ERUDIO student loans help

rizla_king

Student1983 wrote: »

Just in from a well deserved night out. But had a conversation earlier with erudio. The bottom line is deferral will be difficult as they don't see it as a right the same way slc did.

Tough sh#t on Erudio. It IS both a legal and contractual right if you are under the deferment limit. Full stop.

Pluthero

'The bottom line is deferral will be difficult as they don't see it as a right the same way slc did.'

That actually made me laugh OUT loud, no longer having the right to defer.

YET it kinda sums up Erudio's stance in a nutshell

I have been advised to write to the ICO about the sharing of my infomation and the DPA to get their stance on exactly what Erudio are allowed to do with it. Has anyone else went down this route yet?

zombi

This is so stressful. It's all I can really think about at the moment and I'm sure its getting many other people down just as much as it is me.


I have some time off work next week so I'm going to get my stuff together and sort out a complaint for the ombudsman. Has anyone done this yet and received any results? Should I be asking for anything in particular?


Thanks for your advice

Brooker_Dave

Pluthero wrote: »

That actually made me laugh OUT loud, no longer having the right to defer.

YET it kinda sums up Erudio's stance in a nutshell

I have been advised to write to the ICO about the sharing of my infomation and the DPA to get their stance on exactly what Erudio are allowed to do with it. Has anyone else went down this route yet?

It would be quicker and easier to use the courts to enforce your rights under the agreement?

Brooker_Dave

madobea wrote: »

Also I need to make you aware that you currently have arrears on your account for the sum of £897.13 covering a five month period. Please know that failure to keep your payments up to date may lead to the following;
So it's closer to £900 I owe
Even if they do cut off 3 months it's still money I don't have...

You need to explain to them that under the agreement you only have to pay when your income hits a certain level, yours does not, and therefore you have no reason to pay them.

How late was your application, 5 months or less?

anna2007

Pluthero wrote: »

I have been advised to write to the ICO about the sharing of my infomation and the DPA to get their stance on exactly what Erudio are allowed to do with it. Has anyone else went down this route yet?

Yes and it's been a complete waste of time! I sent a lengthy complaint to ICO, received this reply:

"It would appear that Erudio disclosing information to the CRA’s is likely to comply with the requirements of the DPA.

This is because it states in your original agreement that information about the loan can be disclosed to third parties.

Whilst I understand information had not been disclosed to the CRA’s by the Student Loans Company, as you will have had to agree to the terms and conditions when originally taking the loan out, it would appear that this particular section of the agreement would satisfy the requirements of the DPA for the disclosure of information.

In relation to your concerns about the accuracy of the information [payment holidays] once Erudio start reporting to the CRA’s, if you believe the information being reported is inaccurate, you would need to raise this issue directly with Erudio.

If you are unhappy with the response you receive, you may forward this correspondence to us for further consideration. You should also include evidence of the alleged inaccurate information being reported.

Whilst we understand you are likely to be disappointed with this outcome, I hope this information is of use in explaining the reasons".

I sent a follow up asking for further info (they ignored many of the issues I'd raised), I'll post that and ICO's next reply later, but basically I'm still not happy with their response, so next stage is to ask for senior ICO staff to review my case. Once that's done, there's no ombudsman/ tribunal route, so I'd have to challenge their decision in court, looks like DPA isn't the way to go for court anyway.

Pluthero, was it FOS who suggested you go to ICO? If so, feel free to copy above and other reply which I'll post later. Did you ask FOS to get Erudio to confirm when they'll report to the CRA's? I've emailed FOS to add t my complaint, as it's hardly fair to threaten this and then do nothing for 7 months!

Brooker_Dave

anna2007 wrote: »

C
That's as far as I've read and it's 53 pages long...

