Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

fairleee

Thanks MrsManda, I thought that would be the case but I wasn't sure.

Just to make certain, I think I'll get in touch with the company payroll team to make sure everything goes through smoothly!

hancockers

Hi

Nice information for this forum.

droow

I've got a student loan outstanding from when I was a student in around 1990. I deferred for a while as I wasn't earning enough, then moved jobs a few times, lived abroad for a bit and during that time just left it.

I broke my neck 10 years ago diving in the sea leaving me paralysed from the upper chest down and as a result am on income support and dla & severe disablement allowance.

Eventually the SLC caught up with me and after several threatening letters/calls they agreed to accept £10 a month. I've been paying that now for about 4-5 years. I have £1277.51 left to pay.

All of a sudden out of the blue I've been bombarded by phone calls and letters from a debt recovery agency called credit solutions threatening legal action.

Can anyone advise me on what to do? I read somewhere that if serious illness or accident occurs the loan need not be paid back I think I might have screwed that up by going 'missing' for a few years. But there's no way I can pay back 1200 quid!

I rang credit solutions and they said they can no longer accept £10 a month and want to increase it to £10-£20 a week

HELP!

Andy

Oldernotwiser

I don't know the answer to the debt collector queries but I'm afraid you have "screwed it up" by not deferring properly at the time, otherwise you would have the debt wiped as you're permanently disabled.

You might find the Loans board more helpful regarding dealing with the actual debt.

leadonmcduff

I would appreciate some advice please. I am a mature student (54) and completed a 1 year post grad course last year. Due to a mix up at SLc my award was never paid and I paid my own fees etc . I have just received a letter today awarding me my finances for the year.

standard loan 3663
tution fee loan 700
and a grant of 2906

Obviously this will be useful in replenishing my savings that I had to raid. The crazy thing is I've just got the money and will be paying back in the same month!

I havent claimed yet and am wondering f I'd be better off just accepting the grant given that Im going to be paying back the loan in my late 70s when I will hopefully be long retired!! My wages vary - some months will be over the limit and I do some private tuition from time to time. I dont make much profit from that and wondered it is gross income they consider or net after my expenses are taken off.
When I applied I was on a very low wage and thought I was getting written off at 65 so my repayments would be minimal. Naturally I'm grateful that my finaces have improved to a situation where I am now liable. However, I see it lasts 25 years though obviously in retirement I will be under the threshold. I dont really want an ever increasing debt though. I havent actually done the calculations on what it would be but Im assuming the interest will be compounded.

How would it work if I just took the tution fee loan part ? I already paid my fees to the college
Im guessing the grant is mine to keep.
How do I decline the money I don't want ( if I decide on that option ) as it's all onthe same award notice.
Thanks for your advice

portrushbear

i read in martin lewis' column this weekend that the Student loans only have to be repaid after earning 21k per annum, when does this come into effect, and does it only apply to new 'customers'? My loan was taken out in 01/02

thanks

PB

Wulge

Apologies if this has already been asked/answered.

I began repaying student loans in August last year. Every month my pay slip says that money is being taken out for student loans. I've checked my online account and it says I haven't made any payments yet.

I know your work collects your student loan payments and gives them as a lump sum at the end of each tax year. So is it just that it takes more than a couple of months for the process to go through, or should the SLC have received my payments by now?

Wulge

portrushbear wrote: »

i read in martin lewis' column this weekend that the Student loans only have to be repaid after earning 21k per annum, when does this come into effect, and does it only apply to new 'customers'? My loan was taken out in 01/02

thanks

PB

I believe it only affects people taking out new student loans, when the new increases come into effect.

Poolie

Wulge wrote: »

Apologies if this has already been asked/answered.

I began repaying student loans in August last year. Every month my pay slip says that money is being taken out for student loans. I've checked my online account and it says I haven't made any payments yet.

I know your work collects your student loan payments and gives them as a lump sum at the end of each tax year. So is it just that it takes more than a couple of months for the process to go through, or should the SLC have received my payments by now?

Hi Wulge,

SLC will have a lot of payments to post to accounts so your money should be with them. They load them in order they arrive and cannot load them all at once as it has been known to cause chaos in the system. At the end of each month the interest is adjusted and applied to your account. A few days after the end of the month they will start generating statements ready for printing.

the online account is only updated once a month after the end of each month so may take a while before it is back in sync.

Poolie

portrushbear wrote: »

i read in martin lewis' column this weekend that the Student loans only have to be repaid after earning 21k per annum, when does this come into effect, and does it only apply to new 'customers'? My loan was taken out in 01/02

thanks

PB

Loans between 1998 and when the change takes place will rise inline with inflation till they reach the £21K threshold. At this point the new loans should have started to enter repayment.