ERUDIO student loans help

Jonez

Ok - stupid question time - is there no contractual or legal requirement at all governing when Erudio send the DAF? Is the timing of despatch of the form at their discretion entirely?

ymeu

Well, my deferment confirmation letter from last year states 'we will write to you 8 weeks before your period of deferment expires' - which hasn't happened.

Wheter that's a breach of the terms and conditions - I don't know (and I doubt if Erudio do either) - it's certainly a breach of established practice.

SLC always wrote on time every year.

BaffledByErudio

erudioed wrote: »

Heres a link to the new DAF posted by Anna if you dont want to contact Erudio and request one. How ridiculous is this that we have to pass around the Deferment form. It could be very useful to get a head start because they will be getting X00,000 to process in just a few weeks, which will mean many DDs being stolen and people not being deferred in time. This should give us an extra 2-3 weeks to get sorted and get them returned in a timely manner, hopefully scuppering some of Erudio's plans to catch people out (who have cancelled their DDs before) by not processing the DAFs on time and testing that no DD in place/payment being due catch that could potentially make them one of the most hated companies in the UK:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a375v9uoleagf02/Erudio%20New%20DAF.pdf?dl=0

That's a great idea, but I won't be risking it with a printed off form. Daren't take the chance - I can well predict Erudio saying it's not an acceptable document in that format.
I'll wait for the form in the post, even if it comes two weeks before my deferment period ends. Fill it out and send it recorded. And if I'm edging close to the deferment period end date, I'll just cancel the Direct Debit mandate and instruct my bank not to allow it to be reinstated until my say-so.
I'm not going through last year's farce and stress again and having cash snatched from my account when I'm under the wage threshold.
They can say it's put me in arrears all they want, but I can't afford to put myself through the anxiety again, financially, or mentally!

erudioed

BaffledByErudio wrote: »

That's a great idea, but I won't be risking it with a printed off form. Daren't take the chance - I can well predict Erudio saying it's not an acceptable document in that format.
I'll wait for the form in the post, even if it comes two weeks before my deferment period ends. Fill it out and send it recorded. And if I'm edging close to the deferment period end date, I'll just cancel the Direct Debit mandate and instruct my bank not to allow it to be reinstated until my say-so.
I'm not going through last year's farce and stress again and having cash snatched from my account when I'm under the wage threshold.
They can say it's put me in arrears all they want, but I can't afford to put myself through the anxiety again, financially, or mentally!

Yep, fully understand that, but they are actually offering to email the DAF if you give them an email address to get the form before the first week of April when you call The Death Star and ask where the form is. Someone who took up that email offer above commented that it is a generic form without a specific reference number on, so as such, it will be the same form. Maybe someone who has got a form sent by Erudio can do a quick check and confirm the DAFs are identical. If they are the same, anyone who will be facing a time crunch with only 5 weeks to defer (not forgetting you need to return it at least 2 weeks before the deadline for processing) would be safe using this form as it has all the details required to defer. I checked earlier, and the DAF guide on Erudio's website, perfectly matches the sections on the dropbox link. Dont forget to lodge an official complaint though telling them 5 weeks isnt long enough, we have to put a spanner in all their chancing moves...

anna2007

I'm sure the blank DAF we have on the forum will be fine, it has the reference 'DAF AP02' bottom left corner, which is mentioned on Erudio's website:

The new application form was introduced at the end of February. This has the unique code DAF AP02 printed at the bottom of it.

http://www.erudiostudentloans.co.uk/services/howtodeferpayments.aspx

The "For office use only" box, top right, was where the 16 digit customer reference was before being blanked out, so should be written on each page of the DAF, otherwise pages will no doubt go missing once in Erudio's hands. Best to write the customer reference number on every bit of paper sent with the application, for the same reason.

anna2007

Jonez wrote: »

Ok - stupid question time - is there no contractual or legal requirement at all governing when Erudio send the DAF? Is the timing of despatch of the form at their discretion entirely?

There's nothing in the regulations on timescales, other than the 12 month deferment can be granted up to one month before the current deferment ends, so there's really no justification for sending the DAF out late. They'll probably blame the delays on the new DAF being introduced, which just happens to coincide with the busiest time of the year for deferment applications!

I didn't apply until three weeks before my deferment end date last year (the DAF did arrive 8 weeks before, I just couldn't decide what to do about it!), and when I still hadn't heard from them the day before deferment end, I emailed Mark Filer and had confirmation of deferment the same day. I won't put his email address here, as it will probably be removed by MSE, but it's easily found online, e.g. by googling CEO email Mark Filer.

