Letter from student loan - third party debt collection

clairesilverspar

Hi,
Got home tonight to find a letter saying it's from the student loans company. It's states an arrears amount of £969 and says he's failed to respond to previous requests to pay and as a consequence they've passed him to a third party debt collection agency.

The thing is he earns less than the £15k threshold (began uni in 07) and doesn't have deductions from his payslips for student loans. He's also had no contact from the previous to this letter.
He's going to call them tomorrow to see what's going on, but has anyone got any advice about whether this is likely to be an error or if indeed he does owe them money?
If he does owe them then we're happy to set up repayments but it seems like a really odd amount to be asking for and it's completely out of the blue.

Ed-1

clairesilverspar wrote: »

Hi,
Got home tonight to find a letter saying it's from the student loans company. It's states an arrears amount of £969 and says he's failed to respond to previous requests to pay and as a consequence they've passed him to a third party debt collection agency.

The thing is he earns less than the £15k threshold (began uni in 07) and doesn't have deductions from his payslips for student loans. He's also had no contact from the previous to this letter.
He's going to call them tomorrow to see what's going on, but has anyone got any advice about whether this is likely to be an error or if indeed he does owe them money?
If he does owe them then we're happy to set up repayments but it seems like a really odd amount to be asking for and it's completely out of the blue.

The figure of £969 rings a bell as a maintenance grant payment. Did he get a maintenance grant and drop out/get reassessed during his final year? If so, it would have been repayable immediately, not through earnings later.

Also by the way, for your information, the repayment threshold is now not £15,000. It has risen to £17,495 for pre-2012 students.

National_Debtline

Hi there,


I would just like to expand on what Ed-1 has said (which is great advice). So, if this is an overpayment it would fall due immediately and need to be dealt with through payments now, not salary deductions. Also, if he has moved around since leaving Uni that could explain missing letters.


At this stage it does just sound as though it is a debt collector and not a bailiff, so they would have no right of entry or repossession. He could call for a quick answer (if it is playing on his mind) but in a situation like this I think the "prove it" letter may prove more successful in the long run.


If money is owed, it will be a non priority, and, depending on your other financial commitments, will just be repaid at a rate that is affordable based on your SOA (if it can't be paid in a lump sum). Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

clairesilverspar

Thanks both for your help. He called on his lunch break and it is as you suggested the maintenance grant for his final term, though he thought he had completed the year. He'd rather get it paid off so will arrange a payment plan and get rid of it pretty quickly (approx. 3-4 months).
He came off the phone a bit amused though. Had to be passed around as no one he spoke to at first seemed to understand what was going on.