ERUDIO student loans help

cluelessfish

fermi wrote: »

This update on a FOI request to BIS confirms 100% the position on deferment for borrowers with shared loans.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/227596/response/566053/attach/html/3/FOI%202014%2019700%20R%20Miles%20reply.pdf.html

So if SLC staff try to deny they have anything to do with it, you can tell them that is not so, and hard luck, they are the ones that have to process your deferment for ALL loans where you have them with more than one company.

good to know, hopefully slc have been made aware of this and will send out deferment applications as before.

crapola

It will be interesting to see if there are any differences between the processes that would constitute a failing of the Fair Processing Commitment.....

rizla_king

SLC have been deferring Thesis loans for ages, so that process shouldn't change just because Erudio get added on to the list. Would be grossly unfair.

Student1983

Erudio do not mention the age criteria for loan cancellation in their guide. Strange not to include this when pre 1998 loans allowed this.

Honors student loans include some details on age but seem to take the view that it is only allowed if you have never reached the threshold. I had reached the threshold in the past but not now. So in this case it would seem I wasn't eligible for cancellation. That is contrary to my t&c for my current loan. I hope. I hope erudio is not planning this move.

From the FAQ on honors website. Here is the question and answer.

I think that I may be eligible for my loans to be cancelled due to my age. What do I need to do?

If you were under the age of 40 when you took out the last of your student loans, and your earnings have never reached the threshold required to begin repayment of your loans, Honours Student Loans will automatically cancel your loans when you reach the age of 50. This is dependent on your loans having no arrears at the time of cancellation.
If you were over the age of 40 when you took out the last of your student loans, and your earnings have never reached the threshold required to begin repayment of your loans, Honours Student Loans will automatically cancel your loans when you reach the age of 60. This is dependent on your loans having no arrears at the time of cancellation.

Jonez

Student1983 wrote: »

Erudio do not mention the age criteria for loan cancellation in their guide. Strange not to include this when pre 1998 loans allowed this.

Honors student loans include some details on age but seem to take the view that it is only allowed if you have never reached the threshold. I had reached the threshold in the past but not now. So in this case it would seem I wasn't eligible for cancellation. That is contrary to my t&c for my current loan. I hope. I hope erudio is not planning this move.

From the FAQ on honors website. Here is the question and answer.

I think that I may be eligible for my loans to be cancelled due to my age. What do I need to do?

If you were under the age of 40 when you took out the last of your student loans, and your earnings have never reached the threshold required to begin repayment of your loans, Honours Student Loans will automatically cancel your loans when you reach the age of 50. This is dependent on your loans having no arrears at the time of cancellation.
If you were over the age of 40 when you took out the last of your student loans, and your earnings have never reached the threshold required to begin repayment of your loans, Honours Student Loans will automatically cancel your loans when you reach the age of 60. This is dependent on your loans having no arrears at the time of cancellation.

This 'have never reached the threshold' thing has cropped up here before and, I'm pretty sure, was dismissed by someone with more knowledge of these things than me as utter crap. I reached the threshold for a while in 2003-5 and happily made the payments whilst this was the case. I turn 60 next May and cannot see how my earnings over a decade before can be used as an excuse to alter the terms of my agreement.

fermi

The loan regulations and agreement oblige them to cancel the loans at the appropriate age or time since you last loan was taken out.

Neither Honours, Erudio of Thesis have any ability to alter that fact, no matter what unclear or misleading statements they choose to put on their websites.

The law and loan terms are clear and unambiguous and cannot be overridden.

In this case I think it is just a poorly or unclear written section on that website.

i.e. If you have never reached the threshold to start repaying, then they will cancel the loan automatically. Presumably what isn't said is that if you have reached that threshold, then they won't do it automatically, and you will have to request or apply for it?

Regardless, you are entitled to the cancellation at the cut off points under law, no matter what the various companies may say.

Student1983

Thanks for your replies - Fermi and Jonez. I am due a cancellation in December. I would not be surprised if this falls through. Slc checked my records and nothing on it to warrant not getting it. However Erudio may play games with me. I am due to defer in oct. not sure best approach as do not want to sign the form. Also don't want to give them any grounds to put me in arrears. Treading carefully at minute. Also have joined mumsnet too. Been there for about a week. I have written twice to BIS to get more clarification but all pretty much what is known to date.

erudioed

This using ambiguous/open language to state a rule seems to be a running theme. With the lawyers and the clear intellect these cretins have, it is impossible to conclude that using ambiguous language is anything other than deliberate because in 'their' world, it does work in their favour. I also thought these companies have to use clear and precise language, something i have always thought we could get them on the !!!! list for. Every area where we are having problems have an answer that is just slightly clouded, which is probably the reason why most of us are rather confused when dealing with them (not to forget the propaganda machine, sorry the lie factory, sorry again, i actually mean the call centre).

BaffledByErudio

Haven't read it yet, but I have apparently received a statement from Erudio. My partner opened the letter and read it to me over the phone. It apparently shows something like Payments Due: 0 and Arrears: 0, and notes I'm currently in deferment.
It stipulates 'You don't have to do anything'.
However, while it lists my balance, it also briefly mentions something about an interest mistake they've acknowledged.
It also has some strange wording about how much I owe and amount of credit given. It's probably kosha. Just that SLC's statements just used to be in plain English and easy to understand.
I wasn't one of those who was wrongly charged interest, so the bit that confuses me is where it says 'amount of credit given' and lists an amount.
To me, it sounded like that was roughly the amount that my original loans (now consolidated I assume) would have totaled in the 90s, before any interest was added. But if it is, it only sounds like the amount I borrowed in one particular year. I guess it's just Erudio's new approach to wording, in contrast to what we're used to with SLC, that has thrown me. Either way, it's not flippin' clear! I could tell without looking at it, it was written in 'Erudioese'.
I'll obviously read the letter later and guess I'll just add it to the ever-expanding ream of correspondence in my cupboard!
Suppose, as long as I maintain this paper chain, which must, by now, be on the brink of destroying a rainforest, I can quote them on the 'You don't need to do anything line', should they ever quibble, further down the line, a discrepancy in my account only Stephen Hawking would have spotted!
I think that's my largest gripe with this firm - clarity! The level of jargon is incredible and worries me.

BaffledByErudio

Oh, and looking at their FAQ's, ropey spelling is back on the agenda (like in the original DAF).

"There are no issues with the actual loan account balances shown and no customers have had incorrect amounts withdrawn from their bank accounts as a result of this issue. There will be no affect to customers' credit files as a result of this error - this information has not been recorded with credit reference agencies (CRAs)."

I know I sound pedantic, but this company is dealing with my financial matters. It is a company, which, as far as I'm aware, is bound by similar Financial Conduct regulations as mainstream high street firms like HSBC and Barclays. If I saw mistakes like that in correspondence originating from my bank, I'd forward it as a sub-Saharan Africa phishing email!
I also note they're pretty fast off the starting blocks to punch home the fact "no customers have had incorrect amounts withdrawn from their bank accounts as a result of this issue."
They were keen to push that elephant out of the room for obvious reasons!
I genuinely wish they'd start to behave like a firm we can trust. I'm not going to spend an eternity badmouthing them. Nor do I ever sit back and expect the loan to disappear (it is, after all, money I owe. It was a loan).
But if we don't earn enough to begin repayment, under the terms set out, we should have the right to relax during a period of deferment, rather than worrying about the situation.