Student Loans 1995-1999

minnemouse25

Hello
I know this topic has been extensively discussed before and also elsewhere on line but I can't find any information relevant to my specific problem here!

I have 4 students loans taken out when I was at university from 1995 to 1999. The loans were originally with the Student Loan Company but were transferred to a private organisation, Honours Student Loans at some point in the late 1990s. I have nothing to do with the newer scheme which is managed by the government and repayments made via PAYE

I am required to repay my student loan when my monthly salary exceeds a set threshold and up until this year my salary has not met that threshold. However I am now living in Spain and my income is variable which means some months I don't meet the threshold, but other months I earn more than the threshold. In order to qualify for deferment I have to supply 3 months payslips (consecutive) and this I am unable to do to show salary below the threshold. I am over the threshold by about £100 each time. And yet other months I can earn nothing at all so my salary for one particular month may need to support me and my family for two months or more

To cut a long story short we are a single income family who have to survive on only what I earn. Some months this is below the repayment threshold, others it is above but the hard fact is that after I have paid our mortgage, bills, and other loans outstanding from the UK there is simply no money left to pay off my old student loan at the £220 a month they are asking for. I have tried to explain this to them but they don't take into account my other financial commitments and simply say I have to make the repayments as I cannot prove that for 3 consecutive months I do not reach the threshold

They are aware of my address in Spain as I told them (I was intending to continue deferring repayments) - so my question now is whether anyone has ever experienced anything similar? Can they take legal action against me to pursue the money given that I am not in the UK and am a permanent resident abroad? At the moment they are sending me letters to ask them to get in touch with them again before they "apply action" to my account. The money I earn by the way is from a UK company that I work for from home remotely and hence goes into a UK bank account. Can they "arrest" this bank account if I continue to not repay the loan? I believe that is the correct term!

I just wondered what official advice on this would be, given that the loans are being administered with a private company and not the PAYE government based system that more recent graduates are on

Thank you in advance!

zippygeorgeandben

Can you not get a letter from an employer which states your annual salary is not more than £21k? I might be wrong but I also thought there was a thing where a letter could be sent saying you wouldn't reach the threshold for the following three months? Is there a chance it would be over £21k over the year because if so, then I guess you have to pay it back.
Actually, why should the SLC take into account your other financial commitments. You're a home owner, something many people are waiting to still declare.

Lungboy

Yes they can chase you in Spain for the debt. If your 3 payslips show an unrealistic amount for the year then just send your p60.

becoming_an_old_git

I paid off my son's student loan in 2007. It was £16,000. He now lives permanently in Scandinavia and I understand he's now immune! Oh well it's what parents do

Welsh9

If your unable to provide 3 month's wage slips under the threshold I would get your employer to write a letter confirming each individual month of the year with your gross salary asking them to work an average of the 12 month's due to some month's receiving no income also deferment threshold rises every September meaning you could now possibly defer as threshold is now £30,737 equivalent to £2561 per month from Sept 2018 - Aug 19