Student Finance- Stressing out parents

charleyc

Hi all,
I'm new to this so, I'll try and be brief.
Basically my younger brother started a university course in September 2008, obviously its very different to when I went 10 years ago, mainly fees which have trebled and costs.
So here we go.
His fees for the course were £943 a term- and his accommodation was £84 per week- quite pricey!
My parents could never afford to pay this money straight out, (and couldn't when I went to uni) so took out a student loan.
My brother had £543 grant from the loans company and the reast was a loan at £1183.38.

There is all the money side of things, basically my brother realised after a couple of months that he wasn't enjoying himself, he found the course really hard and hadn't made many friends so decided to quit. He spoke to the uni and they told him if he quit before the 1st of december he would get a refund back from his fees back to the student loan. He did all the paper work, quit and came back home. He was then told he would not get a refund because his fees were meant to have been paid in full (althought this was not mentioned at the time) plus, because he was not in University on the 1st of Decemeber, when the figures from the uni were sent to the student loans company, obviously my brother wasn't present, thus he did not receive his student loan installment, and his fees were not paid.
Then we received a letter saying that the "GRANT" had been overpaid by £182 and needed repaying asap( I thought a grant was a grant not a loan).
And now the Accommodation company wants the full £2400 paid by June (alhtough he's not living there, he is still paying £84 per week, and trying to re-let his room), and the university want the fees (£943) paid by the 1st of March!
My parents do not have the money to pay these at all, hence the reason they took out the student loan in the first place, these people are not being very helpful at all, and its causing alot of stress.
My brother is working as much as possible to get some cash together but will be having an op on his hand and will be off work for a month.
What can we do? Are there any loop holes where they have to take a minimum payment?
We realise university isn't free, and we realise there are probably people in similar situations.
Please send me any information that could lighten the situation, look forward to hearing from you! :mad:

Lokolo

Grants have to be paid back if you drop out, the SLC doesn't want to give free money to people who aren't staying to get a degree. The money could go to better use.

He stayed at university for a term so has to pay the terms fees, university isn't free you know?

Accomondation - nothing to do with student loans, its in terms of contract - as with phones, renting privately. If a contract is for X months and you break it you still have to pay upto X.

Unfortunately theres no way around this.

As for the rest of the loan (maintenance) he will pay it back when earning more than £15,000.

p.s. I don't think he started Sep 2009... maybe 2008?

Tommy99

if he was only in his first few months of his first year, the tution fee's should only be for that first term he was there for.
The accomadation, not sure as stated by 'Lokolo', if the university sorted out the accomadation it may be differant. When i was in my first year a few people i knew dropped out, the university sorted out the accom' so he paid by the term.

Just remember however university say they, they are not. They are business, just like anyone else. Fight them as much as possible. Read the university contract, and maybe speak to citezn advice, look for a student forum as look to see if there are others around that are in the same problem as your brother. Just fight them they are all after money...

Ps i am a student at Bournemouth, and they charge me £10 for my student ID card. Which i am fighting against...

Lokolo

My university acc. is 10 months. if anyone left early they would a) have you find someone to replace b) pay off the rest of the contract. As with most universities.

Oldernotwiser

charleyc wrote: »

My parents do not have the money to pay these at all, hence the reason they took out the student loan in the first place, ! :mad:

Your parents didn't take out the Student Loan and they're not responsible for repaying it. You're making this too much a family thing and not enough an individual responsibility for your brother. The language you're using for this represents very wrong thinking on the matter!

charleyc

I'm just trying to be supportive of my parents and my brother- I don't think there is anything wrong with that is there???? My brother realises that its his responsibilty, he's trying to do everything he can.

spandangled

I had an overpayment on my grant because I chose to do an internship and a part-time year instead of a full year, and after explaining for a good four months to the SLC that there was no way I could pay it back in one go they agreed to a minimum payment of £10 a month.

If he has received a student loan for the first term, it wouldn't surprise me if they want that back as well (sorry to make matters worse) but after I had sorted out the above, I then got a letter for an overpayment on my loan.

They treat loans and grants separately and the LEA seem much quicker on the grants than they are on the loans.

Oldernotwiser

charleyc wrote: »

I'm just trying to be supportive of my parents and my brother- I don't think there is anything wrong with that is there???? My brother realises that its his responsibilty, he's trying to do everything he can.

I realise that you're being supportive by posting here for advice but when you talk about your parents applying for the loans and not being able to afford to pay them back it really gives the impression that they haven't understood what student finance is all about.

Fire_Fox

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Your parents didn't take out the Student Loan and they're not responsible for repaying it. You're making this too much a family thing and not enough an individual responsibility for your brother.

Agree with this, harsh as it may sound. Your brother needs to be writing (not phoning) the Student Loans Company himself, setting out clearly the terms under which he left his course, his present situation (job/ operation), willingness to pay and ability to pay. Basically make an offer of payment at a rate he can afford. The Student Loans Company are not ogres, but they must appear tough. If this were a bank it would be much worse.

It is your brother's student loan NOT your parents. The legal responsibility lies at his door, and the SLC cannot take money he does not have. The family care, which is great, but your brother is an adult and thus both legally and morally responsible for sorting out his own mess (with your love and support of course). :A

Taiko

Just on the fee situation, universities are allowed to charge you whatever they feel, regardless of when you leave a course. As I'm sure you're now aware, to qualify for fee support you must be in attendance 3 months after the start of the academic year.

The actual grants and loans are pro-rata'd based on the time spent in attendance. It's not as if he is being asked to pay back everything, and usually SLC will ask for the grant back first. This is actually all in the T&C's that your brother read and signed.

spandangled

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I realise that you're being supportive by posting here for advice but when you talk about your parents applying for the loans and not being able to afford to pay them back it really gives the impression that they haven't understood what student finance is all about.

It's not surprising really though, most parents have to sign the loan form and give details of their earnings if the loan is means-tested (at least this was the case pretop-up fees).

You do make it sound like a family responsibility rather than his, but look on the bright side, he is working to pay it off, and you all know how much he owes so there's a degree of honesty about it. It could be worse his head could be firmly planted in the sand