Help With Student Loans - HERE!

[Deleted User]

postgradproblems said:

Hi,
 I had a placement year during my 4 year degree and in that year student finance miscalculated my maintain grant (I wasn’t supposed to get any). At the time I rang them repeatedly and told them I didn’t think they had got it right but they assured me it was all correct. Now, 4 years later they are asking me to repay to £2000 they overpaid me. 

I’m just looking for any advice on where I stand with this or if it’s happened to anyone else and how they dealt with it.
It’s a lot of money for their mistake. 

Thanks

As good as your intentions were, if you weren't entitled to it, you must repay it. They can't make you pay it all in a lumpsum, so make sure you talk to them about your income and expenditure to agree a manageable repayment plan.

Disclaimer: not an expert

[Deleted User]

Miss_Pea said:

Hi guys! I am looking for some advice. I got out a student loan from 1994 - 1998. I then moved to Spain for 10 years and lost contact with them and as a single mum have always been way under the threshold to pay them back. My fear is that this has gone to a debt collection agency. I am now trying to get out of this situation and want to do a 1 year PGCE to become a qualified teacher. My questions are:
Will it be possible for me to get another student loan?
Will I be sued for not paying this back, and expected to pay back straightaway even though under the threshold?
When with the previous loans be written off?
Thanks!

Strictly speaking your in direct violation of the credit agreement you signed when you took those loans.

Whichever organisation now owns them could ceryainly take action to recover the sum owed by you.

Under the law that governs student finance, SLC can also refuse to pay you any funding for any new courses because you violated the old agreement even though you may not owe THEM the money.

You could certainly appeal their decision but be prepared to go through all stages of their appeals procedure if you do.

If you are in violation of the agreement, the lender is under no obligation to write any debt off but that's best dealt with as a legal challenge if it comes to it.

Disclaimer: not an expert

Ozil

I've heard from a Friend today that uni might not charge next terms accommodation fees. If that's the case what happens to the students maintenance loan for next term....does that get cancelled???? Or do students get to keep the money???

[Deleted User]

Ozil said:

I've heard from a Friend today that uni might not charge next terms accommodation fees. If that's the case what happens to the students maintenance loan for next term....does that get cancelled???? Or do students get to keep the money???

Your Maintenance Loan entitlement doesn't have stipulations attached regarding what you must spend the money on. It is simply funds you are entitled to based on your circumstances as a student.

Given that your Maintenance Loan and all other funding from SLC is awarded based on your attendance at college or university, the pertinent question is whether or not you will still receive payment of your entitlement and that your entitlement will remain unaffected given that you are not attending the course at present, and there will be no one in the institute to complete the reporting process required to release payments through the attendance confirmation process.

Disclaimer: not an expert

Ed-1

Ozil said:

I've heard from a Friend today that uni might not charge next terms accommodation fees. If that's the case what happens to the students maintenance loan for next term....does that get cancelled???? Or do students get to keep the money???

SLC have confirmed that all payments due in the summer term will be unaffected:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/slc-coronavirus-covid-19-update--2

bambino21

Hi there
wondering if I might get some advice.
from May onwards I will start paying my student loan off via direct debit rather than straight out of my wage as I’m not approaching the last 8 months of payment. This was agreed prior to the outbreak of covid-19. However I have recently found out that I will have to take a 15% pay cut for the next 3 months and wanted to find out if it is possible to take a student loan repayment holiday for the same period. Their phone lines are closed and the first DD is due to come out in May. Thanks 

[Deleted User]

bambino21 said:

Hi there
wondering if I might get some advice.
from May onwards I will start paying my student loan off via direct debit rather than straight out of my wage as I’m not approaching the last 8 months of payment. This was agreed prior to the outbreak of covid-19. However I have recently found out that I will have to take a 15% pay cut for the next 3 months and wanted to find out if it is possible to take a student loan repayment holiday for the same period. Their phone lines are closed and the first DD is due to come out in May. Thanks 

A 15% cut is unfortunate, but the simple answer to your question is "No". You can't get a payment holiday on your student loan.

That said, if your cut takes you below the repayment threshold, you don't need to pay your loan at all.

What you're referring to is the Prevent Over Repayment Scheme where your final repayments are taken by DD. You CAN keep to the agreed repayments, but if your income has changed, you don't NEED to.

They can re-assess your repayment when their lines open again, just let them know that your income has changed and they'll check it out. It needs to have changed already though, they won't change your repayment on your say so unless you're talking about increasing the repayment.

If you have a DD taken in the meantime, just let it go, do NOT cancel your DD. It's a ball-ache to try and get back on to the Scheme if you do.

Disclaimer: not an expert

bambino21

SFSLExpert said:

bambino21 said:

Hi there
wondering if I might get some advice.
from May onwards I will start paying my student loan off via direct debit rather than straight out of my wage as I’m not approaching the last 8 months of payment. This was agreed prior to the outbreak of covid-19. However I have recently found out that I will have to take a 15% pay cut for the next 3 months and wanted to find out if it is possible to take a student loan repayment holiday for the same period. Their phone lines are closed and the first DD is due to come out in May. Thanks 

A 15% cut is unfortunate, but the simple answer to your question is "No". You can't get a payment holiday on your student loan.

