HELP Student loans 1995-8 sold to Erudio then to Moorcraft Debt without me knowing

yarmon

I really hope someone can help me!

I have been deferring my loans for many years whilst living a broad. I have done this via email. In 2015 I got many replies to my emails that they would be in contact but they never were. In the meantime I then had 3 children under 4 and had moved house/ city so I wasn't 100% focused (although to my credit one of the emails I sent was while I was in labour!). I also spoke to them on the phone and they said there was no record of my loans. I thought 'marvellous'.

Then I got suspicious and called back October 2016. This was when I heard about Erudio for the first time. They said they sent me a letter (to a very old address) informing me of the selling of my loan. I had no idea something like this was even possible! I called Erudio and they said they had passed my loan on to Moorcroft debt collectors 2 weeks earlier! They had written a letter informing me to an address I hadn't lived in for over 20 years!

I do not want my credit rating affected and I wanted to defer my loan again. Since October I have been in regular contact with Erudio and Moorcraft begging Erudio to take back my loan. Moorcraft will return it if Erudio request and it is currently on hold. Erudio is very reluctant. Does any one have any advice?! Should I perhaps be in touch with the original Student Loans Company?

Many thanks!

CakeCrusader

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4923210 There's a thread about Erudio here so it may help to post

The SLC company won't help, I'm sorry. They've sold your student loan account to Erudio, so it was in their hands. I'm looking to see if Moorcroft is a branch of Arrow Global, as Erudio are also a branch of Arrow Global and they tend to keep things 'in house'. It's likely that this has been 'passed' to Moorcroft because you haven't responded to Erudio (because they have the wrong address for you).

When did you take your student loan out, and when was the last time you deferred it??

tensandunits_2

I was at university at a similar time to you. Yes some of the loans now come under Thesis servicing or Erudio. Unfortunately because you haven't kept up your deferment applications every year they now consider you to be a debtor and have got the debt collectors on to you accordingly. You will need to work out a repayment plan.

A not dissimilar thing happened with a friend of mine, except in his case he was too ill (MH issues) to be able to handle his finances. They still made him pay back that year's loan at £20 per week, which he had to pay out of his benefits.

yarmon

My loans were taken out 1995-8. The last successful deferrment was 2013-14. There is correspondance after this but nothing was replied to by them. I then had the phone conversation in 2016 that there was no longer any debt and only at a later date did they tell me it was with Erudio

CakeCrusader

yarmon wrote: »

My loans were taken out 1995-8. The last successful deferrment was 2013-14. There is correspondance after this but nothing was replied to by them. I then had the phone conversation in 2016 that there was no longer any debt and only at a later date did they tell me it was with Erudio

I think you need to get in touch with Moorcroft, I'm sorry. I don't think they can be deferred once they have 'matured' (this is what Erudio have told me but I don't know if it's true, hopefully someone else can help). To become statute barred there has to be 6 years of no payment and no contact, and I think you haven't reached the 25 year 'your loan is wiped' yet as this won't be until 2020. Moorcroft should go through your income/expenditure and they should only ask you to pay what you can afford. If you're on a low income and you're permanently disabled, the SLC do wipe loans on receipt of a doctors letter though and the T&C's should be the same. It's worth posting on the Erudio thread that I've linked above as the people on there know more than I do.

The SLC would have told you that there's no longer a debt because they'd sold it to Erudio. As Erudio had the wrong address for you, they would have sent everything to the wrong house. They would have sent you a letter telling you that they now own your student loan, and asking you to get in touch with them. After no contact for 6 months, they would have sent you another letter telling you that your loan had 'matured', and asking for the full balance. It may be worth checking your credit file too as they say on this letter that your credit file may be affected. Once they had not heard back from you, they would have passed this on to Moorcroft. Erudio would have bought your loan for £0.05p per £1 though, so if you can make an offer to settle it helps to know this as you know how far down you can go. I'd imagine Moorcroft bought this for less that Erudio.

I hope this helps.

yarmon

Thank you so much