ERUDIO student loans help

Jonez

Has anyone tested in law if the requirement to set up a Direct Debit is a contractual obligation? Their deferment form states that to refuse breaches the agreement. I am fully expecting them to take a payment from me next week, despite the fact that my deferment application remains pending due to their delaying what is a perfectly straightforward application. Time to request a copy of the agreement I think.

GirlGeek

Aside from anything else according to the Direct Debit Guarantee they should inform us of when and how much they are taking from our accounts. Have they got anything right?

I wish someone would come to our rescue, we're all fighting individually but a champion would strengthen our cause.

Forever

I completely agree with you GirlGeek. We really do need a champion to help our cause.

I just spent the large part of today putting together an email of complaint to the FOS and my MP.

Unfortunately, I received an email back from the FOS stating that they cannot deal with the company in question until they have had time to rectify the situation themselves. My complaint has only been with Erudio for over a week - and I don't trust them to sort out anything in the next seven weeks either. Then they will start dipping into my bank account again!

I hope my MP can help next week instead.

Erudio really are a nightmare to deal with.

rizla_king

That is why these loans should never have been sold to the scum bucket debt collectors in the private sector.

There is not the systems of redress and regulation in place to stop these companies taking us all for a ride for months and months, before we have any avenue for comeback.

knitnutter_2

I implore all of you to keep pristine records of all your dealings with Erudio.
I was lucky enough to be able to make exact copies of my supporting evidence and the completed form - before sending it recorded delivery.

Yet - lo and behold - and with a matter of days before my deferment period comes to an end- I received a letter claiming that 'I have not signed the application form'.
My photocopies say otherwise!
They sent me a fresh copy of the form - and not the allegedly incomplete page 5. I was starting from scratch - but with my trusty copies, it was a simple matter to transcribe the information over.
I also gave them another helping of all my supporting evidence - just in case they decided to claim non- receipt of that - or decided to lose the first stack that I sent.
After the new form went out to Erudio, I decided to check my bank account - to find that the thieving owls had considered my initial 'unsigned' form good enough for the purposes of setting up a Direct Debit. How interesting then, that my application was judged insufficient for deferment purposes.
If any of you are in the same boat as me and come nowhere near the repayment threshold; and are concerned about Erudio pulling a fast one on you - I would say for your own peace of mind - cancel the DD and tell your bank and Erudio that you are acting to protect yourself and are entitled to do so.
I simply have no faith that Erudio will magically approve deferment in a few days -when it took them eight days to flag up an imaginary problem.
The Erudio Direct Debit is easy to identify: it begins ESL followed by an absurdly long number (mine was 16 digits)
It is the number that you will see in the top right hand corner of your application form - where it says 'for office use only'. You betcha!:T

The same number is laughingly referred to as a 'Customer Reference Number'.
I found it again - immediately beneath the Erudio 'salutation' on their lovely threatening letter.
Good luck to you all - and I'll let you know if there are any developments....:beer:

fermi

Seems that mind numbing incompetence is their normal service standard.

GirlGeek

Personally I'm not prepared to cancel my direct debit in case Erudio decide that means I've defaulted and put that on my credit file. Despite me being in the right trying to explain a false black mark to a mortgage company is going to be harder work than phoning the bank once a month to get the money back from Erudio.

BaffledByErudio

No - don't cancel the direct debit. This could b*gger you in the long run I think.
The grey area is whether we should have 'ghost' direct debits on our bank accounts in the first place. If, say, you're deferred for a period of 12 months, that 'ESL ..... Amount £00:00 Date 00' will just sit there (in theory - doing us no harm).
But if it causes us the constant fear it might suddenly suck cash from our accounts, then we're obviously worried.
You're then constantly checking your account. You worry money has gone, shoving you into an overdraft.
I wouldn't even be typing this if it was SLC. It was never a worry. But we have a new firm (predominantly owned by a debt collector) and it has our bank details and we owe it cold, hard, cash.
Time will tell if Erudio starts to behave, but I have now installed every possible app on my phone to alert me to rogue transactions. HSBC fast balance is a good one (if you're with HSBC).
It's a shameful state of affairs. If you're under the £28k wage threshold, nothing should have changed. But our beloved Tory government have flogged off the loan portfolio (admittedly it was a pain in the !!!! whichever government was in charge), and they now no longer care!

GirlGeek

Set up new current account, leave enough for one monthly payment to Erudio, set up an alert from your bank to let you know when the balance changes, phone the bank and get your money back.
It's a massive 'faff' but you don't have to worry about a bigger 'raid' on your main account.
Obviously this only works if you can have the luxury of having the cash just sitting there.

Jonez

The term 'bigger raid' is rather worrying - I thought the repayments could not exceed the balance, divided by 60 months? I've just turned 59 - I hope they're not going to attempt to remove the whole balance is 12 payments. I shouldn't even have to consider that option, as my only income is in the form of support from my wife and is way under the threshold. How the hell are the authorities allowing them to continue acting in this way?