That said, if your cut takes you below the repayment threshold, you don't need to pay your loan at all.

What you're referring to is the Prevent Over Repayment Scheme where your final repayments are taken by DD. You CAN keep to the agreed repayments, but if your income has changed, you don't NEED to.

They can re-assess your repayment when their lines open again, just let them know that your income has changed and they'll check it out. It needs to have changed already though, they won't change your repayment on your say so unless you're talking about increasing the repayment.

If you have a DD taken in the meantime, just let it go, do NOT cancel your DD. It's a ball-ache to try and get back on to the Scheme if you do.

Disclaimer: not an expert

Thanks so much for the advice, appreciate your help

LizzyS

I'm a British Citizen, I was born in England and have lived here for more than 20 years. In March 2014 I travelled to China to get a job as an English Language Teacher, as I couldn't find a job here. My experience in China was very bad and I ended up getting stuck in Hong Kong with very little money. I then travelled to Australia at the end of 2014 as I had an Great Aunt there who said she would help me find a job.

I worked and lived in Australia for 5 years and came back to England December 2019. During my time in Australia I was on a Working Holiday Visa for 2 years, I then applied for a partner visa, so that I could remain in the country to work and remain with my ex-partner, who was Australian. It was always our intention to come back to England, but a close family member of his became very ill and we had to stay. He then became very sick and I stayed to care for him. Our relationship broke down and I then moved home. During my time in Australia I travelled home once a year to visit my family for Christmas, I maintained an English bank account and savings account. All my family live in the UK and I maintained my ties with them whilst I lived in Australia.

I have applied to study a BA in Social Work here in the UK and intend to remain here for the rest of my life, I have received three offers to study at very prestigious universities. However upon application for a student loan I have been told by Student Finance England that I will very likely not be eligible to receive one as I lived outside of England for 3 years prior to my commencement of my first academic year. They have called into question that England was not my place of 'ordinary residence' therefore I am not eligible.

My question is should I go ahead and apply for Student Finance for commencement in 2020, is it likely that my application will be successful? If so what evidence do I need to provide to prove that my ordinary country of residence was here and that my time in Australia was temporary.

[Deleted User]

LizzyS said:

I'm a British Citizen, I was born in England and have lived here for more than 20 years. In March 2014 I travelled to China to get a job as an English Language Teacher, as I couldn't find a job here. My experience in China was very bad and I ended up getting stuck in Hong Kong with very little money. I then travelled to Australia at the end of 2014 as I had an Great Aunt there who said she would help me find a job.

I worked and lived in Australia for 5 years and came back to England December 2019. During my time in Australia I was on a Working Holiday Visa for 2 years, I then applied for a partner visa, so that I could remain in the country to work and remain with my ex-partner, who was Australian. It was always our intention to come back to England, but a close family member of his became very ill and we had to stay. He then became very sick and I stayed to care for him. Our relationship broke down and I then moved home. During my time in Australia I travelled home once a year to visit my family for Christmas, I maintained an English bank account and savings account. All my family live in the UK and I maintained my ties with them whilst I lived in Australia.

I have applied to study a BA in Social Work here in the UK and intend to remain here for the rest of my life, I have received three offers to study at very prestigious universities. However upon application for a student loan I have been told by Student Finance England that I will very likely not be eligible to receive one as I lived outside of England for 3 years prior to my commencement of my first academic year. They have called into question that England was not my place of 'ordinary residence' therefore I am not eligible.

My question is should I go ahead and apply for Student Finance for commencement in 2020, is it likely that my application will be successful? If so what evidence do I need to provide to prove that my ordinary country of residence was here and that my time in Australia was temporary.

While the Helpcentre advice is accurate, you should ALWAYS submit your application for a skilled Assessor to determine your eligibility and entitlement to Student Finance using the appropriate legislation and your supporting evidence.

In this instance, you must declare, correctly, the length of time you've been back in the UK and any supporting documents that show you maintained links in the UK. E.g. Mortgage Statements or Bank Statements.

While I'm sympathetic to your situation, it may be difficult to show that your intent was always to return to the UK when, based on what you've said, it does generally appear that you applied to remain in Australia and only returned due to the breakdown of the relationship that sponsored your Visa.

Of course, not to say that is what happened - it's just to give you an indication of what to expect during the application process.

Please remember to submit your application as early as possible, and also do not accept their first decision as the final decision. They have a formal appeals procedure precisely for these circumstances, and if you do not believe the legislation has been applied correctly (do not confuse this with the policy being 'fair') then you should exhaust their internal appeals process and then ask for an independent review of your case.

Only then will the decision be final.

I understand this is long winded, but I hope it helps you at least a little.

Disclaimer: not an expert