Student loans

bellaboggle

can some one give me advice about student loans
I was at university from 1996 to 2001 I took a loan each year I was there.
I graduated in july 2000 and toured canada when I returned I continued on with a post graduate MSc
Later the same year while still in further education I recieved a letter from student loans I was informed due to the fact I had not deferred my loans my repayments would be deducted automatically from my wages (of which I had none) I could not defer as I did not recieve any deferment forms. I contacted student loans on this matter and they advised me that I would be able to defer my loans as I was not earning enough to claim repayments however as I had not defered I would be liable for late payment fee's of £1800 I disputed the fact. I then graduated and got a job but had to move home closer to my new employment. I contacted student loans and informed them of my address change but I never recieved my deferment forms and was again charged for the privilage. The following year the same happened again and charges were applied. The next year I contacted them before my deferment was due and was told that they had me down for the correct address for two loans but a different address in England (I live in scotland) for the other two it was appropriately changed. I am now recieving letters from a debt collection agency Thesis for my 96/97 loans plus arrear charges and another company Credit solutions ltd for 98/99 loans I have not acknowledged any of these debts with etheir company. I am currently recieving 2-3 phone calls every day from credit solutions asking to talk to me however when I answer the phone it is an automated service telling me my reference number and their phone number to contact them

where do I stand with this ????
Please help as I work nightshift and they call everyday at 09:15, 12:20 and again at 15:00

Tixy

When was the last year you sent in a deferment form?

Are you now earning in excess of the limit allowed to defer payments? (Approx £26k I think)

turts2008

I graduated last year and starting a new job @ 16k so will be starting to pay student loans back? Does anyone no how much it is per month? Like a % or a set amount?

Tixy

turts2008 wrote: »

I graduated last year and starting a new job @ 16k so will be starting to pay student loans back? Does anyone no how much it is per month? Like a % or a set amount?

You'll pay 9% of everything you earn over £15k, it will be deducted from your salary each month, so on £16k you should pay £90 over the year, or £7.50 per month

turts2008

ha thats sweeet! thought it would be a heck of alot more. If you get bonuses/commission does that get deducected to?

Tixy

Yep anything they pay you in money above £1250 per month you'll pay 9% of. So if you get a £100 bonus you'd pay an extra £9.

turts2008

Gotya, cheers. Thought it would be much more compliciated than that!

Poolie

When loan type is determined by when the first year you took your loan. As it was 1996 then your are eligible to defer your loans if you don't have more than 3 months worth of arrears. You have to be earning under £26000.

How many statements per annum did you receive from SLC? 1 or 2? If 2 then your loans were split due to a change in the formation you had provided the system didn't match you up. Do you have more than one customer reference number? It does sound like there is more than one customer record on the system. This can be due to using a middle name in one application and not in another or different birth information.

As your loans are pre 1998, then the repayments should not be coming out of your salary but out of your bank at the rate determined by SLC for a period of 60 months.

Did you tell SLC you were going overseas or continuing on to further study? If not then SLC are within their right to not allow you to defer as it your responsibility to keep them informed.

SLC do pass overdue loans to Thesis and Credit Solutions. Every time they attempt to call you may be getting this charged to your account. The longer you leave it the worse it is going to get. SLC will be charging your account with tracing fees which they are allowed to do under the terms you signed each of your loans.

If you feel you have a case you can contact SLC's complaints department and ask them to investigate but this won't stop the agencies trying to call you. You will need to provide details of all the loans you have.