Student loans company "sold debt" to Thesis Servicing Ltd

beegee66

I have 3 loans from 1990- 92. I also have received the leter from Thesis. Will this affect my right for the loans to be wiped when I am 50 or after 25 years from the date of the debt? And how will I find out that they have been wiped? Cheers

anexstudent

Hi just found this and need it clarifying.

"The Student Loans Company now has the option of registering a default against a student who has not been repaying their student loans. The initiative, which targets only those customers who took out loans before 1998, will refer debtors to credit reference agencies such as Experian when they fail to reply to letters asking them to get in contact to discuss their options. [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Source: FLA" [/FONT][/FONT]


I have received a letter from Mackenzie Hall (another debit & trace agency)
Have yet to call them but know it must be connected with the only loan i have (student loan)

If the statement (above in red) is true then the SLC cannot transfer my loan as it was taken out after 1999.

Can anyone varify this - please

Thanks

Jiggerred

Link left a message with a friend of mine. I had given contact details of that friend in 1994 when I applied for loan. I presumed it was "Link" parcel services and telephoned. Pleasant Welsh lady chatted for a minute or two and only when i insisted did she explain she had connections with a student loan. I did not ackowledge I had had a loan but I did say I had not heard from them for over 6 years. I had not received invitations to defer after 2001. I presumed because of my age they were wiping the debt. I moved in '04 and used Royal Mail redirect services and still heard nothing from them so I cannot be accused of disappearing. In 2010 I became 60 when I understand the debt is definately wiped.

From the statute of limitations I have not acknowledged the debt for well over 6 years and the 'phone call of last week certainly did not ackowledge the debt. The nice lady did ask if she could write to my friend's address, I told her I didn't know when I would collect anything written there.

To anyone receiving a phone call, do not ackowledge the debt if you have had no contact for plus 6 years. If you do then from that date another 6 years is required of "non-contact" for the statute of limitations to prevail. If in trying to do the honourable thing you do contact them then you have put your own head in their noose. The law relating to the statute is so "wooly" and is spot on for "Catch 22".

JustinHutchinson

I got a letter from Thesis Debt Servicing at an old temporary address dated 17th October- it didn’t say anything about who they were or what they did - this is their tactic and they obviously think they are being really clever. It didn't work as I just googled them and found out.

Because I've travelled abroad a lot since taking out the loans in 93/93/95 I used the UK address of my Mum. After she died in December 2009 her council house became empty. Despite having mail forwarded, I did not receive a deferment notice from SLC in February 2011. Either it got lost in the post or...? It would be cynical to suggest that SLC or Thesis WANT us to default wouldn’t it?

I actually called Thesis of my own volition because I thought it would be a case of simply renewing the deferral notice, after all I had not actually earned above the threshold. I am self-employed and have audited accounts every year to back this up. After some confusion over where SLC end and Thesis begin, I realised that they are a debt collection agency and the main debt really still resides with SLC. However if you go into arrears then you have to deal with Thesis, who are part of Link Financial Outsourcing Limited, a commercial company.


Link financial are conservative party donors – they donated £25k, hmmm interesting they have this big contract chasing up government debts? The office of fair trading have had complaints that debtors complained of being “hounded” by them, and last year the Office of Fair Trading officially warned the firm to stop using approaches to debtors’ next-door neighbours as part of its collections strategy. Business is clearly good for the owners of Link, Selina and Paul Burdell, who have spent £20m improving their Chelsea home by knocking down two neighbouring houses and building a seven-storey mansion.


After looking into Link I began to get a bad feeling about Thesis and it all fell into place. They told me that they had sent me a letter explaining who they were and what they did, but I had no letter of this kind (in common with some previous bloggers comments).

The trick is that when you don't send in the deferment form, then the servicing of the debt gets handed on to these clowns, who have pretty sharp practice. They are a debt collection agency and I do think it was misleading when we took out these loans all those years ago to count them as soft debts, which they are not treated as by Thesis.

I've just got off the phone to them -some geyser who sounded like a rather smug Arfur Daley. It is the second time I have spoken to this guy and he couldn't remember me from the first time when he advised me to send a letter to his colleague Gary Burns. Gary Burns wrote back and pointed out that I should have advised them of my new address within 14 days of the change - does anyone actually do this? It was the last thing on my mind thanks Gary after my mum died. Gary's letter informed me that they had had to: "obtain my new contact details using our trace process" otherwise known as looking on 192.com.

I am sure however that Gary is correct and the original loan agreement states that I must inform them of address change within 14 days. I wrongly assumed I could trust SLC not to sell the debt to some dodgy company and threw out the agreement years ago. Its not that I was running away from the debt, I merely never thought it was an issue as I never earned above the threshold. I can't argue with them on this point so after being sent some very confusing arrears statements and unclear advice from them, I finally established with Arfur that I do indeed owe them £500 or so and am working on proposing a repayment plan.

Its worth noting that they will back date a deferment by three months - this must be some regulation they are sticking to. However the back dating can only occur after they have got deferment confirmed by SLC so my deferment will not go through until December, meaning I'm only in actuality getting TWO months deferred.

