Student Loans backdating while abroad

Duckbum

Hi everyone.

I moved abroad over a year ago and foolishly did not get my SLC affairs in order, as I assumed I would be hearing from them anyway.

After around 8 months passed and I'd heard nothing from them (I hadn't heard from them on years in the UK either but never earned enough to pay anyway) I contacted the SLC requesting a repayment schedule. 4 months later I got a response, requesting details of expected income over the next 12 months, the date I left the UK, the date I expect to return and some other info.

Will they expect me to pay them for the whole time I've been abroad and earning? I understand it's my mistake to some extent buy they haven't bothered to contact me in years and took months to respond to my query. A colleague of mine was recently chased up while working the same job as I am currently, and was only asked to begin payments as normal, with no backdating.

bengalknights

They may ask for a catch up payment on first deduction then just break down monthly

somethingcorporate

It's your responsibility to tell them you move, do you think they are mind readers? Otherwise how would they know?

I think they can ask for the account to be brought up to date, it seems quite reasonable. It took you twice as long to tell them you have moved than it took them to send you a reply so in context it seems they are pretty efficient

Duckbum

Thanks for the replies. I dont expect them to be mindreaders but they didn't bother even contacting me when I was in the UK for about 3 years. I even tried to set up a payment plan online but I needed a customer reference number which I dont have, hence I had to write to them. You're correct though that I should have done it earlier.

Has anyone had actual experience of this as opposed to speculating what they might do? It seems odd that my colleague actually got chased up yet they just started taking regular payments even though he'd left the country 2 years previously.

somethingcorporate

Like any big organisation they are bound to be inconsistent. Give them a call and see what you can negotiate - if you go cap in hand and very apologetic and get a nice person on a sunny day I am sure they will be far more accommodating.