Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

Poolie

dubsdj wrote: »

I have 18500 pound student loan. I repay about 50 pounds a month but by the end of the year I notice the interest of the loan is more than my repayments and it goes up by another 100 pounds every year!! I'm really worried because I can't really afford to pay anymore back than what the government takes... What should I do??

I got my first student loan payment around 2000 - 2001

You could either ignore the student loan as your employment options may change and you will get better job or if you want to set up a standing order to pay a higher amount.

Remember that no interest will be applied to your loan between Sept 09 and August 2010 so it might be better to reassess the situation in August 2010.

henah

Hi I took out my student loan between 2003-2006, shortly after graduating I moved abroad and have lived abroad since. I have never heard or received anything from student loans bar an annual statement that they send to my mum's address.

Is it correct that my loan means that it won't ever get wiped until I'm 65, regardless of how long it is that student loans doesn't contact me? In this case, I started earning more money a year ago and would be eligible to start paying back my loan. Should I start paying it back or wait it out as they haven't contacted me? I do want to return to the U.K at some point.

Also can they find out that I've been eligible to pay my loan back for the last year or so and haven't done this? Does it carry a fine? Is this avoidable? How should I approach them to start paying my loan back?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help with this

Poolie

henah wrote: »

Hi I took out my student loan between 2003-2006, shortly after graduating I moved abroad and have lived abroad since. I have never heard or received anything from student loans bar an annual statement that they send to my mum's address.

Is it correct that my loan means that it won't ever get wiped until I'm 65, regardless of how long it is that student loans doesn't contact me? In this case, I started earning more money a year ago and would be eligible to start paying back my loan. Should I start paying it back or wait it out as they haven't contacted me? I do want to return to the U.K at some point.

Also can they find out that I've been eligible to pay my loan back for the last year or so and haven't done this? Does it carry a fine? Is this avoidable? How should I approach them to start paying my loan back?

Thanks so much to anyone who can help with this

This is a hot topic here.

Basically it is the borrower's (you) responsibility to contact SLC and advise them that you are overseas. If your salary is over the thresold for the given currency then they would expect repayment from a UK bank account or you can send in a chequeu from a UK Bank to cover the years repayments.

They can charge you £208 per month if they find out you are abroad and they are chasing more people on this point now than before. If you return to the UK they will ask where you have been for a long time and what you have been doing which may result in a nasty letter.

You can easily write to SLC telling them you have gone overseas and they will provide you the necessary paperwork. You will need proof of income either a contract dated with in the last 3 months of copies of the last 3 months payslips.

lovepigeon

Hi everyone I wonder if anyone can give me advice about my situation.
I started a degree in Sep 2005 but changed course at the end of that year to start a new degree in Sep 2006 which I finished this year.
I was charged top-up fees for the degree I started in 2006 and so my SLC debt is now just over £28k.
The problem is as I started in 2005 I am being treated as such in terms of repayment conditions (ie written off at 65 rather than after 25 years). I think this is really unfair as surely the govt introduced the 25yr write off period to compensate for the larger debts caused by top-up fees?
When I use the SLC loan repayment calculator it says that if I were treated as 2006 student my remaining debt of ~ £80k would be written of after 25 years whereas if I'm treated as 2005 student I continue to pay for an extra 20 years or so - a huge difference.
I feel either I should not have been charged top-up fees or I should get the 25-yr write off or a mixture, eg. have some of my debt treated in each way although this would be complicated.
As it stands I am hugely disadvantaged compared to anyone else with top-up fees as only people who changed course like me will have those extra 20 years of repayment.
I would like to do something and campaign to have an amendment so that anyone who changed course and was therefore charged top-up fees be treated like a 2006 student but don't know where to start.
I wrote to both the NUS and my uni student union some time ago and never got a response from either so now don't know where to turn - local mp?
I will be grateful for any ideas!

Poolie

I personally think you are not going to get anywhere as you did change your course which means you have been in education all the time. THis means your first loan was taken out under the older regulations. There is no point going to your local MP till you have tried the complaints procedure within Student Loans.

Apricot

Im confused - recieved a letter from SLC today saying that they understand I am no longer in employment could I please fill out this form....blah blah. Firstly I don't understand why they think that as I have been employed by the same company for over two years.

Secondly I now earn over the 15k threshold & should therefore be paying something back each month but I can't quite work out how much. Could someone help? My gross pay is £1375.

Also, when will my boss start making deductions? Tbh when people like csa have sent her letters I know for a fact that she just ignores them but I don't want to get into trouble for this.

Poolie

princessleah_ wrote: »

Im confused - recieved a letter from SLC today saying that they understand I am no longer in employment could I please fill out this form....blah blah. Firstly I don't understand why they think that as I have been employed by the same company for over two years.

Secondly I now earn over the 15k threshold & should therefore be paying something back each month but I can't quite work out how much. Could someone help? My gross pay is £1375.

Also, when will my boss start making deductions? Tbh when people like csa have sent her letters I know for a fact that she just ignores them but I don't want to get into trouble for this.

You have received the form as HMRC cannot match your tax records with the student loan system even though you have been with the same employer for the last 2 years.

You should either phone them up as they can take your employment details over the phone or complete the form and send it back. All the details are required the PAYE Reference is very important. This will be on your P60.

Based on your gross monthly salary you should expect repayments to be £11 per month. (Gross Salary - 1250) * 9%

Your payroll will be sent a letter from HMRC to start making repayments. If she does not then she is running the risk of a large fine from HMRC against her. HMRC will pick this up on the annual returns.

naqvia

Hi,

I would be grateful if anyone could advise me.

