ERUDIO student loans help

fermi

OK. They are getting the arrears notices right then, even though you dispute that the arrears are in fact valid.

VonPaz

Just as a little aside, here's an example of what your data mined by Erudio and presumably flogged on to Experian will be used for:


Targeted TV ads are now possible thanks to the rise of smart set-top boxes. Networks designate a particular 30 second slot as "addressable", meaning ads can be swapped in and out, then download a collection of ads to your box in advance. When the slot comes up, the box chooses which ad to play based on your customer profile.
Networks don't know who is watching TV at any one time, so they target households rather than individuals using publicly available data. Since January, satellite network Sky has worked with credit agency Experian to target households in the UK according to their income, whether they own their home and other demographic and lifestyle factors.


Full story is on the New Scientist website. I can't yet post links, so search for:
new scientist targeted adverts experian

BorderReiver14

Mr_McGuffin wrote: »

But the Student Loans Company doesn't own any of these loans anymore, does it? It has sold them all. First in 1998, then 1999, with a final tranche in 2013 to Erudio. That is correct, isn't it? ....

What about the operation of the deferment process for our loans?

In the 1998 sale agreement the government undertook to ensure that in future sales all debt owners would be bound by largely similar provisions for deferment.

By one means or another, is the deferment process for our loans also exempt from regulation by the FCA?

If the legislation only mentioned SLC then surely that does not mean ESL are exempt from FCA regulations? It stinks to high heaven without a doubt but as I understand it, SLC are not a private firm like ESL... a shell company using DCA specialists to do the dirty work for their investors. My reading of your post is that the FCA are being elusive partly because they have not been asked yet by ESL to consider an extension to their interim listing.
SLC are far more respectable and have many years with a relatively good track record. We need only look back at the last year to see ESLs record.

eroneo

VonPaz wrote: »

Just as a little aside, here's an example of what your data mined by Erudio and presumably flogged on to Experian will be used for:


Targeted TV ads are now possible thanks to the rise of smart set-top boxes. Networks designate a particular 30 second slot as "addressable", meaning ads can be swapped in and out, then download a collection of ads to your box in advance. When the slot comes up, the box chooses which ad to play based on your customer profile.
Networks don't know who is watching TV at any one time, so they target households rather than individuals using publicly available data. Since January, satellite network Sky has worked with credit agency Experian to target households in the UK according to their income, whether they own their home and other demographic and lifestyle factors.


Full story is on the New Scientist website. I can't yet post links, so search for:
new scientist targeted adverts experian

From the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990:

"Restriction on disclosure of information
4.—(1)No person or body having by virtue of paragraph 3 above the function of making and recovering loans shall provide or make available to anyone else (whether for consideration or not) any information held for the purpose of discharging those functions if the information is to be used for soliciting custom for goods or services."

Maybe we can win the argument on sharing data with CRAs on that point. It also says the same thing in clause 16 of the pre-1998 agreements.

erudioed

We certainly would be able to win that one, and the one on Arrow Global adding 250,000 pieces of new loan information and it being made available to paying clients in their Experian Collections Bureau (or Network)!

globetrotter123

I have arrears that I am going to pay off, but am still waiting for erudio to supply copies of my loan agreements...(they supplied but were totally illegible) .... can/should I ask for my account to be put on hold until they supply the loan agreements? are they legally obliged to do so? thanks

fermi

If you made a request for copy agreements under s77 CCA, then until they supply them the only consequence is that a court cannot make an order to enforce the agreement.

They don't legally have to put anything else to do with the loans 'on hold'.

anna2007

eroneo wrote: »

From the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990:

"Restriction on disclosure of information
4.—(1)No person or body having by virtue of paragraph 3 above the function of making and recovering loans shall provide or make available to anyone else (whether for consideration or not) any information held for the purpose of discharging those functions if the information is to be used for soliciting custom for goods or services."

Maybe we can win the argument on sharing data with CRAs on that point. It also says the same thing in clause 16 of the pre-1998 agreements.

I raised this with ICO already, who said:

I should point out that whilst some CRA’s do have marketing businesses, the information used for credit referencing is held entirely separately from data which is sold on for marketing purposes, as such the information on your credit file would not be used for marketing.

Not that I believe them, especially when the old email address I gave Erudio last year gets bombarded with spam (a couple even referred to student loan debt), which originates from Boston, where Wilmington Trust happen to have an office!

I guess the problem is proving it - one way might be to set up a new email address and only give it to Erudio - whether that would be enough, I don't know.

anna2007

BorderReiver14 wrote: »

If the legislation only mentioned SLC then surely that does not mean ESL are exempt from FCA regulations?

It could be the SPV status that exempts them, so a different basis to SLC.

The extract from the sale and purchase agreement, as well as the Government's press release on the sale, only refer to OFT guidance... does this mean FCA regulation won't apply to the shell company that now owns our loans? Why do these documents only refer to guidance (and not the regulatory framework) from an organisation that closed down in April 2014? Maybe because the Government knew that Erudio would be exempt from regulation. And if that's the case, is that not yet another example of the loans being mis-sold?

10.2.1 The Purchaser undertakes that in relation to all matters relating to the Loans in the Portfolio it has acted and will act in compliance with and has observed and will observe all Applicable Laws (including, but not limited to, the Consumer Credit Act, Data Protection Act, the 1990 Act and any Regulations) and the terms of the Credit Agreements, and has taken and will take account of any relevant codes of practice (including, but not limited to, the Credit Services Association Code of Practice, the TCF Outcomes and relevant Office of Fair Trading guidance which includes, but is not limited to, Office of Fair Trading Irresponsible Lending Guidance, Debt Collection Guidance, and Debt Management Guidance).

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/erudio_student_loans_limiteds_fa#incoming-634163

Erudio Student Loans will have to adhere to strict Office of Fair Trading (OFT) guidance about the treatment of borrowers which includes particular protections for vulnerable borrowers and those in financial difficulty. They have also committed to adhering to best-practice guidance issued by the Credit Services Association.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sale-of-mortgage-style-student-loan-book-completed

fermi

Erudio have no exemption from consumer credit regulation, and besides, the "including but not limited to" means FCA rules apply that way as well, as they are without doubt "relevant" in that context.