ERUDIO student loans help

anna2007

gardenia101 wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying the 25 year rule - I never thought I'd be wishing to get to 50....

gardenia101 wrote: »

Does that sound reasonable to argue a change to T&C if Erudio decide they now want to include it?

That sounds good, you should give them a copy of everything you have that refers to the child maintenance, although unfortunately it's unlikely that Erudio will back down.

But it does give you grounds to formally complain if they won't budge - this puts your account (and any collection activity) on hold for up to 8 weeks while they investigate your complaint - by which time we should have SLC's FOI response confirming that child maintenance isn't included as income.

Another idea is to ask the CSA(?) to confirm in writing that child maintenance is not a source of income to the parent and is for financially supporting the child, and give a copy to Erudio?

JeLaw

ElwoodBlues wrote: »

I've just found out that 'student loans people' have been telephoning my parents landline (where my student loan is still registered) to try and contact me. I don't know the details as I wasn't there to speak to them (it could have been Erudio or SLC, but more likely to be Erudio). I've never given Erudio a phone number, I may have given this number to SLC when I originally applied for loans (over 15 years ago). Bit !!!!ed about that, and I know it's going to cause aggro if they keep calling my parents!

That's very worrying! I have a feeling they have the landline number for my parents too. SLC called my parents (asking for me) a couple of years ago. I requested that they use only my telephone numbers for contact in future and they respected that so I would hope that they haven't passed on the number to Erudio....

I think you should write to Erudio immediately advising of your current contact number and demanding that no further calls should be made to your parents. They have no right to hound your parents.

Actually thinking about it, if you don't want them to have your current telephone number perhaps state that you wish for all correspondence to be by post only (if you prefer). Could someone confirm whether we are entitled to request this?

gardenia101

anna2007 wrote: »

That sounds good, you should give them a copy of everything you have that refers to the child maintenance, although unfortunately it's unlikely that Erudio will back down.

But it does give you grounds to formally complain if they won't budge - this puts your account (and any collection activity) on hold for up to 8 weeks while they investigate your complaint - by which time we should have SLC's FOI response confirming that child maintenance isn't included as income.

Another idea is to ask the CSA(?) to confirm in writing that child maintenance is not a source of income to the parent and is for financially supporting the child, and give a copy to Erudio?

I've tried the Child Maintenance Options helpline (detailed on the CSA website) - their view is that if Erudio count child benefit & tax credits as income, then its unsurprising that they count child maintenance as income; all of them are designed to be used for the children's benefit as opposed to income for the parent.

I can understand the logic of what they're saying, even if I don't agree with it.

The lady on the helpline did say she didn't really have a definite answer,as this wasn't the usual sort of query they dealt with.

ElwoodBlues

anna2007 wrote: »

It's not Erudio's job to come up with a figure, you have to prove to them...

...You don't have to give them most of this, unless it's to prove the level of financial support, e.g. the mortgage payment. Anything that is irrelevant to your application should be blacked out.

We have to prove to Erudio that our total gross income is below the threshold. That is almost impossible to do beyond doubt. How do you prove that you don't have a second job/small time self employment? If you start redacting stuff from your bank statements, they could easily argue that you're trying to hide some supplementary income.

I have sent them my last 3 months payslips, page from our tax credits award notice (with my partner's section redacted), and the page from my self assessment tax return that shows my self employment income (a small amount). My gross income from these sources totals under £15k, so I'm a country mile below the deferment threshold. They have absolutely no valid reason to refuse my deferment, it's not like it's a marginal case or anything.

JeLaw wrote: »

That's very worrying! I have a feeling they have the landline number for my parents too. SLC called my parents (asking for me) a couple of years ago. I requested that they use only my telephone numbers for contact in future and they respected that so I would hope that they haven't passed on the number to Erudio....

I think you should write to Erudio immediately advising of your current contact number and demanding that no further calls should be made to your parents. They have no right to hound your parents.

Actually thinking about it, if you don't want them to have your current telephone number perhaps state that you wish for all correspondence to be by post only (if you prefer). Could someone confirm whether we are entitled to request this?

I'm not giving them a phone number, I don't want them to phone me. I'm entirely within my rights to do so (and I'd urge everyone else to do the same).

If they do manage to get one, I'll tell them to put it in writing and hang up. My next letter will also request that they do everything in writing (I hadn't made this request before, because I'd never given them a contact number on which to call me).

