Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

Oldernotwiser

LittleYoda wrote: »

Hi there,

I would be grateful for any advice.

I have four student loans taken out between 1995 and 1998.

I am currently earning over the threshold and repaying my loans.

I will be emigrating in January, and living off savings until May 2011 when I start work. I anticipate that I will be earn below the threshold required to make repayments.

I just want to make sure I go about things in the right way, and tell Honours Student Loans what I need to, in order that I do not end up with a bad credit rating.

A few questions:

1) I will get my final Uk pay cheque at the end of December 2010. Am I eligible to defer payment following my last pay cheque, or do I continue to make payments until March/April 2011?

2) I will not have a permanent address until March April 2011. Will e-mail contact details be sufficient for Honours Student Loans?

3) I anticpate that I will have to apply for deferment on an annual basis. Can this be done online, or will I need to send documents back to the UK recorded delivery?

Any advice at all is gratefully received.

Thanks

LY

I can only answer your last point. You have to send forms and proof of income back to the UK - you can't do it on line.

Poolie

You can request deferment at any time during the year and it will last for 12 months.

Ink_Guru

I find all this student loans ideas and information thank you all. I graduated about 2 years ago and after not earning above the threshold until my new job started this year does that mean my payments will start coming out automatically or do i have to inform the student loans company?

Oldernotwiser

LittleYoda wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies people.

Mrs Manda - the links you gave are for the Student Loans Company, however my loans are managed by Honours Student Loans. Does this make any difference in terms of who I contact, and the rules for deferment?

http://www.honoursstudentloans.co.uk/default.aspx

The above is a link to the firm that manages my loans.

Thanks again for the replies.

LY

My loans are with HSL so I telephone them with any queries but I believe that it's SLC who deals with deferments.

jennikitten

You need to ask whoever's in charge of payroll at your company about it, it will be them that arranges the student loan deductions from your payslip rather than the student loans company.

EDIT: That was in reply to Ink_Guru

boredmonkeyman

Hey all,

I have a post-98 loan I started paying off in 2007 in the UK, moved to Canada in June and declared I am here, with proof of savings and letter from parents, etc. Now I have started working (2 months ago) and am over the threshold.

I can't afford to pay the default amount (246 pounds I think) at the mo, but happy to pay the income based amount (about 100 pounds on my calculation), but I know I need three months of payslips for them to calculate it properly which I don't have yet.

As I have declared not working already with proof, they said I only need to contact them in a year! I want to pay back what I should, but I don't want to get in trouble and be charged more than I can afford.

Can I just tell them in a year or should I when I have been working three months with payslips? And if I do tell them at 3 months/1 year, is there a penalty for not telling them right away and waiting for another month? Also, will they make me pay the last three months/1 year right away if I do that?

I can't see this info anywhere on their site, but see other people in forums with similar probs.

Any help appreciated!

Thanks.

Poolie

You should let SLC know your circumstances have changed. You won't be charged the default amount but will be expected to make a contribution based on your income level as per UK. You can always send a copy of your contract if it is dated within the last 6 months.

As you are classed as overseas and not expected to make any repayment for the current annual period then you would not be charged extra if you have started working.

You will find the form and associated guide on this link (http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3867189&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL)

RoseRed

I've just been checking out my husbands student loan and it will be paid off in his March pay ( well all except £4 but I'll pay that by card). I saw it mentioned in Martins article that if you have less than 2 years repayments left you can opt to pay by direct debit instead of wage deduction? Has anyone any experience of this?

I'm concerned about them taking an age to stop taking the money as we could really do with it to clear our remaining debt.

Many thanks for any help.

boredmonkeyman

Poolie wrote: »

You should let SLC know your circumstances have changed. You won't be charged the default amount but will be expected to make a contribution based on your income level as per UK. You can always send a copy of your contract if it is dated within the last 6 months.

As you are classed as overseas and not expected to make any repayment for the current annual period then you would not be charged extra if you have started working.

You will find the form and associated guide on this link

Thanks very much.

I'll check out the info (the site has been down most of the day), and probably just send them the information after the three months, as I have heard of people having problems with the demand for proof before that time and default payments having to be made.

I intend to pay some off at least while the Bank of England rate is still low!

masterbiker

Hey All,

I was a Scottish student that studied in England, so have an approx 10k student loan.

I also have a bit of credit card debt in the Uk, which I am just about able to pay off fine each month (about 6k). Most of the time I am able to pay them a bit more than they request each month.

I am currently living and working in Ireland.

The Student Loans Company want me to pay about 9% of my income. Because of the credit card debt I am worried they are going to ask for more money that I can currently afford to pay them and pay my CC repayments.

So my question is, If they ask me to pay back more than I can afford, am I legally allowed to tell them "I can afford to pay you X amount a month and no more"?

Thanks for the help