Co-op CDL repayment question

bicyclist

I took out a PCDL 18 months ago, and completed my course last August (and started repayments on time). I have now become unemployed (officially as of last week), and am in receipt of JSA (or will be soon). A couple of months ago I spoke to the Cooperative as at the time I was in receipt of working tax credits and wanted to see if I could defer repayments (as someone I know told me this was possible). At that time, the person I spoke to said the only way to defer repayments (for six months) was if I was unemployed (this person knowing that I had already been repaying since last year). However, I have just spoken with them again, and was told - in no uncertain terms - there are NO circumstances under which the repayments can be deferred once started, only if I had been unemployed at the time I was due to start repaying. I was simply told that if I miss two payments, the account is handed to a debt collection agency.

Of course, the first person I spoke to may just have mentioned that 'you can defer repayments if you are unemployed' as a generic fact (i.e. not specifically referring to me/my situation) in passing, rather than 'you (me, now) can defer repayments if you become unemployed', as I wasn't specifically asking about that scenario.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Of course, the best information is always from the horse's mouth, but it can be a little frustrating to get (what appears to be) inconsistent information from those supposed to be in the know.