ERUDIO student loans help

crapola

The board has been very quite lately.Although, I suspect that is because we're all now waiting for something oranother to get us going again! I wonder if they have anything planned for Halloween?!

Out of sight does not mean out of mind,we can't get complacent. I see the recent FOI requests by Mr Wild have been answered (in part). I'mhappy to pick up some of these, so will confirm which as soon as possible.

We've been in touch recently with our Labour MP(Hinckley & Bosworth), a guy I actually went to school with, so he is ofsimilar age to those of us who are affected (albeit, he probably paid his backyears ago on their salary!).

We spoke at length about the issues andhe has written to the shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, Stella Creasy. I'll be sure to let you all know how that goes.

chiefdave

So quick update on my situation. First I applied without using their deferment form due to the same concerns stated by many on here. That was rejected out of hand as it wasn't on the form.

I then submitted a form but blacked out the T&C I didn't agree with. I'm self employed and SLC have always taken taxable income as the key figure for deferment (which is all income less costs / allowable expenses) as that is the equivalent of a FT salaried employee's gross pay.

Of course Erudio, either as they don't know what they're doing or they are trying to pull a fast one - take your pick, rejected that saying my income was above the threshold.

I submitted a complaint and explained what, to me, seems a very basic error they have made and was told that everything would be put on hold and it would take them 8 weeks to process the complaint.

Well now I have recivied a letter from them saying I am in arrears. Not happy at all, in fact quite concerned as I will be remortgaging in the next couple of months and now have the worry of this having a negative impact.

I am going to reply to them lodging another complaint but I am wanting to now take this further. Who else should I be informing of these issues?

Pluthero

chiefdave wrote: »

So quick update on my situation. First I applied without using their deferment form due to the same concerns stated by many on here. That was rejected out of hand as it wasn't on the form.

I then submitted a form but blacked out the T&C I didn't agree with. I'm self employed and SLC have always taken taxable income as the key figure for deferment (which is all income less costs / allowable expenses) as that is the equivalent of a FT salaried employee's gross pay.

Of course Erudio, either as they don't know what they're doing or they are trying to pull a fast one - take your pick, rejected that saying my income was above the threshold.

I submitted a complaint and explained what, to me, seems a very basic error they have made and was told that everything would be put on hold and it would take them 8 weeks to process the complaint.

Well now I have recivied a letter from them saying I am in arrears. Not happy at all, in fact quite concerned as I will be remortgaging in the next couple of months and now have the worry of this having a negative impact.

I am going to reply to them lodging another complaint but I am wanting to now take this further. Who else should I be informing of these issues?

Erudio's Arrears Letters are automated. I complained to Erudio then the FOS about how they are distressing as I am not in arrears. They, Erudio, actually stated they are legally bound to keep you informed of arrears - the C**TS. However someone suggested you have the right to have any requests for payment put on hold as you are in dispute.:

This is a copy from an earlier post:

[FONT=&quot]Might be an idea to write to Erudio as soon as you can, to tell them you don't accept their final response and you're taking it to the FOS. But also tell them that because the account is still in dispute, they must cease all collection activity immediately - the guidance I read states that they must do this until a dispute is resolved:

Financial Conduct Authority - See 7.5.3 & 7.14.1 here:

fshandbook.info/FS/html/FCA/CONC/7

Credit Services Association - page 11/26

www.csa-uk.com/media/editor/file/Code_of_practice_final%20110414.pdf

You can fit your response around e.g. the FCA rules - "You have not provided clear justification or evidence as to why my claim is not valid" and/or "Despite your final response, I believe that the grounds for my complaint are still valid"

This is the blurb I put in my complaint letter, if it helps:

In accordance with the requirements of the the Financial Conduct Authority and the Credit Services Association, Erudio will cease all collection activity (including, but not limited to, demands for repayment) on the loan accounts whilst Erudio (or the Financial Ombudsman Service if necessary) investigates my complaint.[/FONT]


Also Please email a complaint to the FCA:

[EMAIL="consumer.queries@fca.org.uk"]consumer.queries@fca.org.uk[/EMAIL]

Start you letter:
I understand that the FCA does not handle individual complaints against company’s but I want to put on record my problems with Erudio Student Loans handling of the deferment process of my student loan. I believe if enough people complain about their conduct the FCA may be able to take action. Below is a brief outline of my complaint that I have lodged with the FOS...