I finished my Bachelor degree in September 2006. Then I went on to do a Masters degree in the academic year 2006-2007.

In January 2008, I started working with a salary above £15,000 (low 20s).

I did not have a P45 form as I had not worked before, therefore I was asked to fill in a P60 form, which I did and made sure to tick the Student loans box.
However, I have not heard anything from anyone for the last 2 years regarding my student loans.

I recently received a pay rise bringing my salary up, and at this point I realised that my student loan was not being deducted by anyone.

I would like to start paying off my studen loan, at the standard rate of 9% above £15,000 salary, but how do I go about this?
Do I contact student loans or some other governmental department or just inform my employer to deal with it.

I have no clue about this student loans scheme and the repayment methood etc. All I was aware off was that it would be taken out "automatically", but it has not, which has made me worried about possible fines etc,

Can the studen loans company pass my loan onto a debt agency (I am not sure but think not, as it was taken after 2001, so not a traditional loan), or demand lump sum payments or back date my loan.

Do I not get 1 years grace period regardless, so I should have really started paying my loan in January 2009?

I will appreciate any assistance that you provide.

Reading some of the previous pages has led me to believe that I should contact the student loans company with my PAYE number on my salary slip; Is this correct?

Furthermore, people have told me that I shouldn't bother informing student loans company and should plead ignorance as it should automatically have been taken out, but I do not like doing things that are "morally" wrong, hence would like to pay it.

Some of the online "calculators" state that at my present salary, I should pay my loan of about £15,000 in the next 15 years or so. Is this correct?
I know they will take approximately £80 / month from salary.
So why are people complaining that the interest is more than the amount they pay each month, meaning they will NEVER pay off their loan?
Are these online calculators wrong, as all I will be paying is basic 9% above £15,000 / month.

Thank you.

Oldernotwiser

naqvia wrote: »

Some of the online "calculators" state that at my present salary, I should pay my loan of about £15,000 in the next 15 years or so. Is this correct?
I know they will take approximately £80 / month from salary.
So why are people complaining that the interest is more than the amount they pay each month, meaning they will NEVER pay off their loan?
Are these online calculators wrong, as all I will be paying is basic 9% above £15,000 / month.

Thank you.

It's difficult to say when you'll pay off your Student Loan as interest rates will change and you may not carry on getting the salary you get now.

Some people won't be earning as much as you do and if, for example, they earned £20,000, they would be paying back £450 pa. If interest rates went back to 2% and they owed £20,000, the interest accrued would be £400 pa and the loan would take 400 years to repay! (Apologies for any discrepancies but you get the general idea!)

Congratulations for wanting to get it all arranged and don't worry about debt collectors; these sort of mistakes are common and easily sorted.

Poolie

For ease of answering all your questions I have answered them in the thread.

naqvia wrote: »

Hi,

I would be grateful if anyone could advise me.

I finished my Bachelor degree in September 2006. Then I went on to do a Masters degree in the academic year 2006-2007.

In January 2008, I started working with a salary above £15,000 (low 20s).

I did not have a P45 form as I had not worked before, therefore I was asked to fill in a P60 form, which I did and made sure to tick the Student loans box.
However, I have not heard anything from anyone for the last 2 years regarding my student loans.

It would have been a P46 for that you would have been required to fill in.

I recently received a pay rise bringing my salary up, and at this point I realised that my student loan was not being deducted by anyone.

I would like to start paying off my studen loan, at the standard rate of 9% above £15,000 salary, but how do I go about this?

You need to contact Student Loans company on 0845 073 8891. They will require your PAYE Reference and employers details such as address. It may also be a problem at HMRC in which case Student Loans will be able to get HMRC to issue a manual start notification to the employer and get the payments going. HMRC will need to raise a request to have the records merged together to sort out the problems.

Do I contact student loans or some other governmental department or just inform my employer to deal with it.

Your employer will not be able to do anything till they receive paperwork from HMRC. It might be worth asking if they ever received a start notification or SL1. If they did then they didn't act on it and could be in trouble with HMRC.

I have no clue about this student loans scheme and the repayment methood etc. All I was aware off was that it would be taken out "automatically", but it has not, which has made me worried about possible fines etc,

Can the studen loans company pass my loan onto a debt agency (I am not sure but think not, as it was taken after 2001, so not a traditional loan), or demand lump sum payments or back date my loan.

Do I not get 1 years grace period regardless, so I should have really started paying my loan in January 2009?

There will be no fine as it is the fault of HMRC or your employer to start taking the repayments.

I will appreciate any assistance that you provide.

Reading some of the previous pages has led me to believe that I should contact the student loans company with my PAYE number on my salary slip; Is this correct? Yes as the PAYE reference will tie your records together at HMRC to get the repayments started.

Furthermore, people have told me that I shouldn't bother informing student loans company and should plead ignorance as it should automatically have been taken out, but I do not like doing things that are "morally" wrong, hence would like to pay it.

If you do this you are only fool yourself and when the interest rate changes from 0% your loan will carry on increasing in value. You will either take longer to pay it back or will have to wait till your 65 for it to be written off. Student Loans do have a policy of checking with HMRC on a regular basis to see if people have started work so they would catch up with you shortly.

Some of the online "calculators" state that at my present salary, I should pay my loan of about £15,000 in the next 15 years or so. Is this correct?
I know they will take approximately £80 / month from salary.
So why are people complaining that the interest is more than the amount they pay each month, meaning they will NEVER pay off their loan?
Are these online calculators wrong, as all I will be paying is basic 9% above £15,000 / month.

This has already been answered.

Thank you.