Student Loan 2015 Discussion

setmefree2

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/28/danny-dorling-letter-to-students

At some point someone may test the legality of the deal you entered into so young. That someone could even be you. Ask yourself: who negotiated on your behalf the terms of that deal you have signed up for? Every year the secretary of state adjusts the interest rate you will have to pay. They don't have to go to parliament to do that. You cannot read the small print that a future privatised Student Loans Company will insert. You may find that, as with certain other financial "products", you have been mis-sold this deal.

GeneHunt_2

£9,000 cap on student tuition fees is 'unsustainable'

A leading vice-chancellor has warned that the current £9,000 limit on annual tuition fees is no longer sustainable and "can’t remain frozen for ever"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/10417493/9000-cap-on-student-tuition-fees-is-unsustainable.html

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

setmefree2 wrote: »

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/28/danny-dorling-letter-to-students

At some point someone may test the legality of the deal you entered into so young. That someone could even be you. Ask yourself: who negotiated on your behalf the terms of that deal you have signed up for? Every year the secretary of state adjusts the interest rate you will have to pay. They don't have to go to parliament to do that. You cannot read the small print that a future privatised Student Loans Company will insert. You may find that, as with certain other financial "products", you have been mis-sold this deal.

Thanks for sharing that article, SMF. Anyone with an ounce of sense can see that Student Loans in the UK are being disgracefully missold. The very sad thing is that Martin Lewis is as responsible as anyone in the UK for this happening right under our noses. I don't know if he realises how "used" he is. Martin above anyone else in the UK was responsible for making financial product misselling accusations actually stick to insurance companies and banks after a couple of decades of financial services companies ducking and diving and conniving with FSA. The biggest single coup of the type was of course the PPI misselling victory for common sense led by Martin and the total cave in by the banks that resulted. The extent of the cave in even took bankers by surprise who thought their legal teams had things stitched up good.

Martin was by then already being sought out by our leading politicians, because MSE and its forums is one of the most accurate political barometers of our times here in the UK. However I see the direct upshot as that most regrettable thing that tempted Martin to put his name behind Willetts and the campaign to shepherd young people into university at any cost.

That has completely blind-sided much real opposition swell to the new repayment 2 scheme introduced for 2012 starters. Many of those who might otherwise have taken to the streets by now are still being confused by the government spun messages reinforced on MSE about these awful instruments of misselling not being loans but a tax and not to be worried about as debt.

As is pointed out here, the suggestion that £27,000 is the debt balance for a typical graduate in one of these schemes is a disgraceful lie. It is quite conceivable that students undertaking a modern course of study involving a year in industry and perhaps a Masters qualification rather than a bog standard honours degree will leave with loan balances of £100,000. Goodness knows what might be typical as a loan balance for someone graduating in medicine in say 2017 if they started in 2012.

I am personally dismayed that Martin has dared not lend his opinion as far as suggesting these loans are mis-sold. I am not alone when I say I am just as qualified to assess what commonly sold financial products have been and are being missold as Martin is. I know Student Finance is nothing but misselling to young vulnerable people. It is total bunkum to suggest that people of 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or even older generally understand the small print, not least because the "small print" doesn't even exist - the whole thing is spin and based on a huge glistening spider's web which our youngsters are invited to allow themselves to be turned-round, laid back and then be caught by something apparently designed as some kind of clever, cosy hammock for all weathers and one which is not going to get twisted or bust in the next thirty years or end up hanging them when one end or both lets go prematurely ...

As I have repeatedly said - the whole scheme is a national disgrace. I can barely wait for a critical mass of wise opinion to drop the bottom out of any private lenders plans to milk the economies and promise of our youngsters in what is in all truth a cynical attempt to shackle all children of promise as slaves to privateer greed for the creation of wealth straight into private hands instead of encouraging a properly functioning economy which ensures the general well-being of the country. That is why it is just as much a lie to call the Student Loan Scheme a tax as it is to call it a legally compliant sold loan product. It is intended as neither. It is purely a privateer dreamed up wheeze to create massive additional debt where there has never before been anything of the kind in our UK society.

Thanks Rothschilds, thanks you screwed-up lily-livered politicians, and sorry you've got used Martin ... you can still do something about it you know ... put your mind to it again and you have more supporters than any of our politicians.

