Should I Pay My Student Loan

k984942

After graudating I got a job and student loan repayments were taken from my salary. When I changed jobs I informed my new HR department about my loan but no deductions have been taken even though I earn over the threshold.

It's been over 3 years now that I haven't repaid a penny, nor have I received any letters from the student loans people.

Should I be contacting them to find out what's going on or am I looking a gift horse in the mouth here and should keep my mouth shut!

I'm a bit worried about being fined etc but I heard somewhere that since I told my employer I should be repaying the loan (I have this in writing), they will pursue the outstanding payments from them.

Any advice would be grately appreciaited.

qbazdz

I cant believe you should be fined by SLC but first check with the accountant as normally if you are a PAYE emoloyee the SLC sends a letter and makes you and company aware of the repayments based on your salary. They also review your repayments and what is left on an annual basis.
Can't you log in to your account and see what's going on?
Have your address details changed since you changed your job? You should have also received a statement of your loan each year.

kalaika

I think the onus is on you to ensure that deductions are being made, and then up to your employer to pay them across for you. The longer you leave it before repaying, the more in interest you will pay.

I'd contact your HR department again. And again. And again. Until they start taking monthly repayments. SLC aren't best known for their administrative efficiency so I doubt SLC will fine you or your employer for not taking them sooner (as your balance has been earning them interest). Just get the repayments started.

ETA - This is all assuming that you are earning over £15,000 per year. If you are earning under this then no repayments are due, which could be why none have been taken from you.

Poolie

It is your responsibility to ensure the repayment are being taken from your salary. Check iwth your payroll department if they received a SL1 notification for yourself from HMRC. If they didn't get in touch with SLC and ask them to make sure HMRC have the right employment details.

You could always make a payment to your student loan to cover the missed repayments. You will have been charged the extra interest on your loan so will take longer to repay due to not making any repayments.

Stuart_W

Income-contingent student loans can only be taken out of salary at 9% of earnings over £15,000 pa on a week-by-week or month-by-month basis. No back dating is possible. Deductions either are made for that month, or they're not. If they should have been but haven't, nothing is back dated.

Your HR/personnel department can actually only act upon the information directly by HMRC - you telling them doesn't mean they are able to start.

The system is extremely slow - it took me 14 months to start repaying when I changed employers, recently my wife was only 8 months late when she changed. The onus is NOT on you, but if you want to try and speed things up, informing HMRC rather than your personnel department is actually the way round to do it.

Just rest assured, it cannot be back-dated, you will not receive a big bill. (The only exception is if you are self employed and not earning through PAYE). You can choose to make additional payments, if you wish, as previous posters are correct that the interest will be more because the debt remains bigger at the moment. This is up to you, though. See various information about repaying early on this site.

The Student Loans Company states:

Do I have to inform my employer that student loan repayments are to be made from my salary?

You should not need to take any action as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will normally instruct your employer to take deductions from your salary once you are earning over the repayment threshold. See How Repayments are Calculated for more information.

If you are earning over the repayment threshold and no deductions are being taken from your salary from the date advised on your letter, please check with your employer if they have received a Start Notification from HMRC.

If your Employer has not received a Start Notification from HMRC, please call us on 0845 073 8891 to advise your current employment details i.e.
Name and address of your employer
Your employer’s PAYE Reference Number
Your payroll number
Date you commenced employment with your employer
We will contact HMRC with this information and they will issue another Start Notification to your employer.

Source: http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,4714406&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

k984942

Thanks for all the advice all.

I do earn over 15k a year so I definitely should be paying back my student loan. However, I have to admit that I am really in no hurry to pay it back as I'm still fairly junior in my career and I'm not keen on taking the monthly hit on my pay. I'm sure my salary will increase faster than the loan will inflate so I would rather pay it off later when my income is better.

I have moved house so perhaps the student loans people have been writing to me. I thought about calling them to find out whats what but I worried that that would start the ball rolling on me repaying! Essentially I'm enjoying the holiday from repaying but am worried that this might come back to bite me!

CLAPTON

What a sad world we live in.
no sense of responsibility to the fellow citizens that paid for your education... only a concern is might back fire
chavs and benefits cheats all.

dreavi

CLAPTON wrote: »

What a sad world we live in.
no sense of responsibility to the fellow citizens that paid for your education... only a concern is might back fire
chavs and benefits cheats all.

Say what? He has not tried to shirk his loan he has informed HR. He just stated that he would like the hit to come later rather than sooner.

As a side note he doesnt owe his fellow citizens anything, we havent paid for his education, he has taken out a loan and is paying it back. this hasnt negatively impacted upon you at all.

As soon as University started charging fees they became business' not government departments

tonycottee

Once again, a complete over-the-top reaction from somebody on this board. OP is willing to pay off the loan, but would prefer to do it later rather than sooner.
Personally K984942, I think life might be a bit easier for you if you contact them and let them know the situation. You do have to declare your loan when you apply for things such as mortgages, so the sooner you pay it off the better. But each to their own.
Just to note that I found the Student Loan Company a real pain to deal with who kept on taking payments from me over year after my debt was supposed to be clear.
Good luck.

CLAPTON

dreavi wrote: »

Say what? He has not tried to shirk his loan he has informed HR. He just stated that he would like the hit to come later rather than sooner.

As a side note he doesnt owe his fellow citizens anything, we havent paid for his education, he has taken out a loan and is paying it back. this hasnt negatively impacted upon you at all.

As soon as University started charging fees they became business' not government departments

we can have a different view on the meaning of the OP post.

the loan is 100% funded by taxation or government borrowings.. maybe watch the budget statement for some of the effects of excessive borrowing.

Blobby8_2

dreavi wrote: »

Say what? He has not tried to shirk his loan he has informed HR. He just stated that he would like the hit to come later rather than sooner.
As a side note he doesnt owe his fellow citizens anything, we havent paid for his education, he has taken out a loan and is paying it back. this hasnt negatively impacted upon you at all.
As soon as University started charging fees they became business' not government departments

Three years, that sounds like s/he doesnt want to pay, morally, having had the product it should be paid for in the manner agreed.



And just who is going to pick up the tab if the money isnt repaid?

Magic money again is it ?

As Clapton said "chavs and benefits cheats all".

OP (I assume) is benefitting from their education, their lack of morals is not surprising.