Chased for University Tuiton fees

tim131

Hi There,

Im looking for advice, I am pretty worried to be honest.

For the academic year 11/12 I attened a univrtsity, I dropped out - however I had been having so much trouble with student finance, they kept saying I never signed a declaration, and I must have sent it in 5 times, they always said they never got it, or when I sent it recorded they said that the declaration wasn't there - I finally stopped getting calls from the debt collection agency - STA international, so I though SFE had finally sorted it.

Now today I have got a court summons for 3k, I really dunno what to do, I still have my SFE details etc, but not sure if it is too late, I dont have 3k, thats why I wanted student finance, I want to pay it back, I want to be able to pay it out of my wages, but I really dont know what to do? should I call the sheriff court, should I call SFE or the University?

Can anyone help?

Many Thanks

Tim

emmaglet

I'm no expert, but I'd deal with SFE direct. A few years ago they were chasing me for a payment that I didn't agree with. In the end I sent them a letter telling them that I would NOT be paying the debt, and if they still think I owe it, they can add it to my total debt and I will pay it through the usual means out of my pay packet. I heard nothing back.

emmaglet

Oh and just to add, do NOT give them your telephone number. They are appalling to my boyfriend and he owes just £180 (their fault the overpayment happened). They refuse to believe he doesn't have a job nor does he claim JSA (he is ineligible) despite them having copies of letters from DWP to this effect. Yet they are constantly ringing him, and if he does happen to answer, they're extremely rude (he's put them on loudspeaker for me to listen to) to him and just will not accept what he's telling them (no income...at all). The last letter we sent was about a month ago offering a payment plan of £1 per week and explaining, once again, that he has absolutely no income and the money he sends them will be from car boot sales or selling something on eBay. Now that we've asked for their payment details and the payment plan they've not given us any information.

tim131

emmaglet wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'd deal with SFE direct. A few years ago they were chasing me for a payment that I didn't agree with. In the end I sent them a letter telling them that I would NOT be paying the debt, and if they still think I owe it, they can add it to my total debt and I will pay it through the usual means out of my pay packet. I heard nothing back.

Interesting, thanks for that. The debt however is not with them, but with the unviersity. I should be paying it back through them, but they kept messing up and losing my paperwork, which is why I have a court summons from a debt collectors now, its just so overwhelming, I dont want bad credit or even to be imprisoned, maybe I should ring citizens advice.

I dont want to call the court in case I say or do something that could be used against me later, as I have no idea about these legal things. All I want to do is pay it back through SFE.

emmaglet

Ohhhhhhh sorry, I read it as though the debt is with SFE. In that case I'd liaise with the university. I'm sure they'd rather you enter into a repayment plan than ignore the debt.

harrys_dad

The days are gone thankfully when you could be sent to prison for debt, unless it is wilful refusal to pay Council Tax.

tim131

Hi all,

Thanks again for the replies there, still not really sure what to do - does anyone else have any experience or even advice what I should do?

I am pretty worried about this all.

Thanks again.

ValHaller

OK, your narrative does not really explain to me what happened - and if this is going to court you need a coherent narrative for a judge who will not understand what has happened.

Is the story this:

• You went to university, in the belief that your tuition fees would be covered by a Student Loan
• The Student Loan was never granted because of maladministration
• The University now wish you to pay

If that is what has happened, why have you not persisted to ensure that the Student Loan was paid over to the University?