Student Loans

Kraut_2

Hi.

I have a student loan. The type where you pay back 9% when you hit 15000K.

I'm now living abroad, I told the student loans company that my name also changed. Some idiot at the SLC changed my original name and address instead of the mailing address and then when he passed me to his collegue she had no record for me from my address and name in england. and won't tell me anything about my account. Stupid me. I told her of the mistake and it was corrected. Should I have just hung up?

Anyway. I've moved again since. To another town in the same country. I haven't told the SLC. I'm also married and have three children.

What I want to know is, do the repayments take in to account my children and the financial requirements for three children? It's ok to set threshold, but not if it doesn't take into account how much free cash I have after paying of bills, credit from the bank, school fees etc.

Also, is that 9% per month or per year? I read somewhere that it was per year, but I'm not sure.

Is the 15000 after tax or before? Tax where I'm living is considerably higher then in the UK. Assuming I have 30000Euros per year before tax, 2500per month, with a after tax income of 1,848.00 how much would I have to pay back. What if after all the bills I have to pay I don't have the 9% per month?

Should I tell the SLC I have moved? What will happen when I tell them? Will I get punished for not saying last year that I had moved again? My wife thinks I shouldn't bother, that I should just put away a little each month incase they ever find me. I'm not planning on coming back. But maybe for a year to live with the children when they are a bit older.

gairlochgal

School fees? Hmmmm my kids will be coming through the UK university system soon. I'd like to think your debt to the SLC takes priority over your kids' school fees.

Oldernotwiser

If you are living abroad then different countries have different levels at which you have to pay back your loan and no, it doesn't take into account school fees or other loans!

If you haven't paid back the right amount or deferred annually then you will run into defaults and other charges where the normal rules for repayment don't apply and you will find yourself dealing with debt collectors etc. Just in case you live in Germany, you should be aware that it is very easy for UK debts to be collected there because there are reciprocal arrangements in place.

You shold contact the SLC or you could be looking at being asked to repay large amounts of money completely separately from the normal conditions of the student loan system.

Kraut_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If you are living abroad then different countries have different levels at which you have to pay back your loan and no, it doesn't take into account school fees or other loans!

Isn't this a bit unfair? When I get a loan from a bank, I know exactly when i have to start paying back, like in two months time, for example. My sistuation is not likely to change in two months. But the student loan may not get repaid fro 5/6 years after, maybe more depending on how much you earn. People have no idea what there financial situation will be when they reach the 15K income level. In the country where I'm living you inherit the debts of your relatives. And by marriage you inherit them too.

If my wife or her parents have 100K debt that needs paying back, as the sole earner I would have to pay it back. This could take most of my net monthly income. I don't know this when I take out my student loan. They will just assume that I can afford the 9%. Is there anyway of getting this amount changed? Not that I have 100K to pay back, but what if this were to be the case. Can you make alternate arrangements with the SLC?

Oldernotwiser

I have no idea about most of what you're saying and I can't see how you could expect a UK system to take account of all the other countries in the world! When you moved to wherever you are you could have contacted the SLC before you went and they would have told you the exact circumstances and you would not have been left in the dark.

I think you lost most people's sympathy about how you couldn't afford your repayments when you mentioned that you pay school fees for your children.

Edit: If you look on the SLC website you will see a chart with the threshold for making payments in most countries. If you are in Germany the threshold is 15,000 sterling which would mean that your normal payments would be in the region of £60 per month (depending on the exchange rate) but you will also have arrears and charges to pay which you will have to try to negotiate with the SLC.

Kraut_2

I never said I couldn't afford the repayments and peoples sympathy is something I don't need. I just had a few questions about student loans and paying back.

Kraut_2

And by the way my children go to state schools. I think maybe by school fees you inferred (and maybe the other posters (probably american)) that my children are going to some public school that cost 25K plus per year.They are not. The fees are small (for food etc), but while small along with all my other monthly outgoings, like rent, they effect how much money I have to pay the SLC. I just wanted to know if the payments were means-tested.

Oldernotwiser

Kraut wrote: »

And by the way my children go to state schools. I think maybe by school fees you inferred (and maybe the other posters (probably american)) that my children are going to some public school that cost 25K plus per year.They are not. The fees are small (for food etc), but while small along with all my other monthly outgoings, like rent, they effect how much money I have to pay the SLC. I just wanted to know if the payments were means-tested.

Sorry if we misunderstood. Yes, the loans are means tested, but on your income not your outgoings.

gairlochgal

Hi

I'm the only other poster so far and yes I did assume you were talking about private schools, so it was useful to get that cleared up

But your moral position appears to be that you prefer not to repay this loan at all, and that remains questionable. My point being that my children will need student loans when their turn comes in a few years, and people in effect ripping off the system by taking advantage of bureaucratic errors, really doesn't help future generations of students.

I have had many kiwis working in my team here in the UK who are saving every penny to pay off their student loans back home so they are in a strong position to go back and start buying houses, starting families etc. So I'm a bit puzzled about why you see your position so differently.

Kraut_2

gairlochgal wrote: »

Hi

I'm the only other poster so far and yes I did assume you were talking about private schools, so it was useful to get that cleared up

But your moral position appears to be that you prefer not to repay this loan at all, and that remains questionable. My point being that my children will need student loans when their turn comes in a few years, and people in effect ripping off the system by taking advantage of bureaucratic errors, really doesn't help future generations of students.

I have had many kiwis working in my team here in the UK who are saving every penny to pay off their student loans back home so they are in a strong position to go back and start buying houses, starting families etc. So I'm a bit puzzled about why you see your position so differently.

I don't. I want to repay the loan. My wife thought I shouldn't.