"On 29 January 2013, the Group entered into a revolving credit facility (the “new revolving credit facility”) with The Royal Bank of Scotland
PLC (“RBS”), as security agent for a consortium of participating financial institutions"

"The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (also known as RBS Group) is a British banking and insurance holding company UK government, which, as of September 2013, holds and manages an 81% stake through UK financial investements (UKFI),"

(stateowned bank rescued by the taxpayer)

Brooker_Dave

London Firm Was Created to Route Cash

"Greece's fiscal woes, the exposure of the European financial system to them and the role played by Wall Street in hiding the problems all converge in a fifth-floor office near London's Liverpool Street station where a company called Titlos PLC was created in early 2009.

Just 22 days after Titlos was born, the National Bank of Greece SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. arranged for the company to sell €5.1 billion, or about $6.96 billion, in notes, according to U.K. and U.S. documents.
Graphic

Click to see full graphic.

But Titlos wasn't a real company and the notes weren't designed for ordinary investors. Titlos doesn't make anything and its only directors are two British executives who work for a firm that specializes in the formation of corporations and the sale of pooled assets.

Instead, Titlos, descendent of a 2001 deal to help Greece hide debt, was set up to take advantage of a European Central Bank effort to inject cash into a banking market hobbled by the financial crisis. Titlos's notes were designed to be pledged for that program, according to filings by Titlos and the National Bank of Greece, and the buyer was the bank itself."

"U.K. documents show that Titlos, which filed its incorporation records on Feb. 4, 2009, is housed in a London financial district office occupied by Wilmington Trust SP Services (London) Ltd., a firm that caters to corporation formations and securitizations. Both Titlos directors work for U.S. bank Wilmington Trust. One director, who describes his occupation as a "director of special purpose companies for financing transactions," also serves as a director of nearly 200 other enterprises, the U.K. documents show."

http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703791504575079903903971986

Company Name Titlos Plc
Status Active
Category Public Limited Company
Company Number 06810180
Registered Address Wilmington Trust Sp Services (london) Limited
Third Floor
1 King's Arms Yard
London
EC2R 7AF

Company Appointments

Titlos Plc has 5 appointments, of which 4 are current and 1 have resigned.

Mr Mark Howard Filer
Type Director
Occupation Director Of Special Purpose Companies For Finance
Status Current
Appointed 4 February 2009

Address
Third Floor 1 Kings Arms Yard
London
EC2R 7AF


Current
Wilmington Trust Sp Services (london) Limited
Type Director
Nationality British

Status Current
Appointed 4 February 2009

Address
Third Floor 1 Kings Arms Yard
London
EC2R 7AF

https://www.opencompany.co.uk/company/06810180/titlos-plc

ERUDIO STUDENT LOANS LIMITED was formed on the 11th July 2013 , and are based in C/O Wilmington Trust Sp Services, Third Floor. They are currently rated NA and are considered to represent an above average risk score.

There is 1 shareholder listed for ERUDIO STUDENT LOANS LIMITED with Wilmington Trust SP Services (London) Limited owning the most amount of shares (100.00%).

Current Directors Current Company Secretary Shareholders

Wilmington Trust Sp Services (London) Limited (British)

Appointed on 11th July 2013
Mr Mark Howard Filer (British)

Appointed on 11th July 2013

anna2007

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

"On 29 January 2013, the Group entered into a revolving credit facility (the “new revolving credit facility”) with The Royal Bank of Scotland
PLC (“RBS”), as security agent for a consortium of participating financial institutions"

"The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (also known as RBS Group) is a British banking and insurance holding company UK government, which, as of September 2013, holds and manages an 81% stake through UK financial investements (UKFI),"

(stateowned bank rescued by the taxpayer)

I know nothing about how these 'consortiums' work, but could that mean the Government, via RBS, effectively has an 81% share in our loans?? With loan cancellations looming, perhaps the 'sale' was simply a means to aggressively pursue all outstanding loans, including deferrers, which the Government/SLC obviously couldn't be seen to do? Just a thought - could be a load of rubbish as I don't know what I'm talking about!

