Student loans - help needed urgently!

jillymet

I'm new to this, so please forgive me and point me in the wrong direction if I've posted this in the wrong place. And I apologise for the length of the post, but I really need help!!!


Husband has two old style student loans from 1994 and 1995. He's never earned over the threshold for making repayments, so has always deferred each year with SLC by filling in the deferment form and sending off his payslips. No problems at all. We moved house in 2013 and, I'm almost certain, wrote to SLC with details of our change of address. We didn't even realise that it had been more than a year since he'd applied for deferment - it's just not something you think about on a regular basis! You almost forget the loans exist after 20 years and never having made a payment....


So about two years ago we starting getting correspondence from Erudio. They wrote informing him that his account was in arrears. I rang them (he's not very good on the phone) and explained we hadn't had a deferment form for quite some time. They explained they'd taken over his loans from SLC and had sent correspondence which was returned stating we no longer lived at that address. They'd tracked him down using the electoral register I think. I said I was sure we sent our new address to SLC but they said no such letter had been received by SLC and passed to them. Anyway, I naively thought that explaining he had never earned over the threshold to start making repayments (which obviously we could easily prove with his payslips) would be sufficient for them and that would be that. However, they insisted that, as he had not applied and been granted deferment, he should have been making repayments - I think it was for about 18 months, and they claimed he was now £1200 in arrears. I argued with them for ages that yes, he had not sent off the deferment form (which we had never had) but the fact remained that he had not earned enough to have to repay so there should be no such arrears - of course they would not have it. Wouldn't let me speak to a supervisor, saying the outcome would not change. The call handler just kept asking me for card details and to make a payment there and then to prevent things from getting worse! I refused. I sent off a lengthy complaint by email, even bringing up the fact that one of the first letters we'd had from them stated they had messed up by not sending out some paperwork in accordance with regulations, but their reply was that they had proof they had sent letters to our old address and it was our fault that we had not received them due to not updating our address. They agreed to freeze the account so he would no longer accrue any further arrears and I think said they would remove 3 months' worth. They did still send him a deferment form (even though apparently you're not allowed to defer if you're in arrears) which we completed and sent off and he was granted deferment for a year. They still kept sending letters informing him his account was in arrears, and persistently rang his mobile multiple times a day for a prolonged period until we explained he has anxiety issues, and does not converse well over the phone. They advised they would note that he should not be contacted by phone any further but still kept ringing for quite some time.

His next deferment was due just before Christmas just gone - we did this online this time, uploaded his P60 which according to their website was sufficient proof. They wrote saying they had not received the proof so we posted the P60 to them. They sent it back claiming it was not enough - no explanation of why - and requesting his last 3 months' payslips. My husband has been off work through suspension since November (which has been our overriding concern and focus since then) and does not have copies of his payslips for this reason as they've switched to electronic ones. Anyway, I admit we have kind of ignored this whole problem most of the time, after reading a lot of posts on here initially which led me to think Erudio weren't too much to worry about. We got a letter saying his current deferment period had ended so he needed to start making repayments. I ignored this, stubbornly thinking, we've completed the form, we've sent his P60, that should be sufficient, sod off! Got a letter a couple of weeks ago about the arrears again saying we had to take action by a certain date detailed in the letter (couldn't find this date anywhere on the letter) finally have received a letter yesterday (Saturday 17/03) saying as he has breached his agreement and not taken any action they are terminating his agreement which means we have to pay the full balance of almost £4000 within the next 7 days!!!!!! MAJOR PANIC!!!! What do we do first?? We are both Unison members and apparently entitled to a small amount of free legal advice - do we try to speak to a solicitor, I have a feeling that there is probably a few points a good legal brain could probably use in our favour, however at the end of the day according to Erudio he has breached the terms of the agreement. Now that it's reached this stage, can we/should we be asking for some kind of payment plan?? For loans that he has never, ever earned enough to mean he should have been paying back?? And which would have been written off in the next year or two if it wasn't for this whole sorry situation??
I'd be so, so grateful if anybody can offer any advice

Lungboy

It sounds like this all boils down to proving you sent a letter to the SLC about the change of address. Do you have any way to prove it? If not, you'll need to send an SAR to Erudio asking for all the paperwork they hold on you. Sending one to the SLC might be worth a try too, just in case. If you can't prove that then the rest of it is rather moot, as the default could be legit and they would then be entitled to call in the full loan.

jillymet

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately have no way of proving that we notified them of our change of address !!!128546; Can I ask what an SAR is?
Neither of us have ever had any problems with debts/defaults before so really haven’t got a clue what we’re doing. Obviously we don’t have £3700 to give them in the next few days!!! What would you advise as next step? Do you know if we can still contact them to set up some kind of payment plan or is it too late for that sort of thing??
Will have to ring them in the morning but I’m so worried !!!128553;

Lungboy

My 1St advice would be not to ring them, do everything in writing (email or old fashioned mail) to ensure you have a paper trail. It's also much harder for them to pressure you into doing or saying something you shouldn't.

SAR is a Subject Access Request. You pay a small fee and they have to provide you with all paperwork they hold on you. Do a forum search for it, there will be a template for you to follow somewhere.