ERUDIO student loans help

BaffledByErudio

I've decided my course of action will be as follows.

I'm going to sign the form and include the information they've asked for, as well as the three payslips and my P60 (which will have to be 2012-2013, as I haven't yet got 2013-2014 document).

I'm including a covering letter explaining that my parents' address is the one held with my loan account and I want it to stay that way, as that's the way it's always been and is easier to keep track of when I move about. It's also where my bank account is registered and the bank are aware of the fact I don't live at that address.
I'll have to come clean on my residential address, as it's on my P60, so by saying contact details are same as last time on the form, yet it being different on my P60 it would look suspicious.
My bank is fine with this set up and I owe them money too!
I'm also explaining in the letter that I take issue with them reporting a deferment to CRAs and that they have set up a Direct Debit by stealth.
My major concerns were originally the bit that seemed I was signing permission for them to 'grass me up' to CRAs and that they had already put the DD in place.
But, as far as I can tell, as long as I provide the proper proof of earnings, they shouldn't really have grounds to refuse deferment, as I'm well under the threshold.
In the long term, if I'm successful on that one, I'm praying that this 'sh*tstorm' hits the headlines and the set up becomes a huge controversy. Surely then, the CRAs will begin to take info from Erudio with a pinch of salt because there'll have been such an unexpected influx of 'dodgy customers' with loan deferments.
Before I send all this, I'm going to try and ring Erudio tonight and run all that past them first and ask what their perspective is, even if i costs me the price of a long call. (Local rate isn't it?)
If there's any obvious signs they're not playing ball, I might even visit their premises, as I work near Rotherham and their PO Box address is based in the town.
I'm not just giving up and offering them the cash. I want deferment and can't afford to pay, but I can't gamble by taking the risks of trying to refuse their deferment process and appeal and really don't need the hassle when I have a full time job and little time/money on my hands.

erudioed

just tell them that is your forwarding address, dont tell them anything else, they arent your dad!
We all have different circumstances and preferred courses of action but I would also suggest just giving a little extra consideration to complaining first and buying yourself 8 weeks because any concerns you have about what CRAs having all the info you give Erudio will be signed away. Maybe our pressure will get them to drop a number of issues before then because they potentially breach our T&Cs. However, if you just want to get it over with, i suggest looking in the forum and taking the advice of others to include in the covering letter that you dont consent to Erudio passing on any of your info to CRAs.
My suggestion is complain first and get their answer before signing anything away.

ericctheking

Have heard some people suffering from lack of sleep from worrying over this and it is really effecting them.
Maybe erudio (arrow/carval investors) can be sued for causing mental anguish?

Zingara

I'm a little concerned at the moment - I have loans transferred to them. Ordinarily I apply for the deferment in Feb/March with payments due to start in April. As I am under the threshold deferment is never a problem. However I haven't had my deferment forms yet from Erudio - they have set up a DD but SLC always had one set up as well without taking anything.

I've emailed them (can't afford the phone call) but no answer as of yet!

I'm tempted to send them a letter recorded delivery with my last 3 payslips as usually requested by SLC. I don't want them claiming they sent the forms and I didn't return them which I am worried they would try to do. I certainly can't afford for them to take any money off me without being notified and won't pay them anything as I know I qualify for deferment.

Watching developments with interest and hoping some deferment decisions come through soon for people so we all know what the next steps are.

BaffledByErudio

I know it's causing me mental anguish. It's bloody disgraceful. I got the form last week and just skim-read it, thinking 'oh, it says t&cs stay same, it'll be fine'. When I came to filling it in and I read the small print on the back about CRAs I smelled a rat. Then when I discovered they'd set up a DD while my loan's deferred until May 19, I was flabbergasted. It's a scandal and there seems to be nobody to talk to and query it all. Erudio will basically lie if I ring them. Why wouldn't they? They want the money, and being a debt recovery agent, they don't have any notion of the whole process of deferring a student loan. To them it's just a hard, solid debt and they want it back. The last correspondence from SLC actually says they no longer want to know about mortgage-style loan queries, so customers should contact Erudio. It's catch22. Erudio say your original T&Cs still stand, but their deferment form is like a whole new contract that you need to sign to access and be held by your original agreement. If you don't give them the info they want, they're saying you're in breach of your original agreement. If you DO give them the details, you're effectively signing away your original agreement. How can that be? It's a truth, shrouded in a lie, hidden behind more lies. And the government let this happen. It's scandalous.

ericctheking

It would be great if someone like Russel Brand was on board and the people whose loans were sold all said we have no agreement with eruido so they get nothing and just to show we are nice people everyone pays the amount eruido paid for the loan book to charities helping people in difficulties.

Jill18

Email s.read@independent.co.uk. I tweeted him last night about erudio as he originally wrote an article about the sell off. He has asked for further info.

erudioed

jill18. Great, i mailed him yesterday, the more the merrier so they know many of us are very concerned with how things are unfolding at such an early stage..

On a general note, i just heard back from BIS who has passed on my complaint. Dont forget to mail them with where you think Erudio has over stepped their mark because if Erudio's complaints responses are very poor, this is one potential avenue for them to get a real dressing down, and to treat us, as they state, "fairly at all times", and hopefully have a bearing on our future years of the deferment process. I think there will be strength in numbers with these complaints
complaints@bis.gsi.gov.uk

and lodge an official compliant to erudio as well that they will have to investigate if you think your SLC T&Cs have been overlooked/breached, or if you think they are trying to get us to sign over new rights to them by sending in the deferment form (the CRA issue). It will also buy up to 8 weeks to hopefully get answers from other outside agents like BIS, or any news/MP pressure etc.

Pixie5740

My loans were sold to Erudio and the first I heard about it was when I logged on to SLC to update my address as I had moved. I have a postal redirect from my old address and I have received nothing from Eurdio or SLC telling me that my loans have been sold.

SLC did something similar when they sold one of my loans to Thesis years ago.

I was hoping to defer my student loan repayments this year but I don't want to if it's going to affect my credit files. Next year I should be in a position to repay the outstanding balance on my loans and then I can tell Erudio to poke it.

erudioed

thats one of the fights pixie5740, if you cant legally defer because you think it will negatively affect you and thus stop you from defering, you should complain at the very least that you are not being treated fairly and that it is bang out of order.