Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

Poolie

You would not have to repay if you are attending university, unless you have dropped out previously and the loan has entered repayment.

If your earning over £15,000 and still studying then you must be getting a fair wack from the job your doing. If you are earning £15,000 you should have told your employer via a P46. If you are expected to make repayments then your employer will deduct these other wise it will be up to your own personal decision if you wish to make any repayments. If you do you will need to ask SLC to take it from the loan that is in repayment rather than your overall balance.

Lokolo

Poolie wrote: »

You would not have to repay if you are attending university, unless you have dropped out previously and the loan has entered repayment.

If your earning over £15,000 and still studying then you must be getting a fair wack from the job your doing. If you are earning £15,000 you should have told your employer via a P46. If you are expected to make repayments then your employer will deduct these other wise it will be up to your own personal decision if you wish to make any repayments. If you do you will need to ask SLC to take it from the loan that is in repayment rather than your overall balance.

I thought that but my placement is more than £15k and I have been paid some back. Well I would have if I ticked the 'I have a student loan' on the P46. I refused to tick it as I hadn't graduated. But my friend who did tick it, has some taken out.

superstar_catwoman

Thanks oldernotwiser - I should have said though that my loans were from the old system, ie automatically paying a set amount back seperately each month once your yearly income goes over a certain amount (somewhere around £25k I think), not the new PAYE type system. Sorry!

Oldernotwiser

superstar_catwoman wrote: »

Thanks oldernotwiser - I should have said though that my loans were from the old system, ie automatically paying a set amount back seperately each month once your yearly income goes over a certain amount (somewhere around £25k I think), not the new PAYE type system. Sorry!

Sorry, I should have asked.

Under the old "mortgage style" loans you need to apply for a deferment if your income falls below the relevant level.To quote from https://www.direct.gov.uk

"If you are already making repayments
If you are already repaying your Student Loan, you can ask the Student Loans Company for a deferment application form at any time.
The form gives details of the maximum gross income level you can earn if you want to delay paying back your Student Loan, and simple instructions on how to complete it.
If deferment is accepted, your start and finish dates will be confirmed in writing.
Deferment lasts for 12 months, and you must make a fresh application each year if you wish to continue deferring repayment."

Poolie

Lokolo - best to get your friend to confirm with SLC that they do not have any loans for which they believe they should be repaying.

If this is the case then they will need to speak to HMRC. Once HMRC have sent the stop notice then the employer should give them back the deductions for the current tax year.

superstar_catwoman

Thanks oldernotwiser - thats great - could maybe also apply to maternity leave, which I hadn't thought of before - worth trying, and I'd have a good argument if for some reason they didn't accept it as the new system is much more straightforward and would automatically stop payments! Thanks again.

ipp1981

i took out a student loan starting 99/00 to a total amount of about £9,000
since i left uni i have pretty much always been in work and earnt over the £15,000 threshold, however have never paid a penny. The main reason being that i was led to believe the student loan company would automatically start taking repayments from my monthly salary, which they have not.

i heard nothing from them for years and then they recently started writing to my parents address asking if i was in employment.

so i'd like to get some advice.
should i
a) contact them with my employment details and wait to see what they say
b) use some money i have saved to pay the loan off in one go, if so will i have additional fees added or will this just cover off the loan
c) do nothing and ride the free train for as long as possible, risking penalty fees in the future

its quite a lot of money and the only debt i have (apart from a mortgage) and hence a bit worried about it.
Any help is much appreciated.
thanks

sly_dog_jonah

ipp1981 wrote: »

i took out a student loan starting 99/00 to a total amount of about £9,000

a) contact them with my employment details and wait to see what they say
b) use some money i have saved to pay the loan off in one go, if so will i have additional fees added or will this just cover off the loan
c) do nothing and ride the free train for as long as possible, risking penalty fees in the future

You should do (a), plus notify them of your new address. If you're lucky SLC/HMRC will drag their heels sending your employer an instruction to deduct 9% of earnings above £15k. Mine took over 2.5 years to come though. If you're unlucky the deductions will commence in a month or two.

(b) would be a waste of your savings, since the loan is currently subject to 0% interest.

(c) would risk fines, demands for immediate payment etc etc.

Hope that helps.

ipp1981

cool thanks for the advice

moneyisnotfunny

I have a strange issue. I didn't realise the payments were suppose to show directly on our payslips. I thought they came out through our taxes. Anyhow...I need to contact the student loans agency about this, but I am afraid I will be peanalised.

Any advice?