Student Loan Company refusing to refund overpayment! Please help!

theoallen

SLC is like a bloody criminal organisation!!!

My partner finished uni about 2 years ago, and has been paying student loan since she started her job as a full time nurse. Online calculators including the one on SLC's website show that she should be paying about £36 a month, however in reality she is having £118 deducted each month, so obviously over paying massively.

We rang and spoke to SLC who were as competent as a bunch of monkeys! After going through 4 different people and eventually talking toa manager, he confirmed she was overpaying, but it was up to her payroll department to sort it out. Even though every website online, including their own, says it is up to them to do.

So we call payroll, who say its nothing to do with them, and advised us to call HMRC. We call HMRC and all we get is an automated message, saying that SLC is the people to call to deal with refunds and overpayments.

Another call to SLC proves difficult, with them once again telling us it is nothing to do with them and it is up to payroll.

So please, has anyone been in a similar situation and won? This is getting ridiculous and we really can't afford to keep overpaying each month by such a huge amount. And it is devastating me, because they are so rude and useless, it is making my partner Emma, very upset.

Unless anyone has any good suggestions, I can only assume the next step is legal action?

Many thanks!

Shakin_Steve

My son is going to Sheffield Uni in September, did his student loan application yesterday. Posts like this put the willies up me. :eek:

National_Debtline

Hi there,


If you are struggling to get anywhere over the phone, then I would suggest you put everything to them, in writing. The Student Loan Company outline how to complain formally on their website - http://www.slc.co.uk/contact/making-a-complaint.aspx




It may also be worth doing a SOA to show how this miscalculation is effecting you monthly and verifying your partners wages with a copy of a payslip. Try and anticipate documents they may wish to see for verification purposes and if you can provide a copy of them to begin with, it may speed things up. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

Shakin_Steve

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi there,


If you are struggling to get anywhere over the phone, then I would suggest you put everything to them, in writing. The Student Loan Company outline how to complain formally on their website - http://www.slc.co.uk/contact/making-a-complaint.aspx




It may also be worth doing a SOA to show how this miscalculation is effecting you monthly and verifying your partners wages with a copy of a payslip. Try and anticipate documents they may wish to see for verification purposes and if you can provide a copy of them to begin with, it may speed things up. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

Why would they need to see a SOA Laura? The deal is 9% on anything over £21,000, so surely your personal finances shouldn't come into it?

National_Debtline

Hello again,


You are right Shakin Steve that the deduction is done on a set percentage, so a SOA is not required. It is just something additional the OP can do to show how much hardship the incorrect deductions are having, but if they would prefer not to then it is not a requirement.


Laura
@natdebtline

peter3hg

It will be the payroll department at fault so it is them that you need to speak to. SLC don't control how much is taken from a salary, they only instruct whether to take it or not. I thought the issue might be that they are collecting on the basis of a plan 1 loan rather than plan 2 but the difference is too much.

redpete

Is the problem that you are actually asking for two things. First to adjust future deductions so that the correct amount is paid from now on, this should probably be the payroll department (it's not a difficult calculation so not sure how they get it wrong). Secondly is trying to get back previous overpayments, in this case it is probably HMRC or SMS. Be very clear what is being asked when talking to these people.

Windofchange

Jeez don't get me started on the student loan company and the farce that is trying to get information out of them. If she is in the NHS she should have an HR and payroll department. Last time I contacted them it was a central number for the UK for queries on payslips. I haven't got it to hand, but her HR department should be able to give it to her. I would then ask them what the heck is going on - they are deducting the wrong amount.

daisy23169

I know NHS payroll has a reputation for itself, but it should be nigh on impossible to get student loan deductions totally wrong (aside from deducting under the wrong plan) unless they're literally calculating it manually which seems unlikely.

Student loan should be calculated on the total gross NIable pay, not just on salary, so is it possible she's just putting her basic salary into the online calculator and forgetting to include something else e.g. shift allowance, overtime etc?

I've worked in payroll a long time (though not NHS) and never seen a system get student loan wrong to such an extent which is why I'm wondering if there's something not being considered.

rtho782

You've been put on Plan 1 repayments, not Plan 2. Same happened to my other half when she started as a nurse.

SLC don't get the money until the end of the year, HMRC hold it. If you want it sorted before the end of the year you do need to chase it with the employer/tax office. We did it and had it sorted out for her 2nd payday.

SLC will refund you if you wait for them to receive the money next april. But that won't solve your problem, HMRC/employer will carry on overcharging. It is them you need to sort it out with.

On the other hand with her bursary and fees paid she probably only has about £7k in loan from a reduced rate maintenance loan. Plan 2 is actually hideous APR so it may be worth her getting it paid off.

peter3hg

rtho782 wrote: »

You've been put on Plan 1 repayments, not Plan 2. Same happened to my other half when she started as a nurse.

That would make a £25-£30 a month difference, not £82. It might be part of the issue but it certainly isn't all of it.