Thesis servicing

yummymummy1152

For the past 20 years I have deferred payment of my student loan. In that time, Thesis have taken over my particular loan. Ever since, each year 'arrears' have been added for the slightest transgressions. Deferment forms are mysteriously lost in the post, my emails to them aren't received etc. I became due for deferment again this year in August. I sent the form back but had omitted the 'third party support' letter from my husband.
There was much to-ing & fro-ing. I then sent the letter back to them on 3rd October. On 9th October, they emailed saying that the attachment was empty, and that in those 6 days they had decided to terminate my agreement unless I took immediate action and entered into a payment plan for the arrears. On 12th October I resent my email of 3rd October with the attached letter. I didn't hear back from them until today- a letter dated 19th saying 'Notice of Intent to Register Defaults'. I then rang them and asked what was going on, they hadn't replied to my email. I said that I couldn't pay back £2,942 in 'arrears' (most of which I dispute) in 21 days obviously- I am eligible for deferment as I have been for the past 20 years. I said I was happy to make a small payment today and set up a payment plan for those arrears. The guy on the phone- (whose name I have) cheerfully said that he couldn't set up a payment plan- I have to just let it default and then they will be in touch to arrange a payment plan for the whole loan and the arrears. I don't want a default on my credit record. I offered to set up a payment plan, even though I can ill afford it. Can they seriously tell me to just sit and wait for it to default? I feel that Thesis are complete bloodsuckers who have just used my account to generate arrears. The number of times they claim not to have received my deferment forms is outrageous. Every year I have deferred. Any advice on next steps much appreciated.

middleclassbutpoor

I don't know an awful amount around Thesis bu from what you have said

- you made an error and didn't send the correct paperwork
- you were offered the opportunity to enter into a payment plan before default was issued and rather than deal with that offer, you just sent an email rather than deal with the seriousness of the situation
- they thought you were not dealing with the situation so decided to issue default as they had exhausted their process with you.

Regardless of your opinion and your views, it does seem as though you have had the opportunity to resolve this before getting to this stage. The only advice I can give is that you should either try and raise the issue with someone higher at thesis or just accept that the default will happen and focus on setting up a payment plan at this stage.

Hopefully someone will be able to offer a different perspective on this for you

National_Debtline

Hi yummymummy1152


It sounds like you've had a lot of difficulties with Thesis. Have you ever raised a complaint to dispute the arrears they say you owe? If not it could be trickier to deal with them now. Also what did they say had happened to the email you sent on 12th October?


Unfortunately if they believe you have not followed the correct deferment process they can register a default on your credit file and call in the full balance of the loan. If they go ahead and do that you will need to complete a statement of affairs (SOA) to negotiate a payment plan with them. It would be a good idea to post on the Debt Free Wannabe page for more advice on this, or get in touch with one of the free debt advice agencies.


If you want to make a complaint, follow the Thesis complaints process first. I'm assuming this must be an old style student loan (pre 1998) which means you can also take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if Thesis don't resolve it to your satisfaction.


Susie
@natdebtline

Voyager2002

Look for the very long thread about Erudio student loans on the debt forum...

You are in a similar situation governed by the same rules.

One key point from that thread is that you should NOT allow them to put your account into default, because then you lose most of your rights: essentially the special benefits of a student loan are lost and instead you have ordinary debt.