'Student loans will be interest free for many 2012 starters' blog discussion

2sides2everystory

Reality can be found in my penultimate paragraph in my last post. Trouble is it doesn't find favour with those politicking to herd and shackle our children into the 2012 scheme.

JimmyTheWig

I'm not disagreeing that what you say is reality.
But it's not a reality that answers the question of how much someone is likely to pay back.

jago25_98

The reality is if you miss filing your deferment paperwork your loan will be sold to a rendering company and you'll have bailiffs knocking on your parents door even if you're in New Zealand. If this is what happens in this example who's to say the same thing isn't to happen randomly too (I mean, it's not a trustworthy creditor).

melancholly

jago25_98 wrote: »

The reality is if you miss filing your deferment paperwork your loan will be sold to a rendering company and you'll have bailiffs knocking on your parents door even if you're in New Zealand. If this is what happens in this example who's to say the same thing isn't to happen randomly too (I mean, it's not a trustworthy creditor).

my understanding is that deferment was only an option for pre-1998 loans which had the mortgage style payments? for anyone after that, it gets organised via HMRC and is deducted, for most people, via their monthly payslip. i don't think anyone earning over threshold can defer these days...... if you go abroad, they have threshold levels set for pretty much every country, so you can and should start repayments if you're earning enough.

(plus i think it could be well argued that if you go abroad without telling the SLC, as you are obliged to do in the terms of the loan agreement, then you can't put all responsibililty on the SLC and their debt collection agencies. there has to be an element of personal responsibility. there is usually a whole raft of attempted correspondence before bailiffs even get mentioned. granted, it can and does sometimes go wrong, but your example is extreme. it can just as easily be read as someone trying to skip out on paying and being caught for doing it!)

The_One_Who

melancholly wrote: »

it can just as easily be read as someone trying to skip out on paying and being caught for doing it!

Yep, that mixed with not fully understanding the situation for when you move abroad. A friend of mine has recently moved to Australia, and he initially thought that if he went there and did not return to the UK for a few years (three, I think it was) then he would not need to repay his loan. I have since corrected him, but this myth is prevalent amongst students.

melancholly

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Can you not wonder at it? The Student Loan Scheme in its various guises is equally as confusing as UK mobile phone company tariffs and administered by an outfit equally ambivalent to its customers.

no. it really isn't complicated on this issue.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/RepayingStudentLoansCoursesStartingFrom1998/DG_10034866

on some things it is unclear and difficult, but on this, not at all. i googled "slc repayment overseas" and that was the top link. it very clearly states
"If you go abroad

If you go abroad for more than three months, you need to let the Student Loans Company know. You need to fill in an overseas income assessment form and give evidence of your income or means of support while you’re abroad. You’ll then be given a repayment schedule."


i'm all for the SLC improving customer service but at the same time, i get very fed up with these stories of poor confused graduates who apparently can't read anything about their T&Cs, check the directgov website, ring the SLC or do anything check what the rules are. instead they make assumptions based on urban myth from people in the pub and try to avoid repayments. these are 21+ year olds with a degree. you can't simply say 'oh the poor dears'. it is insulting to the intelligence of UK graduates to say that the system is so completely complicated. it really isn't. poor excuses for poor behaviour.


(and fwiw, you're confusing those paying back now with the terms of the new system. the more that people skip out on paying, the more that totals and interest rates will rise for the next lot to claw the money back. it's selfish and just plain wrong to try to avoid paying back debt that you owe like this. there is no excuse)

Amer_A.K.

I believe some figures are wrong for those who earn £20,000, in the table above, Today's repayment should be £0.00 for every student that earn £21k or less that means the figure for total payment for those who earns 20k should be £0.00 inst...ead of £7,200. And the real interest cost should stay at _£43,500.
I understood from the above that: no student should pay back any penny if they don't earn more than 21k in the first year after graduation from April 2017, and they pay only 9% on everything they earn over the 21k in the first tax year, then they pay 9% on everything they earn over (21k + inflation rate) in the second tax year, e.g. if RPI is 3% in 2018, then students will only pay back when they earn over £21630 (£21,000+3% of £21,000)=(£21,000+£630) and so on, is that correct?
Please correct me if I'm wrong or correct the two wrong figures above