Inland Rev making (more) money off Graduates???

ractera

I've already posted this in another forum but will post it here too to see if anyone knows if it's true. If it is then it will make all fellow graduates and students just as mad as it has made me!!

The inland revenue deduct money for my student loan off my monthly wage packet- which is fair enough. HOWEVER I have recieved an email saying that they deduct the money but the student loans company do not recieve the money monthly but at the end of the tax year. Thus I am still paying £25 intrest a month on the loan, the amount of money is only reduced every year and the Inland Revenue are raking in the intrest while they keep my hard earned cash!! I don't know if this is true as the email asked to pass the message on so a petition could be formed (suspiciously like a chain email). Does anyone know if this info is true and if it is what can be done about it?


ractera
View Public Profile
Send a private message to ractera
Send email to ractera
Find More Posts by ractera
Add ractera to Your Buddy List

Llyllyll

Apologies for the long links (some of the url shortening sites were not working here).

Some good general info here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/RepayingStudentLoansPost1998/fs/en.

Specific to your question is this: http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/RepayingStudentLoansPost1998/RepayingStudentLoansPost1998Articles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10034869&chk=4WZT1H.

Taken from 'How your balance is calculated':

The Student Loans Company will only be informed of your total repayments at the end of each financial year and it is important you keep your own records.

All this info gleaned from Google entry "student loan company +balance"

Hope this is helpful.

Chick

Blimey,
Not heard anything about this at all, although it has never really crossed my mind whether the amounts leaving via my salary actually go direct to the SLC.

Now it has got me thinking!! I've been paying my loan off for 2 or 3 years now and it is quite disturbing how the amounts never really seem to reduce by very much.
Would be interested to see what/if other people know about this...although it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it were true.

melancholly

i know that various people have commented that their student loans statement only gets updated annually - and from their website that sounds like the way it has always been done. what this means regarding payment of interest is less clear.

i'm not in a position where i'm paying back any loans, but in your position i would contact the student loans company to clarify the situation (0870 242 2211), just to make sure before complaining!

ractera

Cheers all, I might just do that and will post a reply when and if I get somewhere!

hostie

I wonder if this applies to the people who got loans pre 98 and who have money deducted from their bank accounts.

melancholly

hostie wrote:

I wonder if this applies to the people who got loans pre 98 and who have money deducted from their bank accounts.

i think the best bet is to just ring and ask - they seem to avoid the topic on the website. i don't know if anyone knows a phone number for the SLC that isn't 0870 just to be fully moneysaving?!

tonyg_2

Presumably if you make a manual repayment yourself (eg by Debit Card) then the amount is updated straight away?

talksalot81

tonyg wrote:

Presumably if you make a manual repayment yourself (eg by Debit Card) then the amount is updated straight away?

I was wondering this myself... can you even do that though? Opt out of salary contributions?

CrispyUK

talksalot81 wrote:

I was wondering this myself... can you even do that though? Opt out of salary contributions?

You cannot opt out of salary contributions but you can make additional payments if you wish.

talksalot81

CrispyUK wrote:

You cannot opt out of salary contributions but you can make additional payments if you wish.

That was what I thought... so the OP is correct, the Inland Rev are basically stealing our interest.