Over £8000 debt for 6 weeks at Uni Advice needed please 22 November 2018 at 12:06PM in Student MoneySaving 6 replies 2.3K views

KPA

Hi, new to the site so hope i'm in the right forum and apologies if i'm rambling on!.
Can anyone please help as i'm confused about the amount of debt my son has for his time at uni.
His place at uni was confirmed on 26/9/13 he enrolled on 27/9/13
His first day of attendance at uni was 11/10/13
His last day at uni was 22/11/13
He had to suspend his studies due to mental health issues he was suffering from at the time, but hoped to return to uni in Sept 2014 to resume studying for the 2014/15 academic year. This was discussed with and officially agreed by the uni at the time. They were aware of his circumstances and involved in his decision to suspend. Student Finance sent him confirmation of his suspension. Unfortunately he was unable to resume and did not return to uni in 2014 as intended .

In Oct 2018 he received a letter from Student Loan Co.stating he had received a Grant over payment £1473.00 which needed to be repaid. I contacted them and an arrangement has been made to repay £100.00 per month.

In Nov he received another letter from SLC asking him to update his details. My son is not working or receiving any state benefits and due to his mental health issues he just can't deal with either, so i support him, but i don't put money into an account for him.

After speaking to SLC again they say he now owes £8336.79 (and rising). This started as a figure of £6545.08 in Sep 2013 which was made up of the following payments:
Grant 2236.00
Maint Loan 4308.48
Total 6544.58
Less -763.00 Grant entitlement whilst at uni
Less -1573.60 Maint Loan entitlement whilst at uni
Total 4207.98
Tuition Fee 2187.50.
Total 6395.48
Interest 1941.31
Total 8336.79

This seems an excessive amount of interest, i've got no idea if it's right or not or what the rates were since 2013. The amount of maint loan and grant he received is not in dispute, but is there any way the amount of tuition fee can be argued as he was officially at uni for 8 weeks and only literally attended from 11/10/13 to 22/11/13 (6 weeks). I've tried getting a breakdown of interest and statement from SLC but they're not very helpful. There are no statements available on his account online either. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as we don't know what to do about this debt and the rate at which it is rising.
Thanks.

agrinnall

There is a list of the interest rates for each year for post-2012 loans on MSE here


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/repay-post-2012-student-loan/


A rough estimate based on interest starting in 2013/14 up to 2017/18 is that the amount owed is now £7364. However, if it should also include either or both 2012/13 and 2018/19 then that figure would be higher, and if any years are counted as "while studying" then it'll be higher still.


I would again ask SFE for a breakdown of the interest added in each year which you can then check using the rates in the link.


Of course, there's also the question of whether the rising debt is an issue at all. If he's not earning then he's not paying anything back, and even if he does start earning enough to be over the repayment threshold he may still never need to repay the full amount owed before it's written off.

Voyager2002

KPA wrote: »

is there any way the amount of tuition fee can be argued as he was officially at uni for 8 weeks and only literally attended from 11/10/13 to 22/11/13 (6 weeks)./QUOTE]


Have you discussed this with the university in question?

silvercar

agrinnall wrote:

Of course, there's also the question of whether the rising debt is an issue at all. If he's not earning then he's not paying anything back, and even if he does start earning enough to be over the repayment threshold he may still never need to repay the full amount owed before it's written off.

This isn't a normal loan repayment, it is a repayment of an overpayment due to the student no longer being a student for some of the time that the grant/ loan paid was to cover.

agrinnall

silvercar wrote: »

This isn't a normal loan repayment, it is a repayment of an overpayment due to the student no longer being a student for some of the time that the grant/ loan paid was to cover.

No it isn't, the overpayment is already being dealt with at £100 per month repayment. This issue is about the repayment of the full loan after deduction of the overpayment amount, as the OP makes clear. I suggest you read it again.

Spendless

The OP is concerned about the amount owed and the rising interest. This is a psychological issue more than anything else.

As already pointed out, if ex student isn't earning then they don't pay anything back nor do they if they earn under the threshold for starting to pay. If and when they do start earning enough they start paying back.

In 30 years time (or whatever it is) any outstanding amount will be written off. It doesn't matter whether they're writing £3K or £30K at that point.

The overpayment is a separate issue that is being dealt with.

OP stop worrying. Have a read of the guides on here if you're worried about student loans. I hope your son gets his health back soon.

sheramber

if you leave during the first term you need to pay 25% of the annual tuition fees which will be the 2187.50

The grant received was 2236.00
grant due was 736.00
overpayment 1500 not 1473 as originally stated.

Maintenance loan 4308.08
loan due 1573.60
overpayment 2734.48

The student has the above overpayments which are due to be repaid immediately unless an alternative arrangement is made with Student Finance.

The OP only arranged to pay £100 per month in October. There may not have been a payment recorded before the letter detailing the debt was issued.

Whether the OP should be paying anything since her son is not earning is another matter.