Nearing the end of student loan repayment

kazzamunga

Hi All, first-time poster here, hoping you can help!
I have been paying off my Plan 1 Student Loan for about 10 years, and this year have finally come close to finishing it off. I have had a bit of a complicated employment history in that I have been self-employed for a few years, so that the calculation isn't as simple as for PAYE, and I feel I may have overpaid as a result of this, but I'm not willing to get into a debate about that so I've just let it lie.
However, taking into account the calcuations that the SLC have made, and using my P60 for the last financial year plus this year's pay slips, I believe that my November I will have paid back everything I owe. I have had several conversations with the SLC over the phone this year about the miscalculation previously mentioned, and no one had mentioned the option of a direct debit to make sure that you don't overpay, but I had read about it here, and actually received a letter dated 20th September from the SLC, asking me to take action. So I called them again, thinking great - I'll set up the direct debit, and then in two months' time, I'll make the final payment.

No - the woman on the phone said it takes 3 months to set up. 3 months!!! And if that's the case, why was the first I heard of it, within the final 3 months, when it's already too late?? She said the best I can do is get in contact again when I think I have made the final payment, and then submit the P60s and payslips to prove that I have paid the money, and then they might be able to process a refund?? This is exactly what I wanted to avoid by calling them every few months this year! Does anyone have any advice on what to do next ?

System

The direct debit doesn't stop overpayments happening for the scenario you've laid out but they do stop you continuing to pay once the balance has reached £0.

Your only option is to do what you were told to do.

kazzamunga

Wait, so...wait until December, or call them back again now, and try to set up the direct debit? They have told me to do two different things - one on the letter, and the other on the phone.

Not sure what is meant by ' The direct debit doesn't stop overpayments happening for the scenario you've laid out but they do stop you continuing to pay once the balance has reached £0.'

Isn't the latter the same as the former? If I stop continuing to pay once the balance has reached £0, then I will not have to overpay, right?