Old Student Loan debt!!

ruky_uk

Please help! :eek:

I have just received notification from my employer that theywill start student loan deductions as they have been instructed to do so byHMRC.:mad:

I was a student in 2002-2005. I started work in 2007 and have been earningover the threshold limit since then, however I have never had any deductionsbeing made.

I have spoken to someone at SLC and they have said they sent me statementson a yearly basis - the lady I spoke to could only say she can see statementswere sent in 2005 and 2006 and this was a notification that my payments couldnow be collected.

I have never had or signed a deferment letter as I have read many otherpeople have had to do this. I have never made any payments or been in touchwith SLC - I can’t recall exactly when my last contact would have been but I’mcertain I have had no contact since 2005/06 as I stopped studying then.

My question is can I argue that the debt is statue barred? Has anyone been successfulwith this argument?

I have requested a copy of the signed agreement and the adviser said they wouldrequest this but no guarantee that they would still have this. She said she would send me the yearlystatements.

Any thoughts on how this loan repayment could be challenged? Any help orinformation is welcome and thank u guys for taking the time to read this!:o

RDG

According to HMRC you can only claim a loan is statute barred after the lender has not attempted to recieve a payment is 6 years.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/ihtm28384.htm

So no you cant and they probably would have some defence against such claims anyway.

Why do you think the debt shouldnt be repaid? Everyone else who earns over the theshold is paying their debt.

charlieismydarling

Why would you not want to repay this debt? Who would you suggest does fund it?

CrazyAngel_3

I was also a student from 2002-2005. You took the loan, you have to repay it. No you cant claim its statute barred. Mines been taken from my salary for years now. Thats how it works.

This is the newer style loan - you cannot defer. Its simple - you earn over the threshold you have to start repaying, you cant choose not to pay this type of loan and they wioll take the appropriate amount from your salary.

ruky_uk

Thanks for the replies. The fact I earn over the threshold limit and shouldbe paying back the student loan is not in question - what I want to know is whythey have not been asking to take the money and left it so long.

I have had no letters from them stating what interest is being charged. Ithad been a debt of £7000 if I remember correctly. The lady I spoke to todaysaid I owe £14401!! That's double the amount. I am aware they can chargeinterest but at what rate?

And if they had started to take the money due to them as soon as I hadstarted to earn over the threshold limit then would I still owe them what theyare seeking to recover from me now or would the amount have been lower?

I had a conversation with SLC soon after I stopped studying to ask if theycould take money towards my debt - I had been working part time then and theyhad said no as I do not earn enough. They had said they would start to recovermoney when I started to earn enough - I have not heard from them since and theyshould have been recovering as this dates back to 2005/06 as this is when Ilast had contact from them via my telephone conversation. I have checked my olddiaries so I know who I spoke to and the date I spoke to them so will bereferring back to this.

If they have made a mistake and left it so long to recover - as well ascharge a lot of interest in the meantime - no I do not want to pay the interestback at this rate and yes I will be trying to argue statute barred if this doesapply as I don’t think it is fair for them to leave taking this debt back forso long after it has been due and could have been collected.

There are millions of people who owe money - some creditors due to some blipor other fail to recover the money due to them within the legal time limit anddebtors successfully argue that the debt is statute barred. This to me does notconstitute as people trying to get away with borrowing but if lenders makemistakes like this then why should we not benefit?? If it was the other wayaround there is no way they would leave even a penny from us!

Imagine not responding to legal letters from them?? We would have to payinterest plus charges plus solicitors costs by now for not taking steps at theright time- why should they then be allowed to come and ask for money owed tothem plus interest way after it has become due??? The SLC should have sentnotifications of how much was owed on a yearly basis plus details of whatinterest was being charged plus ask if I can repay the money or asked foremployment details OR checked with HMRC using details I have provided to themand tracked my earnings as they would do in most other cases.

If they have failed if in their duty and I can save money by not paying themback then sorry to those who are paying theirs back I will want to try theargument!

P.S: I have other loan obligations - these areALL being paid on time, I have full breakdowns of what is owing and what is tobe charged. The companies keep me informed and I keep them informed. If they donot contact me after knowing my full details and it is over 6 years - oh yesthey will be getting the same response. No offense to anyone out there paying the SLC!!!!

RDG

It maybe that HMRC havent told them you are earning enough until now. The system is extremely complicated so there is always scope for mistakes. Did you move house in 2007 by any chance Ive found SLC to be pretty bad at change of addresses even when you inform them it doesnt garuentee it will get changed.

The interest rate has been low since you graduated so the amount you owe will not have doubled. Even if you have parents that earn a fair amount the laon per year was about £3500 in 2003 onwards if i remember correctly and for the 2004-2005 year i seem to remember the tuition fees could be added to it as well.

Look at it this way you have had extra income for a few years, yes you have been charged interest on the outstanding amount but it is at a rate significantly less than you can get anywhere else. It could be worse and they demand the back payments as well.

You say its there fault but if you knew you earned over the thershold and no money was taken why didnt you contact them?

CLAPTON

In the UK, the responsibily for paying the correct tax NI and student loan rests with the citizen.

You have the clear legal duty to pay what is due.

It is almost beyond believe that anyone worth sending to Uni with tax payers money is incapable of logging onto the SLC website and reading the rules (plus the documentation given to you when you accepted the loans).

When yopu started work you have a duty to inform your emplyer you have student loans.

It is after all extremely simple: if you earn more than 15,000 per annum to must start to pay the student loan back.

mynameistallulah

What stopped you contacting them, as you knew payments were due before now?

FrankLC

I had a similar thing in that I was paying my loan back before being made redundant. As i was claiming JSA for a couple of months my repayments stopped. Once I found new employement my boss convinced me I wasn't earning enough to pay it back but when I found out I was, I came clean. TBH I was just relieved they didn't want a back payment for the two years I was earning enough but not paying...

ruky_uk

mynameistallulah wrote: »

What stopped you contacting them, as you knew payments were due before now?

after the course ended i did contact them and was told my deductions would be taken automatically when i start to earn enough. I have details of when this call was made so will be referring them to this!

mynameistallulah

ruky_uk wrote: »

after the course ended i did contact them and was told my deductions would be taken automatically when i start to earn enough. I have details of when this call was made so will be referring them to this!

And when you knew that you were earning enough, why did you not call them, or speak to payroll?