Help With Student Loans - HERE!

dragondancer_2

Hi folks. I hope you give me some advice.

Back in 2008 I went back to uni as a mature student and went directly in the final year. ( I only took one loan ) I graduated and about 4months later got a job.

As it was an Income Contingent Loan I didn't think too much about it and thought the repayments would start automatically so didn't pay too much attention to my pay slips. This month SLC sent me a letter saying I have to contact them as HMRC think I have no job! Which is strange for a couple of reasons, one I am paying ( too much -I know, I know, everything thinks this ) tax every month and I can also see a deduction for my student loan - I just happened to get my new pay slip today.

But looking at my old pay slips this is the first month that it has been deducted! I have been with the same employer all this time, the same address all this time, I haven't run away from this by hiding abroad or lying about my income. This is the first non statement letter I have ever received from them.

Someone, probably HMRC - I have had a lot of problems with them in the past - have ballsed it up and not told SLC. My employer were well aware I had just left uni as it was on my CV, mentioned in my interview and had to give them a copy of my degree certificate!! I filled in correctly every form my company asked me to.

Where do I stand? Are SLC likely to demand "arrears" from me even though its not my fault? Will I just continue to make the payments as normal? Its this first bit that I am really concerned about as if they do it at the wrong time I could be in serious trouble - I am in the middle of selling my flat. Would these "arrears" show up in a credit check ( I have a new mortgage arranged in principle with the bank, if this shows up they may withdraw this )?

Any advice would be grateful.

Maitane

Hi all,

Quick one here - I've lived away from home for the last ten years (five of which were at uni as I did a sandwich course) all of which I have spent in Wales. Of the five that I've been out of university, I lived in Gwynedd for four years and then defected to Anglesey last year.

I'm now planning to go back to university to study adult nursing due to my years in the NHS. At 18, I was under Wirral LEA but now I'm 28, who would class as my LEA?

milo_jasper

slcworker wrote: »

it depends if its classed as a continuation of your original course, if so then it will be fine and your tuition fees will only be 1200, but will still be a loan. You'd be best to check with your LEA on how they will class your situation.

agree with slcworker here.

Horlock

Hi there,

Don't know if you can help me or not.

I qualified as a maths teacher which enabled me to get onto the RTL some years back.

However, after 4 years of teaching and receiving RTL I dropped out of the RTL scheme due to moving from state to private education.

I have just accepted a job in the state sector again commencing in September.

Is it possible to get back onto the scheme or not and if so how might I go about doing it?

Thank you.

Mrselfemployed

Dear SLCworker and everyone else.

I am having great difficulty in the the SLC accepting that I am on an incredibly low income and well under the threshold to repay, (£2300gross a month approx).

I have sent my accountants letter stating I made a loss the previous tax year. I expected to be defered immediately. No I have been informed I have to pay back unless I can prove how I survive!

So I will now go into debt if they take payment from me. I have help from parents and have sold numerous personal assets. I do not have much income at all. Even a small amount from savings etc and this shouldn't matter anyway unless the total goes over the £2300 thresholds.

This morning I received a letter stating they are taking payment regardless.

I am now quite stressed over the affair.

Are they breaking the contract by taking payment and should I just cancel the DD to prevent becoming overdrawn/into debt?

(I took the loans out in the old method pre 1998)

Help & any information will be appreciated!

Mrselfemployed

Horlock

Mrselfemployed wrote: »

Dear SLCworker and everyone else.

I am having great difficulty in the the SLC accepting that I am on an incredibly low income and well under the threshold to repay, (£2300gross a month approx).

I have sent my accountants letter stating I made a loss the previous tax year. I expected to be defered immediately. No I have been informed I have to pay back unless I can prove how I survive!

So I will now go into debt if they take payment from me. I have help from parents and have sold numerous personal assets. I do not have much income at all. Even a small amount from savings etc and this shouldn't matter anyway unless the total goes over the £2300 thresholds.

This morning I received a letter stating they are taking payment regardless.

I am now quite stressed over the affair.

Are they breaking the contract by taking payment and should I just cancel the DD to prevent becoming overdrawn/into debt?

(I took the loans out in the old method pre 1998)

Help & any information will be appreciated!

Mrselfemployed

The easiest solution would be to cancel your direct debit direct with the bank. That way they can't take anything! They obviously aren't taking it from your employer. They can then send you lots of threatening letters but I doubt they would do anything more. If they take you to court I suspect you would only need to produce your tax returns and the court would rule in your favour.

If in doubt, make an official complaint as soon as you have cancelled your direct debit. Ask for your complaint to go through the ombudsman and I suspect they will quickly back down. Once it is in the hands of the ombudsman they will stop the threatening letters sharpish.

Dunroamin

Mrselfemployed wrote: »

Dear SLCworker and everyone else.

I am having great difficulty in the the SLC accepting that I am on an incredibly low income and well under the threshold to repay, (£2300gross a month approx).

I have sent my accountants letter stating I made a loss the previous tax year. I expected to be defered immediately. No I have been informed I have to pay back unless I can prove how I survive!

So I will now go into debt if they take payment from me. I have help from parents and have sold numerous personal assets. I do not have much income at all. Even a small amount from savings etc and this shouldn't matter anyway unless the total goes over the £2300 thresholds.

This morning I received a letter stating they are taking payment regardless.

I am now quite stressed over the affair.

Are they breaking the contract by taking payment and should I just cancel the DD to prevent becoming overdrawn/into debt?

(I took the loans out in the old method pre 1998)

Help & any information will be appreciated!

Mrselfemployed

You always have to prove how you survive financially, whether by a letter from parents, partner or benefits. If you claim to live on nothing then, quite rightly, they won't believe you.

questioningstudent

Is it worth paying the interest on my student loan while I am studying, if I can afford it, so that the interest doesn't grow exponentially?
Thanks any advice would be great.

New_York_No1_fan

questioningstudent wrote: »

Is it worth paying the interest on my student loan while I am studying, if I can afford it, so that the interest doesn't grow exponentially?
Thanks any advice would be great.

Please read Martins link
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-repay

this should help answer your question.

HamishA

There seem to be huge differences in the figures given on the MSE calculator and the government one @ the studentfinance.direct.gov.uk site. For the same figures the MSE one says repayments will total 40K before inflation is taken into account and 23K equivalent and the Gov one says repayments will total £107K I know the figures are dependent on earnings and the assumptions about them but the difference between the two figures is truly astonishing.

My son in the fortunate position that his first couple of years can probably be funded without resorting to the loans,but it's likely he would need the full loan in the third year due to a sibling also starting university then. I'm thinking instead of puting the money elsewhere, so that the option of paying the money towards the loan is still available at the end of the course, or perhaps to use the funds towards something else then such as a deposit on a flat - a better use of the funds - possibly. What do you think?

A couple of other questions :-)

Will the 21K starting point also move up with RPI, or some other factor?

I believe the 9% on earning over 21K is paid from earnings before tax? If so does that then reduce the taxable income by the amount paid?