Advice needed - student loan collections

DD265

I graduated in 2010. In my final year I received a grant. Long story short despite us jumping through hoops repeatedly to provide the information (parents went from employed high earner to self employed much lower earner) I got a letter after I finished to say the grant was overpaid and they wanted it back to the tune of £2906. As I was unemployed I set up a standing order for £10 per month and it has just been trickling out since.

This last week I have had missed calls and today I rang back to find out that they should have reassessed the repayments after 6 months and couldn't continue accepting such low payments. He wanted me to pay the whole lot just now - no chance - and then got really difficult with me when I said I'd received no statements and no correspondence since the first standing order went out. He was pushy but I've read enough on here not to be bullied and said that he had to send me details in writing which I would review but it would not be on this call because I am working. Apparently it was my responsibility to call after 6 months and review but I don't have that in writing - the repayment was agreed over the phone.

I now have an email telling me that I have repaid £550 and the outstanding balance is £2356. Nothing else. Very useful.

I couldn't confirm yes I owe this money because honestly they seem to make up the rules as they go along. However I have been making repayments and I guess that classes as acceptance. I don't understand why it wasn't just added to the balance of the loan which incidentally has significantly lower repayments (in terms of percentage) so they weren't doing too badly! Also there is an element of why should I be penalised for their mess up? That said I don't want it to affect my credit rating.

Any advice for what I should do going forwards?

National_Debtline

Hi DD265


Can you clarify who/which organisation is actually chasing you for these payments? I'm guessing it is Erudio or another similar debt collection agency?


Either way, I would advise against carrying out reviews of your income and expenditure over the phone with them. The collector is most likely working to targets, so it's unsurprising that he began by asking you to pay in full.


It would be best to complete an up to date Statement of Affairs - this is our template as an example:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/steps/step2/Pages/Step_2_11.aspx


and send a summarised copy to them along with a covering letter explaining what you will be paying from now on.


If you are unsure of the debt's legitimacy, you can still make a Subject Access Request in order to ask for whatever information they hold about your dealings with them. That ought to help clear up whether the overpayment has been correctly determined or not. Having made payments up to now does not void your right to request this information.


I'm not aware of any reason that this debt should affect your credit rating, unless of course they were to sue you for it and obtain a county court judgment.


Regards


Dennis
@natdebtline

DD265

Hi Dennis

Thank you for replying.

It is the collections department within the Student Loans Company.

I have a copy of the letter they sent me regarding the over payment. It says

We have been notified that your grant entitlement has been reassessed, which has resulted in you being overpaid. This has been calculated as shown on the Grant Entitlements and Payments Summary overleaf.

Your overpayment of grant is £2906.00.

Under the regulations we are required to recover this overpayment from you now.

Please repay the overpayment to us now by completing and sending the enclosed Remittance Slip along with a cheque/postal order for the above amount to the address shown at the top of this letter.

[snip - make payable to, call us on X]

If you are unable to repay the amount stated or have any queries, please contact us on the number above.

It is a scanned copy of the letter, on it I have written four names, two telephone numbers and an "emailing S/O details £10 per month".

I have the email:

Hi,

As requested Student loan bank details -

Bank - Barclays bank
Account Name - Student Loans Company
Sort Code - XXX
Account Number - XXX
Payment Ref Number - XXX/XXX
Amount - £10.00
Start from - 28/08/10

Many Thanks,

Gavin XXX
Collections Department
Student Loans Company

So the next time I am snottily told that I was aware I had to ring up after 6 months to review, I shall ask them to prove that they told me.

I was able to log in to https://www.student-finance.service.gov.uk but it does not have all of the correspondence. For example the letter quoted above was not on there.

I have a Notification Letter dated 22/09/2009 which tells me the assessment for that year. It says "Your assessment is final. We will only change our decision if your circumstances change or we receive new information."

I then have another Notification Letter dated 01/07/2010 which tells me I was reassessed - and this one is final. So I need to find out what changed from their point of view in between the two. Does anybody know where I should direct my inquiry - is it the local authority as they are on the header of the reassessment notification?

Would it be wise to advise them that I will only communicate in writing going forward? Should I ignore their calls? Should I answer their calls but proceed as I have done, i.e. not make any commitments?

Should I tell them that I am looking to dispute the reassessment and therefore I want to continue on the same basis? Should I offer a higher repayment for the time being?