Student loans company England threatening me

Marmitelover5029

Out of nowhere today I have received a letter from Student loans demanding I repay and "over payment" of £3300. The letter said If I didn't call them to repay then they would be selling on my debt as I hadn't made any repayments on an over payment from 2015.

In 2015 I ended my university studies halfway into the term because I was diagnosed with Cancer. I was told that because my studies were ended due to ill health then it would not be any problems with over payments etc etc. I have all of this on paper when I officially withdrew from my studies.

I called them today as soon as I got the letter and they were extremely horrible on the phone, they said they're not interested why I ended my studies early and that if I didn't make full payment today then they would mark it down as non payment and just pass it onto a debt enforcement agency.

I have absolutely no means of paying this, what happens if they pass on this debt? I literally own nothing, I live with my parents and I'm still recovering from my illness.

I know this is probably a bit of an unusual one but if anyone could give some advice then that would be great.

In the meantime I have emailed my old university to ask if they're able to assist in anyway.

ReadingTim

Post them a copy of the documentation you have from when you withdrew from your studies - they've probably made a mistake or lost part of your records, so given you say you have this "on paper", then send it to them.

Hillwalker11

I feel for you.They are the most appalling company to deal with.I am not sure they have as much power as they think they do.
My son who has lived and worked in Hong Kong for the last 9 years had a similar experience.He paid his SL every month after submitting his salary etc.every year.He paid the figure they had calculated. Nearing the end of his loan he had a letter demanding he repay £1800 that he had underpaid.

Then they started phoning our home number, my husband (who has Power of Attorney) tried to explain that my son had paid everything they requested every month for the last 8 years, so he couldn't understand how there was money owed.

SL company were unhelpful, rude and very confrontational.They wouldn't accept they were wrong, they refused to listen to my husband,they couldn't manage to phone my son in HK, obviously beyond their capabilities.
Eventually my husband reported the people to a manager at SL.He was very helpful and eventually sorted it out.
The whole process was appalling and I really hope you can sort something out.If you get another call from them ask to speak to someone higher up.
Also if you send them all your original documentation hopefully someone who knows what they are doing will be able to sort it out.

The Student Loan Company are not fit for purpose.Absolutely appalling customer service.

sazaccount

Hi,

I suggest logging onto your student loan account as soon as possible to see if any correspondence has been sent saying it has been passed to their debt collection agency (however they were surprisingly easy to deal with!).

Then e-mail their complaints team (so much easier to work with than the call center)

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/student-loans-company/about/complaints-procedure

You will need - your student reference and as much evidence you can send them its highly likely they have "misplaced" your documents from 2015.

I have no idea what goes on in their mail room but it feels like they don't open/input ANYTHING even when sent signed for/recorded and you can see that it has been received I get this can take time for the data entry team to input it all but still!!!

sourcrates

Hi,

Sorry for the situation you find yourself in, there is some good advice above, however let me just allay your fears regarding debt collectors/buyers.

Yes debt collectors, not debt enforcement, they have no more power than next doors cat to retrieve this money from you, only a court can enforce a debt, yes they would have recourse to use the courts if it got that far, but most of the time all they can do is write/ring/email or text you, you can now choose how you are contacted under GDPR regulations, so you can write and insist on written comms only.

Make sure you head your letter “COMPLAINT” then it will get dealt with by someone other than a minimum wage call handler.

Socajam

Please do not send them your original documents. For one if they somehow got loss, this could make your situation worse. Send them copies of everything you have.
Failure to get a resolution, get in touch with your MP
The last thing you need is for the stress to cause a relapse.
Good luck