is marketed as "interest free" this is a big con. For those of us who have taken out loans the threshold before repayments is now £15,000 which means you have more hope of dying before repaying it!

The 3.2% was an untypically high rate.

Wage inflation will typically outpace price inflation, which will hopefully reduce the real value of the debt in most cases.

Now that Dave Cameron has embraced Blair's tuition fees, the current batch of indebted students can comfort themselves with the fact that it will be worse for their successors.

As long as you live to 50, the loan will be cancelled if there is money still outstanding.

I've done a spreadsheet on paying off the loan .
£10K loan, inflation averaging 2.5%, wage inflation at 4%, starting salary at £19K = debt free in your 19th year of employment.

If anyone wants to put their own figures in, I'll give you the results.

houndour wrote:

I have the money to pay it back in full, but i'm earning more interest on my ISA than gaining interest on the loan.

Well done. And you've created a significant personal tax free savings area just in case Gordon messes about with future ISAs after 2010.