Student Loans - 1994-1997 - Assignment to Erudio

solentsusie

Hi All

I'll try and keep this short... this will probably fail!

I posted about these loans November last year and have just received a letter (headed from Student Loans Company) that my loans between 1994-1997 have been assigned to Erudio Student Loans.

I defaulted on these loans way back in about 1999/2000ish. You can read my previous post for further details, but basically I never received deferral forms after being eligible for paying back my loan for only one year and then my pay decreasing to under the payback threshold again. When I contacted SLC I was basically told "tough luck you have to pay as you didn't defer in time", even though I could not afford the payments being a single parent with two young children at the time. No deferral forms had been sent to me so I had inadvertently missed the deadline.

So I made reduced payments for about a year or so, then stopped as I just couldn't afford them, I still wasn't being paid enough to start paying back the loans and could have deferred if I had been allowed to, but this wasn't possible as I had defaulted previously, even though the default was only because I didn't manage to defer within their timescale for requesting deferment.

So anyway. I haven't had any contact with SLC since early 2000's although they do send me a statement of my account every so often telling me I am still in default. I never respond or acknowledge anything.

I was advised on this forum recently that because I had not been in contact for such a long period of time and my loans were defaulted that they would now be statute barred.

My question is, is this statement still valid now that my loans have been "sold on" to another company?

I have not received any paperwork asking me to defer my loans as I have read in other posts and the letter sates this:

" Next steps
Please read all the documents enclosed. These documents will ensure you understand any changes to your account(s) and if you need to take any actions.

The following documents are enclosed in this pack:

• A letter from Student Loans Company
• Erudio Student Loans Ltd Notice of Assignment Letter
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from Student Loans Company and Erudio Student Loans Ltd
• Fair Processing Notice "

None of the information that I can see in the letter and enclosures refers to defaulted loans although it does say the following at the bottom of the Notice of Assignment:


"Next steps

Our records indicate that you do not have a repayment plan in place. Please contact us using the details in the "Get in touch" box above. We have expertise to help you to review your situation, tell you what your options are, and tailor a payment plan that you can afford.

Data Protection

We would also like to make you aware that Erudio Student Loans Limited is now responsible (as Data Controller) for your personal information contained in the records relating to your account(s). Please read the Fair Processing Notice overleaf carefully as your personal credit rating with Credit Reference Agencies ("CRAs") could be affected."


Are my loans still statute barred? Do I need to do anything and can they start a default on my credit file starting now seeing as the loans have been sold to them? I have been trying hard to sort out my finances and really do not need a new default after spending a lot of time doing my best to sort myself out.

I also still don't earn enough to fall into the student loan repayment bracket.

Thoughts greatly appreciated.

fermi

Yes, if they were statute barred before, they still are now.

Regard credit files, see the replies from Experian here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4924427

solentsusie

Thanks Fermi

I was wondering is it actually legal to sell a statute barred debt?

fermi

Yes, it is legal to sell them. They do legally exist in a technical sense (except in Scotland), even if there is nothing they can do you enforce them.

solentsusie

Thanks again fermi

It's actually quite interesting thinking about it. I suppose it was part of the deal that they took all loans, even the non enforceable ones.

Ironically if they had allowed me to defer, instead of being quite so rigid and accepting my slightly late deferral instead of defaulting me, then they would have obtained payments if I was ever back in a position earning above the deferral threshold.