...but it pours. I can't afford student loan repayments!

lippy1923

As I posted above, try posting an SOA on the debt free board so we can try and help you reduce your spending.

moohound

Is there a time limit on these loans, or are they repayable forever?

Has anyone campaigned against the poor terms compared to later loans?

redskyatnight_2

GOSH, if I were thinking of going to uni, this thread would put me off. How and why do people still owe multiple 1000s/tens of 1000s in uni fees after 15 or more years? That is quite worrying. Especially when the fees would have been only a third of what they are now.

How on earth are people going to afford to pay back the £27,000 of student loans that they have to borrow now - plus maintenance loans; so potentially some fifty grand, if people who only borrowed a third of the amount still owe multiple 1000s, and cannot cope with the agreed payments? And I also wonder; is there a time limit? Like, if it's not all paid by 30 or 35, it's written off?

My niece is going to uni (probably) in September. I wonder if she should bother? Especially as some say that the degree is basically worthless!

Sorry OP. I hope you get everything sorted. It's just that your original post and the subsequent ones, make for depressing reading.

System

redskyatnight wrote: »

GOSH, if I were thinking of going to uni, this thread would put me off. How and why do people still owe multiple 1000s/tens of 1000s in uni fees after 15 or more years? That is quite worrying. Especially when the fees would have been only a third of what they are now.

How on earth are people going to afford to pay back the £27,000 of student loans that they have to borrow now - plus maintenance loans; so potentially some fifty grand, if people who only borrowed a third of the amount still owe multiple 1000s, and cannot cope with the agreed payments? And I also wonder; is there a time limit? Like, if it's not all paid by 30 or 35, it's written off?

My niece is going to uni (probably) in September. I wonder if she should bother? Especially as some say that the degree is basically worthless!

Sorry OP. I hope you get everything sorted. It's just that your original post and the subsequent ones, make for depressing reading.

It IS worth going to university if your niece is studying something that will lead onto decent career prospects. Think of the new style loans as a tax. Yes the debts will be larger than when I graduated 8 years ago, but your niece wont pay anything back until she earns over 21k and it will be 9% of everything above that, so if she earns 21k she will pay nil. If she earns 35k, she will pay about £105/month. In all likelihood she wont ever repay the loan and it will be wiped after 30 years. More and more jobs these days require a degree and your niece is likely to get a better salary for having the degree, offsetting the extra 'tax'/loan repayments she will pay.

mysk_girl

Those of us that had the pre 1998 loans didn't have to pay fees. But we do have to pay off everything we owe in 5 years, once repayments have started - which is why the payments are so high compared to the current loan system.

k3lvc

K_S_P wrote: »

Whilst my monthly salary may look healthy on paper, I have various other loans, and repayments and I simply cannot pay this. I live on the breadline as it is and worry about money every waking moment. This has sent me over the edge. I am looking at selling my house. It seems that Thesis have not spoken to SLC to establish each other's repayment amounts and they don't appreciate that there are other factors to take into account, not just what the figure is on my payslip.

So without being (too) harsh you could afford a mortgage and 'various other loans' but not to repay your Student Loan which presumably came first and now object when you're asked to repay it ?

CLAPTON

K_S_P wrote: »

I have reached a similar situation. I have 4 loans - 2 from 96/97 with SLC and 2 from 98/99 with Thesis. I have deferred them for 13 years because a)I never met the salary limit and b)I just couldn't afford to pay them back.
I have now (April) had a £20 pay rise (don't even go there) which takes me just over the limit and I cannot defer. I cannot afford £200 a month - there was a reason I deferred, it wasn't just for the fun of it. So I've now gone from an acceptance that I couldn't afford it one month to suddenly apparently having an extra £200 to spare. It doesn't make sense.
I phoned Thesis yesterday (in tears I might add) - possibly the most unhelpful and unsupportive person I have ever spoken to. The payments are as they are - tough.
Whilst my monthly salary may look healthy on paper, I have various other loans, and repayments and I simply cannot pay this. I live on the breadline as it is and worry about money every waking moment. This has sent me over the edge. I am looking at selling my house. It seems that Thesis have not spoken to SLC to establish each other's repayment amounts and they don't appreciate that there are other factors to take into account, not just what the figure is on my payslip.

We don't know your full circumstances, so it's impossible to know how you can to be here, but it would seem you have had 13 years of paying nothing and now think it unfair to have to start repaying?