Outstanding tuition fees owed - can I be defaulted?

Blaze36

I left uni in 2006 and didn't graduate. I owed around £1500 in outstanding tuition fees when I left, but the uni hasn't done anything about it until now as they mistakenly thought I was still a student. I've received a letter from the uni saying the debt has been passed on to a collection agency and another letter from the agency confirming the debt is with them and asking me to contact them to make arrangements to pay.

I am intending to set up an arrangement to pay off the debt, but I have an invoice from 2006 when I left, with a different amount owing (around £800) compared to the amount they are saying I owe now. I need some advice on how best to handle this - should I write to the uni with copies of the invoices asking them to prove which is the debt I owe? I've been working quite hard to clean up my credit record, which has been in a state from around 2003 onwards. I've only got 2 years left before some defaults drop off and I'm 'clean' again, so I'm worried about the impact this debt could have. I do not want another default if it can be avoided as I'm looking to try and get a mortgage when my record is clean.

Does anyone know if you can be defaulted for a tuition fee debt? Technically it's not a credit agreement and I'd like to know for sure whether they can put anything on my credit record before I challenge the uni to prove which debt I owe. Or are they likely to default me anyway if I enter into an arrangement with the collections agency?

Thanks for any help you can give.

DarkConvict

I do not believe tuition fees are credit, so will not go on a credit report (much like council tax)

If you want to query the amount owed, send a prove it letter to the debt collector chasing this debt, add in you want a break down of how they arrived at this figure (do not write in your believe it is £800 that is admission, just ask them to prove the amount) - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

You could ring the university yourself as that is only verbal communication.

Blaze36

Thanks, I'll do that. So what should I do next if the debt collector provides me with a breakdown of the £1500 amount? The invoice I received from the uni just says x amount - outstanding tuition fees, x amount library fines. Would this count as proof it's owed as it's not really a 'breakdown' as such?

DarkConvict

If they say you have

£1300 tuition fees, £200 library fees.

You could ask for a breakdown on the tuition fees, on a semester by semester basis as that is how you are charged, 4 modules per semester, or even ask which modules you have been charged for.

There is obviously a difference in prices and you have one lot of expected costs.
Were you on the old or new system, the old system ended in 2005 or 2006 if you took a gap year. Prices were roughly ~£1500 before and ~£3000 after. Just trying to work out if you were charged for the whole year or not.
Also check the terms of the university, some have get out clauses like if you finished before a certain date you only pay so much. Another student was on here and ended before a December deadline so didn't have to pay although the university were chasing for money, breach of contract. How they knew about the date i don't know, i don't know any students that read it in that much detail