Also, this:
http://www.arrowglobal.net/news/default.aspx?newsitem=115

"CarVal Investors and Arrow Global (the "Consortium") have announced that they have been selected by the Government as the successful bidder for the sale of student loans owed by around a quarter of a million borrowers.
The sale was completed today, delivering £160 million of aggregate consideration to the Government".

What does this mean? I remember reading elsewhere that it's not a case of the Consortium paying over the £160m to the Government, it's done in stages - I've no idea why. Maybe it's normal in this type of transaction, but it's certainly not a case of the taxpayer immediately benefiting to the tune of £160m, and public debt being reduced by this amount, which was the main justification given by the Government for selling off our loans.

Also, this:
http://carvalinvestors.com/loanportfolios/stuart-lammin-2/

"Mr. Lammin is a managing director for CarVal Investors, responsible for managing investments in European loan portfolios. Prior to joining CarVal in 2011, Mr. Lammin was chief risk officer of the Home and Savings Bank in the U.K. He also served as chief operating officer at Cambridge Place Investments, and prior to that spent 16 years at RBS where he ultimately served as head of their Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) platforms".

All very cosy, isn't it?

anna2007

Thank you for your response to the concerns I have raised regarding Erudio Student Loans, however I am disappointed to note that it does not address many of the issues I raised in my complaint.

I would like to request further information and clarification on your response, specifically on the following points:

You have stated that “Erudio disclosing information to the CRA’s is likely to comply with the requirements of the DPA. This is because it states in your original agreement that information about the loan can be disclosed to third parties”. However, the clause in the loan agreement clearly states that any such disclosure is subject to the provisions and protections of the DPA. Could you please outline what the ICO considers these provisions and protections to be, and in what way Erudio has complied with these requirements?

The loan agreement states that information may be disclosed to “any person”. Does the ICO consider that the term “any person” could reasonably be interpreted to mean a CRA, in the context of an 18 year old borrower taking out a student loan with the Government, and who acts in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement whilst deferring repayment of the loans?

The ICO considers that Erudio disclosing information to CRA’s is likely to be compliant with the requirements of the DPA, based on the disclosure clause in the loan agreement. As the clause does not state the purposes for holding the information, how the data will be used, or who it will be disclosed to, could the ICO explain how this complies with the requirements of the DPA?

The loan agreement states that the lender may “if we judge appropriate, disclose to any person any information“. Does the ICO consider this wording to be clear and unambiguous, particularly in comparison to the updated disclosure clause in the post-1998 loan agreement, and in regards to the law on unfair terms in consumer contracts?

Your guidance on Data Protection states that if a lender intends to make a significant change to what it does with personal data, my consent is usually required. Does the ICO accept that Erudio reporting my deferred loans to CRA’s represents a significant change, when the Student Loans Company did not do this in the previous 24 years? If so, could you please explain why Erudio are exempt from the requirement to obtain my consent to this change in use of my data?

As the Student Loans Act prohibits the lender from disclosing information “to anyone else for use for soliciting custom for goods and services”, does the ICO consider it acceptable for Erudio to pass information to CRA’s, who can then sell this data on to direct marketing organisations?

Erudio’s justification for reporting my deferred loan data is to “support responsible lending and borrowing”, however it is my understanding that the Financial Conduct Authority’s requirements on responsible lending relate to mortgages only. Student loans are also different from typical commercial loans, in that if the borrower is eligible, the loan is guaranteed to be granted, therefore the FCA’s responsible lending requirements are of no relevance. I would like to know the ICO’s view on whether Erudio’s reason for reporting deferred loans is justified, particularly when there is no obligation for me to repay the loan during periods of deferment (and indeed the obligation to repay may never arise, given that my loans are due to be cancelled in less than 4 years and my income is unlikely to exceed the deferment threshold in that time).

I look forward to receiving your full response to the above points, which will help in my understanding of how the ICO has reached its conclusion when considering my concerns.