Help With Student Loans - HERE!

Crispy_Ambulance

elcapo wrote:

Hi there Student Loans Worker,

I wonder if you can help me out with this?? I have three loans from 97-98 to 00-01. In 2003 I went travelling for two years forgetting to defer my loans. I called SLC from Buenos Aires (a number of times) and then from Tokyo a few months later (a number of times) when I knew that they were sending me letters and making phone calls home.
When I called they told me that they would send me a deferral letter by fax to my places of work but they never arrived and I arrived back in London to find that I had £1500+ worth of arrears :mad: . When I came back I found that two of my loans had been transferred to Honours Student Loans and neither my family or I was aware of this. I tried to resolve this when I got back and have been paying them since July last year. However, I still don't feel that I should pay the arrears as even now I have failed to recieve letters from them stating that they have recieved the numerous phone calls I made when abroad and notification to rescind the charges. They will also not update their records and now I am having problems getting credit from other companies due their ineptitude. They are rude and are unwilling to believe that I was not running away from them - what can I do? Because I am NOT going to pay these charges. HELP!!!!!

If you have not deferred your loans and kept the SLC up to date with your circumstances, there is nothing you can do. Once they have passed to debt out, they will not take it back. Your best bet is to come to an arrangement with the Debt Collector - contact your local CAB for help with this.

critters

a strange request but i have been asked to find out!!
my daughter graduated 2 years ago, with a large enough student loan, she has made no repayments as yet.
she is travelling the world this year and has asked me to find out..
if she stays abroad for foreseeable future, except for short visits, will she have to pay back her loan evenually when she returns or will it get written off evenually?
please let me know so i can let her know.
thanx

elisebutt65

You have to pay it back when you get back, and if you don't let them know your earnings while you're away, they whack up the interest charges.

bob_regis

I was in university between 1999 and 2004 (total of 5 years) and in total took out roughly £10000 in student loans.

I started work immediately after my degree ended and exceed the threshold for paying back the loan which I have been doing so.

What benefits are there to me for paying back the loan early?
I understand that the interest rates are linked to the base rate - so as long as the money is in a bank account (its in a ISA actually) which is earning more than the base rate I am better off aren't I?

Or am I missing something.

Bob.

ReportInvestor

I don't think you are missing anything.

Stick the money in a cash ISA and you make money.

Some people take satisfaction from clearing debts. If you're not one of them then don't bother.

When it comes to getting a loan, banks & bss will understand your student debt and rate it differently to other debts.

And you can always show them your ISA statements to prove that you are a good risk and are not "really" in debt.

ReportInvestor

elisebutt65 wrote:

You have to pay it back when you get back, and if you don't let them know your earnings while you're away, they whack up the interest charges.

Do you mean that they roll up the interest, charge you higher interest or something else?

Edit Ah. Found it now. You have to notify them of your details and any earnings or there are penalties. And you are obliged to pay if you are working abroad.

For loans taken out to date
"Once you reach the age of 65 your loan will be cancelled - even if you have not paid it all off. Of course, if your income never rises above the threshold before you reach the age of 65, you will not have to make any repayments.

Your loan will be cancelled if you die. It will not be passed on to anybody else. Your loan will also be cancelled if you become permanently disabled."

For future loans
These will cease at age 50. Presumably to give you a chance to save for retirement so that you aren't a burden on the state :rolleyes:.

The reason for the "age discrimination" is because future students will be a further £6K+ in debt due to tuition fee hikes.

Hoopylass

Hiya I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I am paying off my student loan at the moment and it generally works out at £50-£60 per month, however I am sure that i heard that the new payment structure set out by the government was £5 odds per week, is this right? everyone thinks I am mad when I say this lol.

equine_induced_poverty

This post is in debt free wanabe. It has some advice. It is also posted here. Please read it, it may help us claw back unfair charges. i.e. for when they lose the deferment forms and then charge you for non-payment.

This may be in the wrong place, please bear with me! (Or shift it).
Have noticed several threads about banks charging unfair amounts for financial misdemeanors, i.e. exceeding overdraft, etc. My question is:
Are the SLC guilty of a similar offence?
In my experience the SLC make amazing blunders, like being unable to defer two loans under different numbers, paying money into the wrong loan and then charging you a fine etc.
I have had to pay several hundred pounds to the SLC, and wonder if I could reclaim any of it?
Any help gratefully recieved

student_mother

I'm new to this site but was impressed by the knowledge shown! I have a question about the student loan application(PR1) as I can't remember what I did last year! The section for the student's income details specifically states that ISAs are not to be included, by which I presume they mean the interest income from the student's ISAs. In the parental financial details section it asks for bank and building society gross interest but doesn't specify whether the parents' ISA interest is to be included or not. I phoned the helpline and the adviser "thought" it didn't count but seemed far from certain. Does anyone know for certain whether it's included or not?

clairestelle

Does anyone on this thread know whether i am entitled to another student loan? I took a degree ten years ago and took out a student loan for each of the three years. As I have never earned enough money I have deferred repayment. I am returning to university this October on another course and need funding. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.