Good Luck and don't back down. They are a bottom feeding DCA shower!

chiefdave

Thanks Pluthero, that's exactly the information I need.

Interesting I've just noticed on the arrears letter they have made a complete mess of the financial information on there. If you're familiar with the layout there's basically a table with Agreement Loan Number, Loan Date, Original Loan Amount, Balance at 25/10/14 and Arrears at 25/10/14.

The first column is fine, it has my 4 loan agreement numbers, second column is also as far as I can tell correct (dates are about right so I'll assume they are correct). The problem start when we hit the third column. They appear to have combined all my loans into one amount and allocated that against my first year loan. That means that in year 2-4 they have stated my original loan amount is zero!

Doubt that will have much impact on anything but if they can't get the basics right how can anyone have confidence in them getting the detail right?

anna2007

crapola wrote: »

I wonder if they have anything planned for Halloween?!

An image of Erudio vampires, sucking the life-blood from their victims, popped into my head there!

crapola wrote: »

Out of sight does not mean out of mind,we can't get complacent. I see the recent

crapola wrote: »

FOI requests by Mr Wild have been answered (in part). I'mhappy to pick up some of these, so will confirm which as soon as possible.

I picked up some of Mr Wild's requests, SLC replied today, saying it would exceed the cost limit, despite already saying it could be answered within the cost limit, grrrr! They left replying to the last possible day too, which is a bit naughty.

I've requested an internal review, because of the contradictory info and delay:

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/deferment_of_mortgage_style_stud

crapola wrote: »

We've been in touch recently with our

crapola wrote: »

Labour MP(Hinckley & Bosworth), a guy I actually went to school with, so he is ofsimilar age to those of us who are affected (albeit, he probably paid his backyears ago on their salary!).

We spoke at length about the issues andhe has written to the shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, Stella Creasy. I'll be sure to let you all know how that goes.

Well done for getting your MP involved, think that's something we all should be doing (though I've still not got around to it!).


Edit - messy post, sorry - effin phone won't let me fix it!

Student1983

anna2007 wrote: »

The cancellation of loans is conditional on there being no repayments due - this is the only thing Erudio can manipulate - by claiming there are arrears on the account. No arrears means the loans must be cancelled, so clearly arrears will be their focus. We've seen a few tricks already... makes me wonder what else they have planned!

Got a reply from BIS. Reiterated no changes to T&c's.

'As we stated in a previous reply, mortgage style loans are regulated loans under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 ... All terms and conditions, including those around repayment and cancellation of loans, therefore remain unaltered.

A borrower’s liability to repay a mortgage style loan will be cancelled if the borrower
(a) dies,
(b) is not behind on any repayments under any agreement for a student loan and
(i) was under the age of 40 when their last agreement for a student loan was made and they reach the age of 50 or when the last agreement for a student loan has been outstanding for not less than 25 years, whichever is the sooner, or
(ii) was aged 40 or older when their last agreement for a student loan was made and they reach the age of 60, or
(c) can show the lender that they receive a disability related benefit and because of the disability is permanently unfit for work.

Mortgage style loans are repayable in either 60 or 84 monthly instalments, depending on the number of mortgage style loans a borrower took out. Monthly repayment amounts are calculated based on the amount of loan outstanding (principal plus interest) and the number of monthly repayment instalments remaining, in accordance with the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998 and borrowers’ individual loan credit agreements.'

I also highlighted concern regarding shortening of repayment terms. Below is their response

'If a mortgage style loan borrower only has a small number of monthly repayment instalments remaining when their monthly repayment amount is calculated, it is possible that they may repay the full amount of the loan before they reach the point at which they become eligible to have their loan cancelled. This is a logical consequence of the repayment terms and conditions which state that a mortgage style loan will be repaid in a certain number of instalments, and does not represent a shortening of the repayment terms.'

Any thoughts on this anyone?

