Help With Student Loans - HERE!

Oldernotwiser

mayb wrote: »

I think that you should all get your debts wiped out and money returned to those who had to pay out before. Let you start your working life with a clean slate and go back to the grants system that existed before, then attitudes may begin to change towards owing money on credit cards and bank loans just to live at all.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Oldernotwiser

natsplatnat wrote: »

I do believe that as students we were grossly mis-sold our student loans and therefore we should be able to reclaim them or get compensation.
I know everyone says that student loans are the cheapest way of borrowing money whilst you are studying and they are. But, at no point in applying for my loan did anyone mention how long I would be paying it for (not even an estimation on a ficticious infation rate!). ?

Nobody was "sold" student loans, you were offered the opportunity to take them out and you were sent all the relevant information, if you'd bothered to read it. Unfortunately, the government thought that it would be intelligent young adults who'd take out Student Loans but they seem to have overestimated their intelligence!

Nadeshka

mayb wrote: »

By the way caped avenger I have a horid feeling that the debt is only actually paid once a year from the tax man to the student loans company. They like to sit on it and allow you to accumulate interest on the whole loan until that time. If I have got that wrong I am sure someone will post to say so.

Dalec1 wrote: »

You're absolutely correct I won't be allowing this if I can stop it. I want to pay my money directly to SLC not through the tax man.

Don't worry -yes the tax man only makes the payment once at the end of the tax year, but it is credited as individual payments made at the correct time with interest appropriately calculated and deducted. See here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=412946
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6587897.stm

natsplatnat

Quote:
Originally Posted by natsplatnat
I do believe that as students we were grossly mis-sold our student loans and therefore we should be able to reclaim them or get compensation.
I know everyone says that student loans are the cheapest way of borrowing money whilst you are studying and they are. But, at no point in applying for my loan did anyone mention how long I would be paying it for (not even an estimation on a ficticious infation rate!). ?

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Nobody was "sold" student loans, you were offered the opportunity to take them out and you were sent all the relevant information, if you'd bothered to read it. Unfortunately, the government thought that it would be intelligent young adults who'd take out Student Loans but they seem to have overestimated their intelligence!

I did read all the information supplied some 10 years ago!! I was merely asking if I was alone in my thoughts or if anyone else thought similar.
Actually, if anyone has a copy of the loan details from SLC in 1998, I would love to get a copy (just to re-read!!) - mine in my parents loft a long way from where I live!

gymstaff

Help. My son graduated this summer. He has just received his student loan annual statement. He does not have a job as yet. Is interest added monthly now he has finished and will not get any more loan? Or is the balance final and sticks until he repays it when he does get a decent job? I am worried that this loan will increase by £53.79 every month and consequently spiral out of control. Thanks.

Oldernotwiser

gymstaff wrote: »

Help. My son graduated this summer. He has just received his student loan annual statement. He does not have a job as yet. Is interest added monthly now he has finished and will not get any more loan? Or is the balance final and sticks until he repays it when he does get a decent job? I am worried that this loan will increase by £53.79 every month and consequently spiral out of control. Thanks.

Your son's loans have been accruing interest since he took them out and will continue to do so on any outstanding balance. However, he needn't start paying anything back until he earns over £15,000 and will never be more than 9% of anything he earns over this amount. His repayments won't spiral out of control and will always be well within his earning capacity.

Don't worry; student loans are unlike any other form of debt and the thinking about them has to be completely different.

Oldernotwiser

natsplatnat wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by natsplatnat
I do believe that as students we were grossly mis-sold our student loans and therefore we should be able to reclaim them or get compensation.
I know everyone says that student loans are the cheapest way of borrowing money whilst you are studying and they are. But, at no point in applying for my loan did anyone mention how long I would be paying it for (not even an estimation on a ficticious infation rate!). ?





I did read all the information supplied some 10 years ago!! I was merely asking if I was alone in my thoughts or if anyone else thought similar.
Actually, if anyone has a copy of the loan details from SLC in 1998, I would love to get a copy (just to re-read!!) - mine in my parents loft a long way from where I live!

I took out loans in 96, 97 and 98 and, although I doubt I've kept the original paperwork the conditions were very clear and haven't been changed.

mayb_2

Not all students are studying finance and politics and however intelligent they may be they would not have experience of financial matters to guide them and many older people can testify to the traps they fell into regarding credit and loans. (perhaps olderbutnowiser is one of them?)

Students are expected to pay for many things towards their courses, including equipment, from day one. Unless they come from wealthy backgrounds where is this money to come from if they have no loan?

Many would have had no idea that their loans would be accumulating interest from day one of their courses with no way of stopping that or of influencing the amount they owe by the end of it. How would they get through university without the loan I am interested to hear the ways of doing that? If you have to work 24/7 to get money to finance this then your degree will suffer as a result.

The end result is students in debt - no matter how low the interest is in comparison with other loans. That is not the point, it is money owed and a culture of debt is established as the norm.

Along with many others I pay tax in order to provide for the education of others and those going on to earn from their education will be paying taxes too. The more they earn the more they pay. Society does not need to feel they are getting a free education if they don't pay student fees or rely on student loans to acquire their degrees. The concept is flawed in its aims and practice.

The_One_Who

If people don't want to take out the loan then they can get a job and work for a few years to pay for it. There is no age limit on university and going a few years later certainly won't harm you, in fact you're more likely to be mature and because you are paying for your education you'll take it more seriously.

It's a loan. Of course it will be accruing interest! I'm shocked people don't know this. I have a loan, and I know the terms and conditions of it. I'm a geography student, a human geographer at that. So I do very little maths and no finance. I still know about my loan and what's going to happen when I graduate.

Adam_W_2

Hi all, Newbie here to the forum, but been a regular checker of the site for some time.

Short of reading all 42 pages, i get the idea alot of people are feeling the same as me.

I received my annual statement in the post today, from August 2008, some 3 months late. At the time of statement, my balance is £17,589.00, from a 4 year course.

This sum is higher than i was expecting, and yes, i didn't realise, along with many others, that i was paying interest from the time it was taken. Im sure was informed interest would only be accrued once graduated.

However, some simple calculations show me that, assuming i am paying the minimum repayment value (9% on anything above the £15,000 threshold) i will never be able to pay this off, and the interest will keep rising. A simple excel spreadsheet shows that by 2030, my loan will be almost £50,000.

I was shocked at this and did call SLC, but the lady on the phone assured me that this was the case, and I will keep paying back until i die, where it will be cleared. I have a choice to either keep it at the minimum repayment or increase the payment at any time.

As a result, my way of thinking is this is just another 'tax' of 9% to pay on any earnings over the £15,000 threshold.

So, if your still with me, a few questions:

1) Does the loan get cleared when i die?
2) If this is the case, does it get taken out of my 'estate'?

3) Or, does it get cancelled and that is the end of it...no debt passed on to any family etc?

If it happens to be 3), then what is the incentive to pay off the loan, other than the minimum repayments?

Long winded, but i cant really find an answer to this easily.

I don't want this to get into a 'should read the terms & conditions' argument either.

Many thanks, and appreciate any advice/information.

Adam W