Student loans and income declaration

GingerBob_3

Hi, I'm just sorting out a 2nd year student loan for my son and it turns out that this year we'll get almost £1000 less than last year. On enquiring about the discrepancy it turns out that this year's figure is correct but I was overpaid last year - and they now want it back! Apparently there was some mistake on the figure I submitted for my pension contributions. I am unclear on this, so maybe someone could explain:

Should I have declared all, or part of, my pension contributions to a company scheme - when I say "part of" I mean should I note a difference between AVCs and the rest? I actually reported all elements to the SLC.

Should I have declared my employer's pension contribution?

It seems the SLC differentiate between company pension schemes and private pension schemes, i.e. one where you are contributing entirely independently of your company scheme (I'm not doing this, but do pay AVCs into the company scheme).

What is the effect of declaring pension contributions - does it mean you should get a bigger loan, or does declaring pension contributions result in a lower loan?

Thanks for any help and advice.

Taiko

Shouldn't have declared any - Only private pension contributions are allowable on the assessment.

GingerBob_3

Taiko wrote: »

Shouldn't have declared any - Only private pension contributions are allowable on the assessment.

Thanks for the info. Given that I did declare payments to my company pension scheme (and the loan comapny asked for these in separate correspondence) will the amount of the loan have been reduced, increased or stayed the same?

Taiko

If they were included in your original declaration, they would have actually reduced the gross taxable income and therefore meant more loan & grant was awarded.

Where these now need to be removed, it does create an overpayment situation and the loan and grant will subsequently be reduced so that the overpayment is cleared.

This is the exact reason why the local authority I work for does not bring in pension contributions without evidence, even if it's declared on the forms. If it turns out to be a works scheme, the student gets a massive overpayment. If it's private, they'll be paid extra money on receipt of the evidence.

GingerBob_3

Taiko wrote: »

Shouldn't have declared any - Only private pension contributions are allowable on the assessment.

I'm still having problems with this - the Loan Company has said I was overpaid by £800 last year and they're reclaiming the lot back in one go.

Do AVCs count as private pension, even when they're paid into a company scheme?

Taiko

Dropped you a PM.