ERUDIO student loans help

pepedopolous

Hi there,

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I'd like to know how long should I expect Erudio to take to make a decision on deferment?

They've just taken a second direct debit from my account. After the first DD I found out that somehow they hadn't received my original deferment application.

They agreed that I could send scanned copies of my deferment form and payslips via email.

They confirmed that they had received everything on the 3rd of June and that the notification of the deferment status would be sent in the post. So it's been just over 3 weeks since then...

Many thanks,

P

rizla_king

pepedopolous wrote: »

After the first DD I found out that somehow they hadn't received my original deferment application.

I would lay bets they did receive it. They have been telling fibs about not getting things sent to them to LOADS of people.

pepedopolous

rizla_king wrote: »

I would lay bets they did receive it. They have been telling fibs about not getting things sent to them to LOADS of people.

Well, now they've got a precedent! I will email them for deferment every time!

Tommygunn

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. I'd like to know how long should I expect Erudio to take to make a decision on deferment?

Read my post above. Somewhere between 1 and 10 days.

Jonez

Tommygunn wrote: »

Read my post above. Somewhere between 1 and 10 days.

Mine took nearly seven weeks - chased it after three to be informed that the application was considered incomplete; they didn't inform me of that though - had I not chased, I assume it would have just remained pending. I subsequently asked for an update on a regular basis.

Tommygunn

It was exactly your case and the fact that they didn't bother to tell you that spurred me on to be proactive and check up on them.

anna2007

Tommygunn wrote: »

Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to Anna2007. Your help was invaluable.

Excellent news today, I'm still cautious, and that is I've been deferred.

Well done on getting a relatively painless deferment


Thanks too for the thanks, that means so much as a Mum of 3 little ones with not much spare time to post! But I based my response to Erudio on everything I'd read on here (and Mumsnet), so the thanks has to go to everyone who's taken the time to post their experiences, because without that, we'd all be a lot less clued up about Erudio and their tactics.

Tommygunn wrote: »

p.s. a DD has been setup on my current account so, as mentioned, I will be keeping a watchful eye and if anything happens I will be merciless.

Ha, love the attitude! If Erudio insist on being such a royal pain in the bum to defer, then we have to give it back x 10 in our dealings with them. All we're doing is exercising our legal right to defer, Erudio knows that but are chancing it in the hope of getting money out of people who are entitled to defer. The best way to get back at them for their shoddy practice is to formally complain to Erudio, then FOS, as it will cost Erudio plenty for each complaint... might even make them back off a little. It also lets Erudio know that you know how it works - there's surely a point where it's not financially viable to chase a deferred debt.


There's been bad press lately about how Wonga and even SLC go about their debt collecting:


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d9a294e2-fde7-11e3-acf8-00144feab7de.html#axzz35xUjDLRE


Not saying Erudio are at that stage yet, but something worth bearing in mind at a later date?


For anyone who's had arrears on their account and received a demand from SLC's dodgy ghost company, might be worth watching how that pans out...

Crazydennie

I'm a little confused about whether I can defer this month or not. My deferrment ends on 14/07/14. As of today I am £60 over the threshold with benefits included but I change jobs on Monday to a slightly lower paid position and will be 100 under the threshold. (from one fixed term contract to another one - not done to avoid paying) Will I need to pay July and then defer?

Also are people being advised of the payment amount as I have no information on how much is due. Don't they have to give you this information before they remove money frorm your account? I don't currently havd a DD set up with them as i changed accounts during the deferrment year.

I have loans for the years 95, 96, 97 and 99. If these have diferent terms and conditions should they be bundled together? Isn't this where SLC went wrong before?

despin

Alright then folks, a little update: I got deferred, no questions, no hassle. I did have the bonus of a letter from my wife, who does happen to be a lawyer. She looked at the terms of the original credit agreements and the new terms and knocked up a wee letter. I'll post a copy below. I also sent them a copy of last years tax returns, with all her details blacked out that showed my wages as €0. Apart from that, all they got was a letter from my wife saying she supported me, as with SLC.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but at the top of the DD part, it says to only fill in if your details have changed (mine haven't, so I didn't sign). I also crossed out the bit at the top of the DD and removed the bottom of that page and page 6 (thanks to advice from this thread.

Anyway, here's the text of the letter. It's a bit long, but worked for us, hope it can help some of you guys


Dear Madame / Sir

I hereby confirm that ….. is not employed nor self-employed. His only source of income
is the spending money (in the amount of xxx GBP per month) he is granted by me. He is fully
dependent on me and looks full time after our two young children.

Please find enclosed the Deferment Application form for my husband, ….... which we
have completed only to the extent this is in line with the original Credit Agreement and the law.
To set the context the Credit Agreement (1995) specifies that the applicable regulations provide for
(a) deferment of repayment (from a date and for a period determined by us under the applicable
regulations) if you satisfy us that your gross income ... for a month does not exceed a sum prescribed by the applicable regulations and that your gross average monthly income during the three succeeding months will not, or is unlikely to, exceed that sum...'.

Note there is no requirement to arrange a direct debit facility as part of this deferment.

The only provisions permitting a unilateral variation of the Credit Agreement in Clause 11 (Variation), specify that variations have to be deemed necessary (acting reasonably of course)'because of the provisions of applicable law and as 'required by applicable law.

No further variation of the agreement has been agreed by …..., save that the parties to the
Credit Agreement have over the years established a course of practice which gives Clause 11 an
enforceable meaning, namely that my above written confirmation is acceptable evidence of his (lack
of own) income status, absent any other suitable proof or legislation on this point. Furthermore, and
as a matter of law, you are required to act reasonably in handling deferment requests enshrined by law.

The terms of the Credit Agreement and applicable law (Consumer Credit Act 2006) therefore continue to govern the full extent of …... obligations.

ln summary, and to comment on your method of unilaterally attempting to introduce additional
variation to the Credit Agreement through the form you have mandated:

1. We are not aware of any requirement introduced by applicable law to arrange a direct debit,
nor to provide Erudio with this information

2. ….... is not required to offer any data protection consents to you and as such, he does not consent to the processing of information contained on the form except to the extent such consent is required by the Credit Agreement (his signature below is in evidence of this fact).

3. Your sole right by virtue of the assignment of the rights under the Credit Agreement is to require evidence to satisfy you (acting reasonably) that …...... gross income does not exceed the requisite threshold. …......... is entitled to continue relying on the established practice of sending my annual letter of confirmation as a satisfactory mechanism absent of any new legislation in this area.

Please note we have emigrated and are currently living at the above address. The address given on
the deferment application form is our UK forwarding address.

Jonez

So - if Erudio have deferred and not challenged any of the points made in the letter shown above, does this mean that in effect, they accept that the Direct Debit requirement cannot be enforced?