Also as anticipated my repayment was not taken. Even if you want to pay they make it difficult. Apparently they couldn't take it as I was in deferrment and hadn't time to call the repayment. It was in abeyance, whatever that means. They will however take my dd payment for November. I was having none of this as Anna is correct to say they wil manipulate it so as to put us in arrears and thus no cancellation. Anyway I paid by card. Not prepared to breach my terms with cancellation looming. My deferral meanwhile has incomplete status and insist the form needs filled out.

fermi

Student1983 wrote: »

I also highlighted concern regarding shortening of repayment terms. Below is their response

'If a mortgage style loan borrower only has a small number of monthly repayment instalments remaining when their monthly repayment amount is calculated, it is possible that they may repay the full amount of the loan before they reach the point at which they become eligible to have their loan cancelled. This is a logical consequence of the repayment terms and conditions which state that a mortgage style loan will be repaid in a certain number of instalments, and does not represent a shortening of the repayment terms.'

Any thoughts on this anyone?

They have completely failed to grasp what you were getting at.

i.e. they are thinking you meant if you have say 10 monthly payments left out of your 60 and 20 months till the loan is cancelled, that you say the 10 payments is a shortening of your loan. It's clearly not, and that is what they are saying.

They've completely missed the point that Erudio are unlawfully trying to do it the other way around. Illegally shortening the term and number of payments on the loan in order to get it paid off before it can be written off. Whereas in law they should respect the original number of payments, and calculate them accordingly, even if that means the write off is reached before they can all be paid.

Student1983

fermi wrote: »

They have completely failed to grasp what you were getting at.

i.e. they are thinking you meant if you have say 10 monthly payments left out of your 60 and 20 months till the loan is cancelled, that you say the 10 payments is a shortening of your loan. It's clearly not, and that is what they are saying.

They've completely missed the point that Erudio are unlawfully trying to do it the other way around. Illegally shortening the term and number of payments on the loan in order to get it paid off before it can be written off. Whereas in law they should respect the original number of payments, and calculate them accordingly, even if that means the write off is reached before they can all be paid.

I thought that they missed the point too but wasn't sure.
Thanks for your response.

Pluthero

Student1983 wrote: »

Got a reply from BIS. Reiterated no changes to T&c's.

'As we stated in a previous reply, mortgage style loans are regulated loans under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 ... All terms and conditions, including those around repayment and cancellation of loans, therefore remain unaltered.

A borrower’s liability to repay a mortgage style loan will be cancelled if the borrower
(a) dies,
(b) is not behind on any repayments under any agreement for a student loan and
(i) was under the age of 40 when their last agreement for a student loan was made and they reach the age of 50 or when the last agreement for a student loan has been outstanding for not less than 25 years, whichever is the sooner, or
(ii) was aged 40 or older when their last agreement for a student loan was made and they reach the age of 60, or
(c) can show the lender that they receive a disability related benefit and because of the disability is permanently unfit for work.

Mortgage style loans are repayable in either 60 or 84 monthly instalments, depending on the number of mortgage style loans a borrower took out. Monthly repayment amounts are calculated based on the amount of loan outstanding (principal plus interest) and the number of monthly repayment instalments remaining, in accordance with the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998 and borrowers’ individual loan credit agreements.'

I also highlighted concern regarding shortening of repayment terms. Below is their response

'If a mortgage style loan borrower only has a small number of monthly repayment instalments remaining when their monthly repayment amount is calculated, it is possible that they may repay the full amount of the loan before they reach the point at which they become eligible to have their loan cancelled. This is a logical consequence of the repayment terms and conditions which state that a mortgage style loan will be repaid in a certain number of instalments, and does not represent a shortening of the repayment terms.'

Any thoughts on this anyone?

Also as anticipated my repayment was not taken. Even if you want to pay they make it difficult. Apparently they couldn't take it as I was in deferrment and hadn't time to call the repayment. It was in abeyance, whatever that means. They will however take my dd payment for November. I was having none of this as Anna is correct to say they wil manipulate it so as to put us in arrears and thus no cancellation. Anyway I paid by card. Not prepared to breach my terms with cancellation looming. My deferral meanwhile has incomplete status and insist the form needs filled out.

Try not to worry to much about Erudio trying to make you default. Keep a good paper trail of ALL your dealings with them to show good faith on your side for any possible future litigation. Oh and if you haven't write/email the FCA with ANY issue you have with these chancers.

Student1983

Erudio emailed me a PDF version of their but forgot to add the correct company. Used this one instead !!!

Honours Trustee Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 3716001 and has its registered office at c/o Wilmington Trust SP Services (London) Limited, Third Floor, 1 King's Arms Yard, London EC2R 7AF.

Honours Trustee Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for accounts formed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (as amended). It is registered on the Consumer Credit Register under registration number 46509