Student Loan 2015 Discussion

Dunroamin

Chris008 wrote: »

"As the thresholds are published, and have not been edited for many years, chances are yes I'd have known about them".


Well, you would have been one of the very few. (Not that I'm convinced). But knowing about the thresholds doesn't make them fair-are you saying it does? Given that many of us have no choice but to take out a loan with the SLC if we want to go to university does this entitle the SLC to rip us off? Ought we just sit back and do nothing when they do?

To be honest I don't really know what your point is. Sorry. It seems to me that you are just being a smug twot (My apologies if I have misconstrued you). In what way are your remarks helpful?

As a new member you obviosuly don't know that Taiko is an expert in this field and gives up a lot of his time on here to help people.

I really feel that, if students are bright enough to go to university, they should be bright enough to research and understand the conditions of any loan they take out and particularly the terms of repayment.

Outgoings are never used to calculate repayment terms which is why a graduate paying an enormous rent in London will be repaying exactly the same amount as someone living at home in Middlesborough, as long as they earn the same income.

Chris008

"The overseas thresholds are determined by that nations average income. Kuwait had a low average, hence repayments start lower. Much like in the UK, it's based on what you earn rather than costs.



Are you being deliberately obtuse? One of my main points is that the thresholds DON’T reflect the average incomes in other countries. Kuwait is one of the richest countries in the world. The average income there is much higher than in the UK. The thresholds ought to reflect this.

As I'm a new user I'm not allowed to put links in my messages, but check out Gross National Incomes' on Wikipedia. There's a list of the GNI of all countries in the world on there. The GNI for Kuwait is given here as $58,350 , the second highest in the world, UK is $36.590.

You had chance to research this beforehand though. The SLC didn't force you to take that loan, you could've tried obtaining funding by other means".

Again, for the third time: who knows when they take out a loan with the SLC that one day they will be working abroad? It can take a whole life time to pay off a student loan ,a lot can happen in that time. I should not have taken a loan out then because there was an abstract possibility that one day I might work abroad? Should no one?

You seem to be saying that the terms and conditions of a contract are always acceptable so long as someone consents to them. Is that right? Ever heard of usury?

'Funding by other means'? Interested in what you think the viable alternatives to taking out a loan with the SLC might be.

Chris008

Dunroamin:

As a new member you obviously don't know that Taiko is an expert in this field and gives up a lot of his time on here to help people.


Taiko may well be an expert in his field and it's good to know he helps people. I don't feel, however, on this occasion he has helped me and that's all I've got to go on. If one has nothing constructive to say, then why bother saying anything at all? Sanctimonious remarks just get people's backs up.

Derivative

I'm not quite sure how SLC asking for repayments is 'extortion'.
You took out a loan and you have to repay it. The terms and conditions were clear.

Taiko: How insightful and helpful of you! You saying you knew about the overseas thresholds when you took out a loan (if you took out a student loan that is)? Given that I'm not rich, taking out a loan with the SLC was my only option if I wanted to go to university. Does this entitle the SLC to extort money from me? You think the terms for those who go overseas are fair?

Even if not, surely before taking a job abroad you'd look at the T&C's of the loan you have around your neck? I thought it was pretty standard knowledge that overseas earnings had a different effect on repayments.

I am "not rich" and I had to take out a loan to go to University. Given that I now owe a company tens of thousands of pounds, I think they're pretty well entitled to get that money back as long as I'm given enough to live on.

tyllwyd

Chris008 wrote: »

.... [FONT=&quot]In the UK if you earn under £15,000 in a tax year, you don't have to pay the SLC anything and are entitled to a refund if you do. If you work abroad, however, you are not entitled to any refund on your earnings-even if your earnings, over the course of a tax year, are much less than the threshold for that country (This is what I was told by a 'Senior Complaint Advisor at SLC anyhow). [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I started a contract in Kuwait in April (one of the most expensive places to live in the world, although the threshold for this country is a mere £9,000), worked for 4 months, earnt £8, 800, returned to UK and have been unemployed since then (i.e for almost all of the tax year). This means I owe the SLC approx. £530 (I pay tax by self-assessment) even though my earnings are under the threshold for the UK AND Kuwait. How is this fair? I have actually been in the UK for much longer than I was in Kuwait. This, however, is apparently irrelevant. So is the fact that I'm expected to fork out this money when I've been trying to get by on virtually nothing for the last eight months. ...[/FONT]

I'm a bit confused by what you've said. You went to Kuwait and worked for four months, and earned £8800 (which would equate to a yearly salary of £26400 I guess). And since then you've received JSA I guess, which means your total annual income is a bit more than that?

I don't quite understand how they have calculated the money you owe - did they take the threshold of £9000, then calculate 9% of £26400 - £9000, pro-rata for those four months? So that gives 9% of £5800 = £522, which looks about the same as the figure you've given.

It does seem very strange that they could base their calculations on money that in fact you never earned just because you were working abroad, and if that's what they've done I agree that it seems totally unfair - and not what you'd expect, even if you knew that the earnings threshold was different in other countries.

devildog

I think they do reflect the average cost to live but I think 'average' is the operative word. When we think Middle East we think rich countries, oil etc.but for many more people out there, their income and cost of living is far lower than the 'few' very rich. It is the very rich who bump up the income figures but it doesn't mean they all have plenty of money. In the tables I have just looked at, nowhere in Kuwait features in the top 141 cities to live.

That is not to say that I don't sympathise, I do, but unfortunately like with anything there are far too many variables even within one country, nevermind the whole world and the line has to be drawn somewhere.

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,6678653&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Maybe worth you checking out this link as it states that you can ask for a reassessment if your income falls.

Chris008

Tyllwyd: Yes that’s exactly right . You tell them what you earn a month. They times this by 12. Subtract this by £ 9,000 then divide this by 12 and then you pay them 9% of that. If you earn £2,200 this works out at, as you say, £522.

In the UK if you earn under the £15, 000 threshold, you are entitled to your money back, but it is not so if you work abroad: ie even though I earnt under £9,000 this year, I still have to pay the £522.

I am actually living off the money I earnt in Kuwait. Haven’t signed on. Long story but I am having to look after my elderly mother who’s housebound at the moment so am not available for work.

I appreciate your sympathy. I am amazed at some of the reactions on here. Even the people I spoke to at the SLC were sympathetic. One guy even admitted that the thresholds were wrong.

Chris008

Devildog: Thanks! Believe me, Kuwait is expensive. I think in the league tables it’s the 5th richest country on earth. Possibly they justify the low threshold because there’s no income tax out there (this would explain why the threshold for Monte Carlo is only £3,000), but if you work out of the country for less than six months, you still have to pay UK tax anyway.

Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

Derivative

Your definition of 'extortion' does not fit with any I have heard of.

You have a loan. An outstanding balance - you own money that does not belong to you.

That's the crux of the issue. If they demanded money that was not rightfully theirs I would agree.

devildog

Chris008 wrote: »

Devildog: Thanks! Believe me, Kuwait is expensive. I think in the league tables it’s the 5th richest country on earth. Possibly they justify the low threshold because there’s no income tax out there (this would explain why the threshold for Monte Carlo is only £3,000), but if you work out of the country for less than six months, you still have to pay UK tax anyway.

Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

LOL have just found the table of richest countries, now I don't know anything about ppp or the likes of, but isn't that just how wealthy a country is, as opposed to how much is would cost to live there(rent/food/utilities etc)? Not nit picking, I honestly don't know. I have a student 'child' currently studying in one of the top four most expensive cities in the world(one solitary apple costs in the region of £4!!! )