Arfur Daley was very keen to get me to commit to a repayment plan and also attempted to get some more of my contact details off me while I was on the line - they should not pressure people in this way. It is immoral and goes against the ethos of student loans which were designed to help kids from poor families such as myself get an education, not become debt fugitives hounded by collection agencies. I explained that I would not agree to a repayment there and then as I am on a low income and have to budget a repayment plan first. This is what any responsible debt advisor will advise you to do.

I hope the £500 taken from me, my wife and kids this Christmas will pay for a nice toilet seat in Selina and Paul’s Chelsea mansion.

My advice is the following:

First and foremost as soon as they get in contact with you, get that deferment in because every day its not approved by SLC will cost you money.

Don't give in to them - they are bound by the same rules as any other debt collection agency and you only need to pay them what you can afford. However these guys employ sharp practice and will do everything they can legally to get money out of you.

Keep your nerve and don't let them bully you into paying what you cannot afford. It is a soft debt whatever they say. You must however make sure you do repay what you say you will.

Cause them as much admin as you can - ask for a copy of the original loan agreement - you can do this under the consumer credit act if you request it and enclose a cheque for £1.

Make it cost them as much as possible - demand they communicate in writing only, which costs more money and is more draining on their resources and cuts into their profit margin. The more money they lose the more likely they'll just write these debts off eventually.

Keep them talking on the phone -call them at 8.25pm and keep asking questions past closing time so they have to go home late, it sounds petty but it'll hit staff moral. If they’re going to hound us, lets hound them back.

Thesis obviously don’t want us to default do they? That’s why they are so morally outraged you didn’t tell them your new address or fill out your deferral form.
Always remember to send in your deferment forms on time - make a note in your diary every year to request the form from SLC if it mysteriously doesn't arrive like mine didn't -by the end of January at the latest.

Thesis won't get another penny out of me because I've learnt my lesson not to trust SLC, I've only got another 7 years until the first debt is written off.

If we all play by these rules, Thesis won't make another penny out of any of us.

somethingcorporate

If you had played by the rules in the first place they wouldn't have had to chase you for the debt.

If you don't inform them of your change of address then you only have yourself to blame. Especially if you knew that you should have been deferring.

You made too many assumptions and it came back to bite you. Unfortunately ignorance is no defense.

Disgruntled_PS_Worker

JustinHutchinson wrote: »

I realised that they are a debt collection agency and the main debt really still resides with SLC. However if you go into arrears then you have to deal with Thesis

Don't give in to them - they are bound by the same rules as any other debt collection agency and you only need to pay them what you can afford.

The more money they lose the more likely they'll just write these debts off eventually.

Always remember to send in your deferment forms on time - make a note in your diary every year to request the form from SLC if it mysteriously doesn't arrive like mine didn't -by the end of January at the latest.

As part of a (in actual fact, the SECOND) gov't debt sale as part of a budget by the Chancellor of The Exchequer some Student Loan Debt was sold to private companies. Honour Student Loans, trading name of Honour Trustees Ltd and Link Financial Services, trading as Thesis Servicing.

These two companies are not debt collectors who are employed by SLC, but are in actual fact who now owns your debt. I understand the easy confusion between the two things. Which brings me to the second point I have highlighted. As you're debt is now owned by, and administered by these companies you are contractually obligated to meet your scheduled monthly repayment and if you fail to meet these repayments you will first of all, be sent to their collections department in house - if further failure ensues then it may be passed to an outside debt collector to be regained.

Even considering these changes, the SLC will still process deferments on behalf of these companies as Deferment of payments if you earned less than the threshold was a "perk" of taking a student loan.

The statement about costing them money and them eventually writing of your loan because of it is absolutely ludicrous. If you owe a company money then they will employ practically any means possible of getting the money that you owe to them, and are legally obliged to pay due to the Credit Agreement you signed.

The only statement that you have made that is factually correct, and that I am compelled to agree with is that if you have an older Student Loan regardless of the debt owner, is to maintain your account and if you "normally get your deferment in *month here*" then you should take responsibility and contact the company that owns your debt and request that your deferment application form be sent out as soon as possible - remembering, that regardless of who owns your account, whether SLC, HSL, or TS you MUST return your completed deferment form with supporting evidence to SLC in Glasgow.

I understand in your circumstances that there was person reasons in your delay in updating your contact details, and I am sorry for your loss but regardless of reason if you are aware that there is actions required on your part for any account, whether with a creditor or otherwise you have an obligation to ensure your contact details are maintained and up-to-date.

It is for your benefit, to ensure that things like this do not happen in future.

Wob_2

Yikes, am I in trouble then?

I should have informed them (who, SLC or Thesis?) within 14 days of changing my address?

My three loans, from 1993, '94 and '95 were handed to Thesis back in 2009. I have always deferred on time.


Last May 2011 I left the UK for Thailand. I was offered a job and it was not a concrete position until after 3 months. How could I have dealt with the bureauracy of informing them of an address in Thailand that wasn't necessarily permanent?

