Erudio pre-1998 -old style student loan

memoj

I took student loan in 1997 from SLC, this was then sold to Erudio company in 2013. I have been deferring the loan every year for 14 years until 2014 was my last deferment.  Problems started  in  2015. Erudio said they will send me what they called a schedule for repayment because I did not differ that year, I never received anything. 16 months after I become 50 years old, so I thought the debt would have been cancelled. Now i have been contacted by their solicitors (Drydensfairfax) taking me to court asking me to pay the full amount on the loan . I offered the pay the money that I would have paid form last deferment to my 50th birthday which is about 18 months repayment. they refused and asking for full amount, which I think it is very unfair because  my loan is always in good order until the last 18 months to 50th Birthday. Any advise on what to do please. did anyone had something similar. 

TripleH

Firstly I assume Erudio and Drydensfairfax have your correct address and that you had not moved between 2014 and 2015?
Are they actually issuing papers to take you to court or are they merely threatening that if you do not make payment in full they will take you to court?
Long shot, but do you have the paperwork to hand that confirms once you reach 50, the balance of the loan will be written off?
Without knowing the terms you are relying on in your defence I can't offer much help. All I can say is that you need to ensure you can show what you are relying on should it come to court (which may or may not be happening). I suspect more knowledgeable people will be along shortly to advise.

tehone

I can't recall now all the details, but with old style loans, weren't SLC still responsible for the deferment part, and they passed on details to Erudio, so its SLC that you need to check with regarding deferment letters etc. Also they can't can't force you to repay the full amount, you are liable for payments for every year you didn't defer (and even then there is some leeway in allowing back-deferment). You should have received deferment letters / statements every year.
The 50 years old rule, was a standard part of the SL agreement, it was the same for everyone. What I can't recall is exactly how the 25 year (or was it 20 or 30 year?) rule worked - something along the lines if you deferred this many years you were no longer liable either.

Looking at the dates mentioned it look like the time frame from being statute barred might come into play as well.

Hopefully this gives some extra stuff to look into and search around

memoj

Thank you for your reply and help. the case is already in court. I have been sent the court claim form, i filed my defence in Nov 2018, where I explained that I only owe the months from last deferment being accepted to my 50th Birthday year. and that I am happy to pay the amount to settle the account. I also explained that Erudio holds  the responsibility as they failed to send me documents on time .

Few months later, I received a letter from Drydensfairfax, saying that they have looked at my defence and some sort of no sense justification to ask for full repayment. They are not admitting that their client Erudio has failed to send documents on time

Few months later, I received another letter from Drydensfairfax saying that they are not accepting my offer and send me a letter asking me to pay the full amount, otherwise they will apply to lift the stay on the court proceeding.

I have replied to this offering them the full amount of what I would have paid for the months from last accepted deferment to my 50th Birthday and to pay this in full. They also rejected this and still insist on the full amount, saying that my defence holds no merit as the account was terminated correctly  Now they wrote to me asking me to arrange for repayment for a full amount with some small discount.

I don’t really have the Loan agreement from SLC to check the agreement we had then. I am not sure what to do now, stick to offering the payments for the period that is not deferred and go to court or offer another amount. I am also thinking to get a lawyer but I am not sure with their costs and the current lockdown situation we in, hard to find anyone  - 

sleepyjones

Dunno if this applies?

Plan 1

You’re on Plan 1 if you’re:

• an English or Welsh student who started an undergraduate course anywhere in the UK before 1 September 2012

When Plan 1 loans get written off

When your Plan 1 loan gets written off depends on:

• where you’re from
• when you took out the loan

When Plan 1 loans get written off for students from England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Academic year you took out the loan	When the loan’s written off
2005 to 2006, or earlier	When you’re 65
2006 to 2007, or later	25 years after the April you were first due to repay

https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/when-your-student-loan-gets-written-off-or-cancelled