student loan issue

mikeb1986

sorry if this is the wrong forum for this but i hope someone can help me.

i got my student loan from my LEA (east yorkshire) from 2004-2007 total about 13,000GBP

they repeatedly say "you dont need to do anything payment is taken from your wages automatically" so i "cant be fined for missed payments etc" when you apply . i left england in november 2008 ive been working in australia and travelling since

a while ago mum said something about student loan company asking me for money and about my earnings abroad. which i ignored, since they take all the payments automatically how can they demand money when im not earning and they cant fine me for not paying it.

now my dad emailed me saying that because they havent recieved any information about my earnings abroad so i have to pay the default sum of 246GBP per month for a year. or until i return to UK. this to me looks an awful lot like im being fined for not filling in the form. they know im abroad, so how can they expect me to fill in a form when im not there to recieve it is another mystery

Does anyone know are they allowed to demand this payment? my reasoning is since im not earning i shouldnt be paying anything. When i come back to england i'll start paying my £5 a month or whatever out of my wages but until then im under the impression i dont need to pay anything.

do i need to pay my student loan if i work abroad? can they demand this payment from me and can they take it further if (when) i refuse to pay it? i dont want them to end up with repo men knocking at my mums house or something.

i thought about ignoring them till they go away but my dad said thats being stupid and i have to sort it out so i told them i never got this overseas earnings form and they need to send me one to fill in before i pay anything

honestly im not earning enough (now) to pay anything, though at times i have been. i really dont want to pay them a penny back if i can avoid it. i also heard a few peopel say if you leave uk for 5 years its written off? is there any truth in that. thanks in advance

Mike

immoral_angeluk

Don't you have to at least inform them of your employment so they can calculate your earnings?
I've never had a student loan so can't really be of any help but just thinking aloud.

CLAPTON

the information they sent you is quite clear.
you need to inform them if you are working abroad.

bondidreamer

You really need to be careful with this, I have a friend who ended up with a CCJ by ignoring the Student Loan Company

Raggs_2

I'm currently working abroad, have been for over a year now. Depending on where you are there is a minimum you need to earn before they start charging, and the repayments are taken as a percentage of the minimum amount you need to earn (not that clear I'm afraid). The website has the minimum earnings on.

Anyway, you are required to inform them when you move abroad (I didn't for a about 9 months, until I started working), and then they contact you yearly (at your foreign address) for an update on your earnings. Due to having too much on my plate this year I missed the letter, and was informed they would expect the minimum repayments to start being made at such and such a date. I am still no earning enough to make the minimum.

I called them as soon as possible, and as always, they were very helpful (I think if you are calm and polite with them, they reciprocate nicely). The woman I spoke too told me to send them all my income information (at first it was my contract, and the few wage slips I had, this time, I can send them last years wageslips (photocopies)), and she would write a note on my file to not expect the repayments.

They will automatically debit a UK job, but being abroad, you have to sort out your own method of repayment (when charges start to be made).

Just been through all this myself, it's nothing to be scared of, just call them up, and inform them of your situation. Then post (might be possible to scan/fax I guess) all the information you have on your earnings. Should sort everything out.

Josq

I've just googled upon this on account of my current troubles with the SLC!
I've been living abroad for over a year now, I'm studying a masters degree.
I told the SLC I was doing this last year, told them my new address, etc..., etc.... but last week my mam suddenly got a letter from them requesting me to fill it in and update them on my situation, fair enough. Odd they'd send it to my original home address and not my new address but there you go, she said she'd send it along when she gets time, no emergency, no date it has to be done by....
But come Saturday and she gets a new letter- basically 'YOU ARE A THIEF TRYING TO ESCAPE US. GIVE US £250 FOR FAILURE TO REPLY TO THE LETTER YOU HAD TO DO'. I phoned them up and they're being pretty 'duh, you should have known this' about it and blaming it all on me- apparently I had to fill this new form in within 20 days and that deadline is approaching (or if the letter spent a while in the post before reaching my mam may even have passed).
Its ruddy annoying, luckily my mam is already sending me a student loan letter so I can prove my earnings, I just hope it arrives asap so I can fax it to them and not lose this money which I cannot afford to lose (student here, not working!)

A question- this £246 was a repayment on the loan and not a fine?
As that is good if so, the way I heard it (not seen the letter yet...) its a fine....which would be nasty in the extreme.