Advice needed - I have to leave uni due to illness, what happens to overdraft/loan?

EJ

Hi All,

Unfortunately i have had to come to the decision to leave Uni (after a year and a half) as I have been so ill, it is impossible for me to continue.

I will defer for the year but think i will not be able to return.

I have 2 student overdrafts (i know .. bad girl!) and a student loan and wonder where I stand on these.
Do i need to inform the banks even if i am just defering (ie can i buy myself some time and keep the int. free o/d)?
Also - if i try and get a job will I have to start paying back my stud loan?

I owe the full student loan about plus a little in both overdrafts ... I think i owe about £7000 and have £4000 available to pay off.

Any advice is much appreciated and if there's anything i haven't thought of, please feel free to add it in!

Cheers

EJ

David_Brent

Hi EJ, Sorry to hear your not well, as for your student accounts, I am in a similar position as I am finishing my degree a year early and decided not to do a placement, I will have my interest free overdraft for a year extra due to this, and have decided not to inform my bank as it doesn't tell me to inform them of this in their terms and conditions, so I suggest you read through their current terms of your account, but even if there is a clause saying you must inform them of your deferal, i wouldn't bother and keep your acounts open, so even in the unlikely event that they find out... they can't really do much about it. I would imagine its fairly hard for banks to check up on every student account they are holding and check status etc each year, as far as I know they only request your documents ucas acceptance etc at the start of the course and don't contact you again until you have finished. Even so.. you should start to think about paying off the overdrafts whenever you can once you start making money.

When you get a job, you don't have to start paying back your student loan until you are earning over £10,000 per year, which I think may have now increased to £15,000+ recently. Even when you do have to pay it back its not much they take about roughly £5 a week from you, depending on your salary.

stuwilky

And now the serious advice EJ

Firstly, sorry to hear that you are not well.

The Student Loan basically stands on the normal terms, you repay it back at 9% of your gross income over £15,000 per annum. So on a salary of "

stuwilky

Children!!

As I was saying...

so on a salary of £20k you would repay 9% of £5,000 (£20k - 15k) which is £450 a year - or £37.50 a month.

As for the bank accounts. You have the dont tell them option, if they find out? What do they do - reclaim the money straightaway.

You have the cash in the bank so you could pay it back straightaway in full, or you have the option to explain the situation to them and see what they say. It is likely that they would offer some kind of staggered repayment plan.

But as the poster above says, check the T&C - it is likely that you have to tell them of any change to your student status.

EJ

Thanks guys for your advice ... fingers crossed the banks wont collar me - i am technically only deferring (at the mo although i know i wont return) so i guess they'd leave me with my accounts .. might try it with one and then if they say no i wont do the other!

Cheers!

Chadsman

Hi EJ.
I was in a similar position to you as an undergrad when I had to have a year off. I never actually told my bank. At the start of my final year of study I went to the bank and told them I was still a student, showed them my student card for that year, they clicked a few buttons and I had another year of student banking.
In the unlikely event of your bank getting stroppy just take your custom elsewhere.
If you get seriously hard up at any point it might be worth applying to your college hardship fund (that was what they were called 15 yrs ago but I think the official name for 'em has changed now).
I hope you are feeling better soon.
Chad.

stuwilky

The Official name is now "access to learning" fund

crana999

Chadsman wrote:

In the unlikely event of your bank getting stroppy just take your custom elsewhere.

this could be easier said than done if you happen to owe the bank lots of money.

I'm not sure that you could access hardship/access to learning funds because you're not actually going to be a student (if you get me?) tho it could be worth asking.

zcaprd7

You'd have to get a job because (I believe) if you are a deferred student you can't claim job seekers allowance etc.

Its one of the main problems of deferment - you are still technically a student so the banks should be ok with this.

me_so_bichy

I am in a similar situation but in my final year at uni.
At the moment I am trying to get this year out of the way, can anyone tell me what will happen if it all goes tits up? will I be able to repeat the year, will my LEA pay my tuition fees again and will I be able to get a student Loan for next year? I should think my Dr. would be willing to provide a letter to support my claim, would this make any difference?
thanks
claire