I got a read receipt and don't know if that helped get a fast response, but it's worth doing anyway so there's a record of the email being opened by them. Windows Live Mail has the facility (I've used it for both my Hotmail and Gmail accounts, but it doesn't seem to be working for me now with Windows 8).

eroneo

If the form changes the terms and conditions or gives agreement to their data policies hidden elsewhere then it would be crazy and weak to use it.

Unless that is, you are happy to agree with them to add further changes every year and do whatever they like without regard to your rights.

The discussion and the fact that people are actually contemplating signing it, shows how everyone is worn down. It's exactly what they want - for you to give in quietly.

Is anyone here actually going to object and fight them all the way?

If not, expect more and bigger violations in the years to come

erudioed

Each problematic area needs some dedicated fighters, we cant all fight every area at the same time. Some will sign the forms, and there are a number of reasons why it is better to do that for them, whilst others will refuse and give them a damn good fight, one that looks legally to be very very very winable. The more who dont sign them and take that fight, the better chance we will get a DAF that we can all sign with confidence year on year (without all this malarky). Such is the level of resentment some of us have built up, and i use myself as an example in this one, that even though i dont want to sign the form because it is unclear what i am agreeing to (with letter included stating i dont agree to anything not in my original T&Cs etc), i am actually hoping they do drop a huge clanger and decide to report me to a CRA, or take a DD by accident, or do something yet to be seen. When that happens, my own personal fight will kick in again on that front. We all have our own areas we can chip away at, but we also have a great chance to cause quite a disruption when they do drop a clanger. I personally think, for example, that everyone not getting the DAF within 7-8 weeks before deferment deadline should lodge an official complaint. This will cause a real financial cost to Erudio for trying such a thing, and we know it is only through cost or bad publicity that these companies change anything. I also think it fair to lodge an official complaint saying why they didnt include something that told us everything we will be agreeing to by singing the form, because as we know, they point us to their website to see it all in full detail (and even then the wording is very unclear).
Anyway, its late and im knackered but i really do hope many of us flat out refuse to sign the DAF and go that path. You certainly have my full support and encouragement, because, as ive said before, you will be the frontline trailblazers bringing down Erudio's dirty bag of tricks and standing up for those of us who arent in a position to take that particular path right now for a variety of different reasons.

anna2007

eroneo wrote: »

If the form changes the terms and conditions or gives agreement to their data policies hidden elsewhere then it would be crazy and weak to use it.

Unless that is, you are happy to agree with them to add further changes every year and do whatever they like without regard to your rights.

The discussion and the fact that people are actually contemplating signing it, shows how everyone is worn down. It's exactly what they want - for you to give in quietly.

Is anyone here actually going to object and fight them all the way?

If not, expect more and bigger violations in the years to come

I don't think anyone's crazy or weak by using the DAF. Everyone's circumstances are different, and we each have to decide how best to go about it. Not everyone has the time or inclination to be fighting Erudio for the whole year (and longer) in order to get deferred, we all have lives to be getting on with!

If people object to anything on the DAF, then score through it/remove it/write a statement to that effect on the form. Then file a copy of it away for future reference, if needed. I'd like to see Erudio trying to make any change to terms stick in court. Erudio are trying to coerce people into agreement to new terms via the deferment process. These loans were assigned and Erudio are therefore bound to the original t&c's. Erudio would also be in breach of the CCA and our loan agreement by not issuing a notice of variation to the terms.

But Erudio know all of that - all they're really concerned about is turning non-paying accounts into paying accounts and raking in the profits. Erudio are probably less interested in the people who are fighting them over the t&c's (whether that's refusing to use the DAF or using an amended DAF), than the other deferrers who, for whatever reason, decide to pay up when they don't legally owe Erudio a penny.

anna2007

erudioed wrote: »

I personally think, for example, that everyone not getting the DAF within 7-8 weeks before deferment deadline should lodge an official complaint. This will cause a real financial cost to Erudio for trying such a thing, and we know it is only through cost or bad publicity that these companies change anything. I also think it fair to lodge an official complaint saying why they didnt include something that told us everything we will be agreeing to by singing the form, because as we know, they point us to their website to see it all in full detail (and even then the wording is very unclear).

Couldn't agree more. I hope everyone on here does as erudioed's suggested, otherwise the window for deferment will probably reduce each year until Erudio eventually don't bother sending DAFs out at all! If all the deferment packs are late, then that's a lot of FOS complaints - it'll hurt their bank balance, their complaints data, their public relations, and poor Helen won't look too good either, as the new executive "responsible for running Erudio in a way that customers expect and deserve"... I guess what she really meant there was that we customers now expect Erudio to be a complete shambles and we deserve no better!!

I wonder if the DAF eff up seeking agreement to terms off the form would be treated separately by FOS to complaints on the late DAF? Double the FOS costs, double the number of complaints, Helen's P45 (or bonus?) arriving twice as fast...