Son is being chased by solicitors

2sides2everystory

Taiko - yes you have been too hasty - don't you see this is the thin end of the wedge and the sign of pretty dire things to come following the stacking up of huge numbers with RPI + 3% interest post 2012 ? SLC is clearly a disgusting type of pseudo private vehicle like a quango on heat.

You and the usual others (why don't you all just post under a group username?) make SLC sound almost like a bloody credit card company that says "one strike and your out / all bets are off / forget the original terms of the promotion / you're in the real world now, sonny" and the tone of your post suggests "well what did you expect?" just like this was some balance transfer gone wrong query under the Credit Cards board.

We expect a hell of a lot better actually.

You are effectively calling the OP's son a wrong 'un. How dare you and what are you (and the usual others) planning on advocating to stop thousands suffering a fate 10x as bad in the very difficult years to come ? Surely not the Debt Free Wannabe board ? That surely was a joke, melancholly ?

Oldernotwiser

2sides2everystory wrote: »

You are effectively calling the OP's son a wrong 'un. How dare you and what are you (and the usual others) planning on advocating to stop thousands suffering a fate 10x as bad in the very difficult years to come ? Surely not the Debt Free Wannabe board ? That surely was a joke, melancholly ?

If you had any idea of the things that students get up to you might decide to throw away your rose coloured spectacles.

The_One_Who

2sides2everystory wrote: »

You are effectively calling the OP's son a wrong 'un. How dare you and what are you (and the usual others) planning on advocating to stop thousands suffering a fate 10x as bad in the very difficult years to come ? Surely not the Debt Free Wannabe board ? That surely was a joke, melancholly ?

No, we're saying he most likely hasn't given the full story, which is quite common when children are talking to their parents about this sort of thing. We don't know what the story is, but the crux of it is that only he can sort it out, and the sooner he gets started on that the better.

Oldernotwiser

2sides2everystory wrote: »

You are effectively calling the OP's son a wrong 'un.

Nobody but you has suggested this but reading the OP's other posts about his son, it sounds as if you've hit the nail on the head.

"My son has not been able to find work since he returned from university last June and has been on JSA for few months. Our relationship has been rather strained and he seems to be spending quite a lot of time sitting at his computer, usually in the night, sleeping till late afternoon (and have mates over till late ).
I was wondering if it would be more motivating for him to find himself a place and claim housing benefit & council tax.

He does want to have a good paying job but I'm not sure that staying at home is enough to motivate him to do so and I'm fed up of his grumpy and rude remarks whenever I remind him to wash his clothes (for the uptinth time!) and spend sometime going out to apply for vacancies posted on shop windows (he has worked in the past at call centers and lately in a pub, very briefly, during Summer before signing on JSA)."

Taiko

At the moment, the OP only knows what the son is telling them. The reality is that this is most likely not the case at all, hence the solicitors. As I said, from experience it would most likely be along those lines. But until the truth is revealed, we only have this basic info to go from to confirm.

It's a bit ironic that you of all people cannot see that there are two sides to every story. Luckily, more experienced people can usually fill in some blanks, enabling everyone to get to the bottom of things.

I hope the OP's son proves me wrong, but in all honesty I have to doubt that will be the case.

melancholly

2sides2everystory wrote: »

You are effectively calling the OP's son a wrong 'un. How dare you and what are you (and the usual others) planning on advocating to stop thousands suffering a fate 10x as bad in the very difficult years to come ? Surely not the Debt Free Wannabe board ? That surely was a joke, melancholly ?

if there is any risk of bailiffs turning up - be that because they really should be or because there is some mistake earlier in the line, then the DFW board is the best place to go for advice. to me, this doesn't sound like standard SLC behaviour and so my guess is that this is some other kind of debt.

working out who is owed what is massively important, and whether or not the son is 'a wrong 'un', he's being incredibly stupid and selfish by allowing his mother to be chased and harassed for this money. he's clearly not dealing with it and that is unfair. the DFW board can help better than any other in how to compose letters, how to negotiate token payments and stop interest being charged and how to deal with potential bailiffs or any other aspect of this.

so no, it wasn't a joke (i'd like to hope that attempting to change a thread about the OP's situation into another thread about how much you hate student finance isn't serious) - it was practical, sensible advice on how to proceed, rather than just saying 'isn't the SLC awful'. they may well be (although they don't use solicitors as a first point of call, so to me it's unclear that this is actually the SLC), but that doesn't help the OP with their situation. the DFW board remains the best place to get advice for this - once the OP can work out what this is.

amiehall

This definitely is not standard SLC behaviour! I dropped out of uni having had some health issues and stuff and tbh telling SLC about it was the last thing on my mind. I received some money from them that I wasn't entitled to and, while initially they sent me a rude and aggressive letter about it, when I phoned them, they accepted a standing order of £5 a month towards it. I didn't get any hassle off them again after that. If it is the SLC, this is easily resolved by calling the number on the letters.

This is why I'm unsure as to what exactly has happened here. Why are the university chasing money? This really doesn't sound like SLC behaviour and, if you're willing to make arrangements to pay, it's worth their while to take your regular payments than run up solicitors bills chasing minor debts. I think you need to have an honest discussion with your son about who exactly this money is owed to.

MusicalLawyer

When I was studying in my first Uni, I left my course. They sent letters like this as I'd left early, however they also sent letters asking what my situation was via forms. They asked whether I was working, or on benefits and so on.

Has your son had any letters like this?
This could have been avoided if so. All he needs to do is ring SLC and tell them he is on benefits, and provide them with a benefits letter which he can get from the JobCentre very easily. And all this will probably all be over.

I do agree that something may not be right here, if you're saying he completed his course in June last year, did you attend your sons graduation ceremony? At the end of 2011?

MusicalLawyer

Also, they use an 'in house solicitors' with three name beginning with S, L and C. Is this who you are getting letters from, or is it another company?

meer53

My son dropped out of Uni and i had no trouble speaking to SLC about his loan. They were very helpful. I seem to remember them sending me a password to use when i called them.

Sounds to me like the OP's son hasn't told them the whole story. I'd stop worrying about it, it's his problem, he's a grown up. Let him sort it out.