Thailand is not known for efficiency and I wasn't technically even legal here until 6 months into the new job (that's pretty common) because I am the first foreigner at this village school and getting the business visa sorted followed by the work permit took much longer for these folk than if I'd be working in a school already established with foreigners.
You might think from this post I am at some dodgy place but this is a good school with good people who have done their best to look after me. It was a learning experience for both me and them and Thai bureauracy is known to be slow, complicated and painful.

As it turned out, I eventually stayed and the school managed to get me legal so now in January I figured I should get in touch with SLC or Thesis to get the deferment process going from afar. Looked on moneysavingexpert to find out which one to contact and if there would be anything else I should know before doing so...

So now, it seems I may be pursued for payments for not telling them of a totally up-in-the-air situation in a foreign country... Is that right?

Can anyone advice?

Cheers


PS. Last year, because I knew I would be leaving the UK in May, I called up the SLC and let them know and to ask about my deferment. The lady on the phone was very nice and sent out the form to my UK contact address (my brother's house). I don't remember her saying I would have to re-contact them within 14 days of my moving, so I thought I would be set up for another year and then just get in touch with my new situation.

Also, please don't bother responding to say I'm in another country so I needn't do anything. After nearly 20 years and only 6 years away from turning 50 I don't want to mess up the chances of my loans being written off and I won't necessarily be working abroad forever. They already have my brother's address and to drop contact now would be irresponsible.

jago25_98

So now, it seems I may be pursued for payments for not telling them of a totally up-in-the-air situation in a foreign country... Is that right?

With ordinary debts whether people get chased across the world to pay them depends on many things. I think it would be similar with the SLC loans rather than having more power to do things abroad like for example HMRC.

Private companies can do all sorts of things to claim back debt. The most effective would be rendering it to a company specialising in international recoveries. But this costs. Because these things cost it's a crapshoot as to whether it actually happens. Generally a language barrier helps; New Zealand is very remote but legally it's right next to the UK.

The main problem is that yes, if you want to return to the UK then you have a debt over your head. Not to be underestimated. I expect there's plenty of young people who think they can run to another country and forget about it. Unfortunately debt is all emcompassing; you can do that but it never really goes away. This is why we need to rethink our attitudes to debt and lending big time. Better to address it than ignore it, though that could include legging it.

Don't assign such a moral responsibility to paying debts though. That is the source of many a problem in the world. It might even destroy our country completely as we print money to pay it back rather than default. Is someone in Thailand earning a teachers wage really expected to pay back a loan in the UK? Well, the answer is yes. This is the real cost of a loan. It's not just paying it back, it's taking on risk.

Legging it from the country is always an option and I do know people who it has worked for.

I think the best way to work it would be to stay off the radar and make one off payments as you want to, possibly even using a prepay card to protect yourself even more. You've moved out of the black market employment so there's a possibility they could track down your employer and have your wage decimated but I think that's highly unlikely; that all depends on what links there is UK-Thailand.

Another thing in favour of paying it off:

if it comes to debt recovery people going around they're gonna go straight to the mailing address and maybe even previous addresses and hassle anyone there. This is something people don't appreciate when taking out a loan.

This is a common thing; where someone outside the country has a debt and wants to deal with it, but is afraid of coming back to the UK to handle it. The only thing I can suggest for now is paying off with a prepay card. If someone came back to go bankrupt... I think they could then get stuck here unable to leave?

Wob_2

Sorry jago but none of that made any sense to my situation. I specifically said I had no intentions of "legging it" and a prepay card also goes against what I said in my post, that after nearly 20 years I am only 6 years away from having it written off.

All I want to do is defer for another year as I always did, it's just I changed address to another country and for various reasons it would have been impossible to have informed them within 14 days. I posted to see if someone had experience or a good idea of what to expect so I can be prepared when I contact them, and also to ask who to contact first, SLC or Thesis.

vied18

Dear Sirs

I recently contacted you with regards to my student loan with an amount that is outstanding. You mentioned to me my account had been referred to A company called thesis and it's debt collection department.

Having spoken to them this afternoon, and offered these people a payment proposal, and told them I am a single parent with 3 children under 5years old but I want to start making making payments. I was told they will not accept any payment proposals and they want the full outstanding balance which totals to £1600.

I held my hand up and accepted it was my fault that I had defaulted and I had initiated the phone call today, only to be told this will be going through the courts, in a very abrupt manner. I understand you have to assign these cases over to outside sources but a company like this ? I even asked to find the money and pay installments over 5 months but to no avail they just said they would slap a CCJ on me and take this to court.


I am going to forward this letter to your company ombudsman, the Daily Mail and their financial ombudsman.

I truly understand we all have jobs to do and I accept 100% of the blame defaulting, but to treated like this today it was like talking to a loan shark on the phone. I know you can not intervene but I am making you aware of this and I will stand up in court and tell the judge, they asked me to take a loan out or a overdraft even when I told them I am not working.


I do not expect you to reply to this email, thank you for taking the time to read this email.