ERUDIO student loans help

JeLaw

I wish you luck, Pluthero! And you too, Mitch Sorenstein.

I haven't got a DD in place yet. Not happy about doing it especially after seeing erudioed update about them still taking money "mistakenly" from the accounts of people in deferment.

This whole situation really is shocking and a complete mess.

Pluthero, how can they get away with refusing your deferral when there's no legal requirement to use their form? I don't see how they can try and force this. I'm not a legal expert at all so perhaps I'm wrong but I'd argue that you're not in arrears. It's not your fault if they're refusing to comply with the terms and conditions and defer you.

I'm just hoping I get to speak with my MP soon, although who knows if they will be of any help or not but it's worth trying.

anna2007

Lungboy wrote: »

All calculations are gross, aren't they? So pension deductions shouldn't be factored in.

That was kind of my point - gross pay, by definition, is pay before any deductions are made by the employer.

The ONS take their 1% sample for the Average Weekly Earnings calculation from HMRC's PAYE system. As contributions to occupational pension schemes receive tax relief, they're deducted from your gross pay before tax, and it's the taxable pay (and tax obviously) which is reported to HMRC. The employee's tax-free pension contribution is paid over to the pension scheme.

So if the sample the ONS takes from HMRC only includes taxable earnings, it makes sense that when calculating the deferment level, BIS would have to add employee pension contributions back in, as they form part of the total gross pay.

7% seems about right for employee pension contributions, according to the ONS data.

Pluthero

JeLaw wrote: »

I wish you luck, Pluthero! And you too, Mitch Sorenstein.

I haven't got a DD in place yet. Not happy about doing it especially after seeing erudioed update about them still taking money "mistakenly" from the accounts of people in deferment.

This whole situation really is shocking and a complete mess.

Pluthero, how can they get away with refusing your deferral when there's no legal requirement to use their form? I don't see how they can try and force this. I'm not a legal expert at all so perhaps I'm wrong but I'd argue that you're not in arrears. It's not your fault if they're refusing to comply with the terms and conditions and defer you.

I'm just hoping I get to speak with my MP soon, although who knows if they will be of any help or not but it's worth trying.

Well that's the rub. They have just quoted Section 11 of the original loan agreement to me about satisfying the loans administrator as the reason they refused my complaint. They state I have to fully complete their DAF to be deferred. This is nonsense cuz we all know people who have crossed out nearly all it and been deferred. Furthermore I have complied with the original loan conditions with evidence and a signed declaration so if anyone in in breach it is Erudio for not deferring me. It was good of them to put this in writing to me because I will be sending a 4th complaint to them and also to the FOS stating explicitly why I am in the right and have provided enough evidence to be deferred.

It's basically scare tactics and I aint f**king blinking. I was scared but now I am just very angry. Am prepared to take this as far as I can. They are a DCA, one of the worst so don't back down with them.

dizzybuff

Lungboy wrote: »

All calculations are gross, aren't they? So pension deductions shouldn't be factored in.

Anna 2007 , my pension is a salary sacrifice so is taken pre tax and is not included in the p60 , also neither are my child voucher schemes . My p60 was provided so they could see what was taxes and NI d , I my taxable earnings ( gross.)

Brooker_Dave

"The transfer of loans to the private sector means that the responsibility for loans administration will fall to the debt purchaser, as owner of the debt. But I can reassure noble Lords that the Bill does not reduce the rights of borrowers. On the contrary, borrowers' rights will be protected through the sale agreement which will require the purchaser to meet the same collection standards as the Student Loans Company, as a minimum. Failure to abide by them could lead to legal action against the purchaser. Variations to these standards by the purchaser will not be allowed without written approval from my right honourable friend the Secretary of State. Any proposed changes by the purchaser would have to comply with the safeguards contained elsewhere in this Bill, and in existing consumer protection legislation in the Consumer Credit, Data Protection and Malicious Communications Acts.

Borrowers have no cause to fear. The existing deferment terms and lender's ability to deal with borrowers in financial difficulty will remain in place. There should be no need for any borrowers to default on their loan, but if they do they should expect to have legal action taken against them under the new arrangements in the same way as it is taken now.


Noble Lords may be concerned that private sector debt purchasers might seek to use the database or loan borrowers for other purposes such as cross selling financial products. I can assure them that the Bill specifically prevents any such data being provided or used for such purposes. The sale of a borrower's loan will not result in a flood of junk mail."

anna2007

dizzybuff wrote: »

Anna 2007 , my pension is a salary sacrifice so is taken pre tax and is not included in the p60 , also neither are my child voucher schemes . My p60 was provided so they could see what was taxes and NI d , I my taxable earnings ( gross.)

dizzybuff - It's not your taxable earnings, but your gross earnings Erudio are interested in, this is effectively your annual salary/12 if paid monthly, before any deductions, and will be shown on your P60.

The definition in the regulations of "gross income":
“income from all sources before deduction for or relief from tax or other statutory charge, but not including any disability related benefits, and less any disability related costs".

I imagine the reason Erudio are asking for the P60 as evidence is to catch out the canny people who are already doing what erictheking suggested, lowering their pay in the month(s) before applying for deferment. I'm pretty sure Erudio have no legal basis for asking for the P60, all we're required to show is our income in the "relevant month" (the month before applying for deferment), plus (if the lender asks) a certification that our income for the following 3 months won't be, or is unlikely to be, above the threshold. There's nothing in there about checking our pay for the previous financial year. The same obviously goes for providing 3 months' bank statements, etc - all Erudio are legally entitled to see is the previous month.

Erudio's guidance on applying for deferment is all the evidence we need to challenge them in our FOS complaints that they're asking for more proof than they're legally entitled to:
http://www.erudiostudentloans.co.uk/lib/docs/213001-defermentapplicationformguide.pdf

Brooker_Dave

"Also, because student loans are unsecured lending from the government – not at all like credit cards or commercial loans - they don’t go on credit files and won’t show up on credit checks."

http://www.studently.com/studentguide/Student-finance-myths-&-facts/84/10

Brooker_Dave

"Myth

Student debt will stop my child getting a mortgage or other loans

Fact

Student loans are unsecured lending from the government and are very different to credit cards or
commercial loans.They don’t go on credit files and don’t show up on credit checks"

Student Finance Wales is a service provided by the Student Loans Company."

http://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/media/8599/sfw_fs_myths-and-facts_1415_en_d.pdf

"Myth

Student debt will stop my child getting a mortgage or other loans

Fact

Student loans are unsecured lending from the government and are very different to credit cards or
commercial loans.They don’t go on credit files and don’t show up on credit checks"


http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/456064/myths___facts_fact_sheet_1314_d_b.pdf

So even today the SLC in their marketing is claiming that Student Loans do not go on cerdit files or show up on credit checks...

Lungboy

Sadly, I can't find any reference to the impact (or lack thereof) of student loans on credit from the archived SLC pages from 1997.

dizzybuff

My p60 shows my earnings after my salary sacrifices are taken out. Thqt is seen as my pay in my employers eyes. So instead of it being 22k it is 17 k. This is the amount the tax office register as my gross earnings as I sacrifice pay. I really don't think erudite have a clue. I'm with the fos with it at the moment. It's a complete farce erudite have added my sacrifice on again thus in effect increasing my salary by 243 per month on top of my basic before the deduction is taken. If that makes sense