The only reason they want to get you on the phone is to browbeat you into giving them money, whether they're entitled to it or not. They are like sneaky salesmen, but they don't have anything to sell, they just want you money. These people spend all day every day harassing people for money over the phone. They are well practiced and good at their job, they don't have ethics or morals, they'll say anything to get money out of you.

Forever

I have been deferred on my 1996 student loan.

However, I've just passed most of today writing up my complaints for the FOS. I also emailed the FCA with my complaints as well (not sure if they can do anything though!).

Personally, I complained on the grounds of:

1. Providing information to other CRAs, and the subsequent bad credit rating.

(My original contract says that they may pass info onto CRAs I have argued against this on the grounds of the data protection act, and the false classification of my student loan repayments of being 'on holiday' with the subsequent bad credit rating).

2. There is a costly process if you want to defer

3. Raiding people's bank accounts

4. No customer service

5. Using harassment and bullying tactics.

I've never done anything like this before, but hopefully something positive will come out of it

ElwoodBlues

fermi wrote: »

It's only a few pages back, but I'll quote it again.

Thanks. I thought you meant they'd been deferred without using the form, but it seems that they did return it. Not something I'm not prepared to do at this stage (lets see if they take anyone to court over it, and how that goes).

anna2007

ElwoodBlues wrote: »

We have to prove to Erudio that our total gross income is below the threshold. That is almost impossible to do beyond doubt. How do you prove that you don't have a second job/small time self employment? If you start redacting stuff from your bank statements, they could easily argue that you're trying to hide some supplementary income.

They can confirm earnings with HMRC, if there was any discrepancy, then you would probably have to provide full bank statements. Other 'income', e.g. credit card expenditure, loans, etc, can be confirmed by a search on your credit file.

You only have to evidence the declared income on your application, nothing more. And as long as you've declared everything, they have no right to see full statements.

gardenia101

Michelle1976 wrote: »

Yes you do. The ctc and wtc letters must be dated within 30 days or they won't accept them. I also had to send a copy of my Child Benefit letter which I had to get especially for my deferment....CB don't send letters out as often as ctc and wtc.

Is this still a requirement - I haven't had a letter from Child Benefit since 12/08 & as for getting tax credits paperwork from HMRC; that is on ongoing saga now I need large print. If I'm lucky I may get an award notice sometime within the next 12 weeks....

ElwoodBlues wrote: »

We have to prove to Erudio that our total gross income is below the threshold. That is almost impossible to do beyond doubt. How do you prove that you don't have a second job/small time self employment? If you start redacting stuff from your bank statements, they could easily argue that you're trying to hide some supplementary income.

This is what worries me - I'll highlight the deposits from child benefit/tax credits & my employer, but I don't want them seeing anything they don't need to see.

I have sent them my last 3 months payslips, page from our tax credits award notice (with my partner's section redacted), and the page from my self assessment tax return that shows my self employment income (a small amount). My gross income from these sources totals under £15k, so I'm a country mile below the deferment threshold. They have absolutely no valid reason to refuse my deferment, it's not like it's a marginal case or anything.

I'm not giving them a phone number, I don't want them to phone me. I'm entirely within my rights to do so (and I'd urge everyone else to do the same).

If they do manage to get one, I'll tell them to put it in writing and hang up. My next letter will also request that they do everything in writing (I hadn't made this request before, because I'd never given them a contact number on which to call me).

The only reason they want to get you on the phone is to browbeat you into giving them money, whether they're entitled to it or not. They are like sneaky salesmen, but they don't have anything to sell, they just want you money. These people spend all day every day harassing people for money over the phone. They are well practiced and good at their job, they don't have ethics or morals, they'll say anything to get money out of you.

I wish I hadn't phoned them now, but as they were never going to get in touch with me I don't know what else I could have done. Looking back I do feel I was subtly pressurised into making a payment, & all correspondence will now be post or email.

anna2007

gardenia101 wrote: »

Is this still a requirement - I haven't had a letter from Child Benefit since 12/08 & as for getting tax credits paperwork from HMRC; that is on ongoing saga now I need large print. If I'm lucky I may get an award notice sometime within the next 12 weeks....

You can provide a copy bank statement instead, for the month before you send deferment, showing the credit to your account - but black out everything that isn't relevant to your application.

gardenia101

Dizzybuff - have PM'd you.