Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

Poolie

sarah6649 wrote: »

Hi

I did an undergraduate degree 2003-2006. I started paying interest in 2007 (I think). In September 2008 I started a full time law conversion course, and am now doing the legal practice course (also full time) which finishes in June 2010. All of this time I have continued to accrue interest on my student loan. I haven't told SLC that I'm a student again because I'm not sure if it makes any difference?

If anyone could help that would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Further to old not wisers point:

SLC will see that you have stopped working as they will be updated in HMRC. SLC will then contact you asking what you are doing and request evidence of how you are supporting yourself. Since your a student you would not be expected to make any repayments (unless voluntary) till you started work again.

skybluearmyontour

I DID tell them where I was working, how much I was going to earn and sent them a copy of my Visa (which had my total salary on it). Apparently an official document like that means less than a letter from my boss.....

I wanted to tackle it as and when I could because I did not want the interest to keep raising the bar. Having had some time in unemployment, I'm glad we chose the option we did.

vaporate

Why would anyone want to repay the loan voluntary?

With the interest they whack on you might as well wait till it gets written off and only pay what you are legally obliged to pay every month if your in employment.

Or defer it every year if unemployed. As far as I'm concerned its more graduate tax than debt.

Oldernotwiser

skybluearmyontour wrote: »

I'd been paying bits into my student loan account voluntarily for a while, then I got my yearly statement and because of the interest it had hardly made an impact. You're talking £100 off the total for every £900 I put in. I've been quite lucky though. Well very lucky. My mum paid the loan for me after re-mortgaging the house and now I owe here the money instead which is obviously a lot better. The money is coming off at a good steady speed now although I still owe £12,590. .

Better for you perhaps! Your mother's paying a higher rate of interest in order to subsidise you ; you get a loan interest free and she has to pay the difference - not a particularly astute move.

Poolie

skybluearmyontour wrote: »

I DID tell them where I was working, how much I was going to earn and sent them a copy of my Visa (which had my total salary on it). Apparently an official document like that means less than a letter from my boss.....

I wanted to tackle it as and when I could because I did not want the interest to keep raising the bar. Having had some time in unemployment, I'm glad we chose the option we did.

The only documents why will accept is an contract dated within the last 3 months or the last 3 months payslips

skybluearmyontour

That was the problem... I hadn't had any payslips from them by that point as I'd only been out there a couple of weeks.

Ah well.... life goes on.

andjusticeforall45

A friend of mine has been working as a teacher for a just over a year now, she received a payrise 3 months ago to take her above the £1250 a month repayment threshold, however her employer has not been taking deductions for the student loan, if she notifies her employer to start taking deductions, will the SLC demand payment for the 2-3 months when she was eligible to pay but didn't?

Or will they simply ask her to pay back at the basic rate (9% of everything over 15k from now on?)

Very much appreciated,

Anonymous,

Poolie

Her employer will not start taking deductions based on her say. This request has to come HMRC via SLC. If she wants repayments to start it would be best for her to speak with SLC who will contact HMRC.

SLC will not demand payment for the 2 - 3 months as they are only made aware of the total for the year and do not demand payment but HMRC may ask questions why the employer didn't start taking the necessary payments.

Also you do not state if your friend has a pension or not as this can affect the repayments.

Phill_555

unwina wrote: »

I have an intersting dilema, my freinds son has never had a job since leaving uni a few years ago. However, job is a subjective term, hes been gambling on various sites and is winning considerable ammounts on a monthly basis.

Since gambling in the UK is tax free and therfore is never declared how does this stack up with the student loans system.

Just wondered, I know gamblers probably never really win but since he never pays tax/ni etc he earns in the region of £3/4000 a month clear thats not to be sniffed at. My son keeps saying hes gonna give up his job and try this one day.

Does anyone know what the position is on this.

regards,
Alan.

Yes, he will continue to dodge paying pack the loan...but it will be attracting interest charges. I know a few graduate professional gamblers who are intelligent and disciplined enough to make a living.

I would deter your son from pursuing this career, it takes a very specific kind of person to be able to do this successfully. They have to also have many key personality traits (for example, very high self-discipline and the mental strength not leak profits away into gambling where they do not have an 'edge').

Poolie

SLC will ask what he is doing to support himself. If they see the money from gambling then they may consider that he has to make repayments. As there is a threshold for unearned income of £2000pa. Obviously this is unearned because it is winnings they may want to be shown this winnings and they will work out a repayment schedule for him.