Starting a mis-sold Student Loans discussion led by an editorial of the same name would do the country a big favour.

Sunshinemummy

I hate the idea that my kids are in debt due to being educated, indeed when one finished Uni he disappeared working/travelling around the world. I seriously do not think he will come back to the UK and a large part of this is the cost of living which is exacerbated by the loan. I am tempted to off the loan company a one off paying of 50% of his debt to wipe the debt off. Do you think they will laugh in my face!

Vickaly

Hi

I just wanted to point out in the article Student Loans Mythbusting point 20 “Think of it like a graduate tax not a loan” you noted that “Debt collectors will not chase for it”.

In fact although I believe they are not technically a debt collector Smith Lawson & Company Recovery Services (which operates under SLC’s trading name), will send threatening letters about debt collections.

I received one during my transition period of moving abroad, which makes the monthly payments a nuisance to time due to the fact my income is no longer paid in Sterling in the UK.

I was sent an extremely threatening letter demanding payment ( which in fact had already been made) within 7 days of the letter, which by the time I had received it only left me 1 day.

I think that the way SLC collects arrears is similar to a shark loan, as the letter was worded quite strongly and also threatened legal action if payment did not reach them within 7 days! :mad:

I don't know if their threat is legally enforceable or whether they would constitute as an official debt collector, and therefore mar your credit report but please draw people’s attention to this!

Thanks

Ed-1

vickaly wrote: »

Hi

I just wanted to point out in the article Student Loans Mythbusting point 20 “Think of it like a graduate tax not a loan” you noted that “Debt collectors will not chase for it”.

In fact although I believe they are not technically a debt collector Smith Lawson & Company Recovery Services (which operates under SLC’s trading name), will send threatening letters about debt collections.

I received one during my transition period of moving abroad, which makes the monthly payments a nuisance to time due to the fact my income is no longer paid in Sterling in the UK.

I was sent an extremely threatening letter demanding payment ( which in fact had already been made) within 7 days of the letter, which by the time I had received it only left me 1 day.

I think that the way SLC collects arrears is similar to a shark loan, as the letter was worded quite strongly and also threatened legal action if payment did not reach them within 7 days! :mad:

I don't know if their threat is legally enforceable or whether they would constitute as an official debt collector, and therefore mar your credit report but please draw people’s attention to this!

Thanks

Mortgage-style student loans (pre-1998) are completely different to income-contingent loans (1998 onwards).

All of the mortgage-style loans have now been sold to private companies and these types of student loans can be recovered by debt collectors if they are in arrears (the fact they are now in the hands of private companies doesn't affect the fact they can be recovered by debt collectors as they could when they were still in the hands of SLC, but it probably increases the chances of it happening as they'll be more aggressive in enforcing the T&Cs).

With the income-contingent loans, these are only ever collected through the tax system so can never be chased by debt collectors as the repayments are taken automatically if and when they are due - hence they can be treated as a graduate tax.

Helix

Ed-1 wrote: »

With the income-contingent loans, these are only ever collected through the tax system so can never be chased by debt collectors as the repayments are taken automatically if and when they are due - hence they can be treated as a graduate tax.

Thats not quite true if you move abroad as in the case of the original poster, you are expected to tell the student loans company how much you are earning and they will tell you how much you should be repaying monthly, they can't take it out of your income directly when abroad. http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,6678804&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Ed-1

Helix wrote: »

Thats not quite true if you move abroad as in the case of the original poster, you are expected to tell the student loans company how much you are earning and they will tell you how much you should be repaying monthly, they can't take it out of your income directly when abroad. http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,6678804&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

True. ICR loans can be chased in cases of moving abroad. However for UK residents, mortgage-style loans are the ones that can be recovered by debt collectors.

Utseya123

I think ultimately nobody but we ourselves are responsible if we have chosen to be drawn into debt far beyond our means. One should always consider future inflows and its stability before contracting debt. Besides student loans are a common feature across the world though their extent and avg balance may vary from course to course and country to country.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Bearing in mind that almost all the students being sold these loans do not have any "means", everything is beyond it.

So what are you really saying Utseya123? Are you suggesting time and distance from a liability (that is the government's liability for educating its citizens properly) is or is not something we should properly land on our students if they like ?