Am unsure what to do about deffering?

[Deleted User]

I have had my deferment letter from the student loans place. I am unsure what to do for the best.

I had a baby in Jan 2008 and I took 9 months maternity which left me with a very low wage for a while there. I am now back full time so my last 3 wage slips which student loans want to see are obviously back at my full wage which is gross £2053.58 per month. Howver my gross figure for the year does not represent that as there were several months where I was only maid SMP. How do they work it out?? Monthly wage or yearly?? Monthly isnt a fair representation of my earnings.

Now the cut off is £2161 per month which woudln't usually be a problem BUT now of course I have child benefit which I have to declare at £80 every 4 weeks. I do not think this is right as child benefit is not exactly what I would call 'income' in terms of wage.

PLUS because my wage was so low for the SMP part of my maternity I get child tax credit of £53.92 per month. Now this will be 0 as of the end of march because my child is 1.

If i add the above lot up it is higher than deferrment threshold. Wouldn't be a problem normally but as we are still paying off debt from when I was on SMP and now I am pregnant with baby number 2 we cannot afford to be paying this every month right now. I am cross that they ask me to declare child benefit. Tax credit i can understand. If I had put the CB in my OH name there would be no issue and it's wrong. Having spoken to the CB team they say I CAN swap to my OH name but it takes about 4 months where you recieve no money which defeats the object somewhat!!

So question is can i put that I recieve no tax credit? Because I will recieve non after march and the student loan goes on the wage now.

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Oldernotwiser

I assume from your post that you're on the older "mortgage style" scheme. As the deferral date is normally in April, can't you wait until then to complete the form rather than filling it in on the basis of future income.

[Deleted User]

Yeah i will wait till april but they will still want to see 3 months wage slips - the last 3 months have been at full time pay but the 6 before that weren't!!

Sponge

shelvis wrote: »

...I am cross that they ask me to declare child benefit. Tax credit i can understand. If I had put the CB in my OH name there would be no issue and it's wrong. Having spoken to the CB team they say I CAN swap to my OH name but it takes about 4 months where you recieve no money which defeats the object somewhat...

Could I just ask: I'm in a similar position now. I'm filling in my deferment form and was wondering about the Child Benefit and Tax Credits my wife and I receive. The CB is in my wife's name, so does this mean I don't have to put it on the form?

The paperwork only mentions 'your income', i.e. mine. Not the household income, i.e. my wife's and mine combined. I'm concluding this means I don't have to provide information on household income which is in my wife's name?

Now I just need to get it right in my head about Working/Child Tax Credits and what to put on the form. I'm just hoping none of this puts me over the threshold as I really cannot afford to start paying off my Student Loan at the moment.

bobmccluckie

I don't understand why your child tax credit will be zero if you are so badly paid.