Student loans changes to Ts&Cs 10 years later (2011/2012)

NJ02A

Hi there, 

I’m not sure who to contact so thought this was the best email address. About two weeks ago, the Resolutions Team with the Student Loans Company contacted me to say I was wrongly put onto the 2012 tuition fee plan due to changing universities and courses when I was already on the 2011 fees. I queries this at the time but I was told I was a new student at a new university so therefore was being put onto the higher fees. So I had one year on the lower fees 2011/2012 and then 2012-2015 academic years on the higher tuition fees. 

I was only paying the plan one back from 2016, right up until August last year when I was made redundant. Since then, I’ve been trying to set up my own business but currently only make enough to cover my business costs, so I never pay myself a wage due to my income varying so much and only just being enough to cover my bills. I don’t receive any government support and I’m not entitled to Universal Credit, I’m just fortunate my partner earns enough to cover our expenses. 

When I received the out-of-the-blue phone call a couple of weeks ago, they included the letter attached. The Resolutions Team told me that unfortunately, I do need to repay this grant, it will stay on my account, but I only need to pay it when I can afford to. The Resolutions Team said that this change is due to the Department of Education recently setting them up to contact people in the same situation as myself and they will also demand the extra money back from the universities. 

However, I’ve had several calls from the repayments department and today they were suggesting that I go to the Job Centre, apply to Universal Credit, and talk to a debt collection agency. They also wanted to know who pays my living costs and whether they could pay this for me, really trying to push me to sign up for a direct debit payment. 

I’d really love some advice from anyone if they’re allowed to just change the terms and conditions like this for their mistake nearly ten years later. I don’t mind paying it at some point when I earn a stable income but I think it’s really tone-deaf to come after someone in the middle of a pandemic and who’s been made redundant. My partner and I were also thinking of starting a family soon, so it’s highly unlikely I will be earning high amounts anytime soon anyway.

Has anyone also else experienced this? Apparently they're doing it to all students who changed unis in 2012 to the one they attended in 2011. 

DrEskimo

Sorry I don't have any specific advice to help, but just wanted to say this sounds wrong on so many levels.....

fwor

Unfortunately it's quite hard to understand exactly what the position is, because this appears to be a copy/paste of an email that the OP sent to someone, including an attached letter. But as far as I can see they haven't included the letter here, so we don't know what it said.

I guess one critical factor is: are they actually changing the original terms and conditions, or are they just enforcing terms and conditions that the OP originally signed up to but were never enforced before?

NJ02A

fwor said:

Unfortunately it's quite hard to understand exactly what the position is, because this appears to be a copy/paste of an email that the OP sent to someone, including an attached letter. But as far as I can see they haven't included the letter here, so we don't know what it said.

I guess one critical factor is: are they actually changing the original terms and conditions, or are they just enforcing terms and conditions that the OP originally signed up to but were never enforced before?

Sorry, I should have reworded it. It was an email I sent to MSE before I got a response saying to use the forum and I just copied and pasted while trying to do three things at once. 

This is what the letter said:

 Re-assessment of your Student Finance Entitlement 

As part of a standard review of accounts we are sorry to advise you that we have identified an error in your Student Finance Entitlement for Academic Years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15. The error has impacted both your entitlement and repayment plan type. 

This error means that we have overpaid your Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Loan and Grant. You will not need to do anything about your Maintenance or Tuition Fee Loan overpayments. Your Tuition Fee Loan overpayment will be recovered directly from the University you studied at. Once you’re University/College returns the overpaid Tuition Fees to us, your balance will be adjusted accordingly. Your overpaid Maintenance Loan is part of your overall loan balance, and you will only need to make repayments when your income is above the relevant threshold. However, you will need to repay your Grant separately. 

The impact on your account is detailed below: Academic Year 2012/13 Entitlement
Type	Entitlement Paid	Correct Entitlement
Tuition Fee Loan	£6750	£3465
Maintenance Loan	£3875	£3458
Grant(s)	£3250	£2984

NJ02A

NJ02A said:

fwor said:

Unfortunately it's quite hard to understand exactly what the position is, because this appears to be a copy/paste of an email that the OP sent to someone, including an attached letter. But as far as I can see they haven't included the letter here, so we don't know what it said.

I guess one critical factor is: are they actually changing the original terms and conditions, or are they just enforcing terms and conditions that the OP originally signed up to but were never enforced before?

Sorry, I should have reworded it. It was an email I sent to MSE before I got a response saying to use the forum and I just copied and pasted while trying to do three things at once. 

This is what the letter said:

 Re-assessment of your Student Finance Entitlement 

As part of a standard review of accounts we are sorry to advise you that we have identified an error in your Student Finance Entitlement for Academic Years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15. The error has impacted both your entitlement and repayment plan type. 

This error means that we have overpaid your Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Loan and Grant. You will not need to do anything about your Maintenance or Tuition Fee Loan overpayments. Your Tuition Fee Loan overpayment will be recovered directly from the University you studied at. Once you’re University/College returns the overpaid Tuition Fees to us, your balance will be adjusted accordingly. Your overpaid Maintenance Loan is part of your overall loan balance, and you will only need to make repayments when your income is above the relevant threshold. However, you will need to repay your Grant separately. 

The impact on your account is detailed below: Academic Year 2012/13 Entitlement
Type	Entitlement Paid	Correct Entitlement
Tuition Fee Loan	£6750	£3465
Maintenance Loan	£3875	£3458
Grant(s)	£3250	£2984

Final part of letter:

Academic Year 2014/15 Entitlement
Type	Entitlement Paid	Correct Entitlement
Tuition Fee Loan	£6000	£965
Maintenance Loan	£3473	£3073
Grant(s)	£3387	£3110

In total you were overpaid your Tuition Fee Loan by £13355, Maintenance Loans by £1230 and overpaid your Grants by £817. 

For Academic Years 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 the wrong repayment terms have been applied to your account which impacted the interest accruing. Your repayment plan and associated interest has been corrected. 

Wrong Plan Type	Correct Plan Type
Plan 2 (Course Start after September 2012)	Plan 1 (Course Start before September 2012)

For more information on your plan type, including repayment thresholds and interest rates, please visit our Repayment website at www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan. 

To discuss a suitable repayment arrangement for your Grant Overpayment and to discuss your account please contact our Account Resolution Team on 0300 100 1235 (UK) or 0141 626 3701(Overseas). 

NJ02A

My concern is with them demanding this amount when it was their !!!!!! up with them just changing my plan nearly ten years later and expecting me to pay or set up a direct debit when I don't currently earn any money.

DrEskimo

OK so it's not that they are asking you to repay the student loan, just the grant you were issued, as the amount was reduced.

So your overall student loan has reduced by around £14,500, whereas you were given £817 more from your grants then you were actually entitled to.

I can see the conflict now, as the grant is exactly that, a grant and not part of the loan. Given you will benefit around £15k off your student loan, repaying £800 back from an overpaid grant seems like a good deal personally....

NJ02A

Yeah, it's just the demand for that £817 as they've been hassling me several times over the past few weeks like I can just magic up that sum of money and asking if I've spoken to a debt collector when I've said I don't have that kind of money right now. I don't mind paying it if they give me some leeway once I earn money again, it's just the demand for it nearly ten years later, in the middle of a pandemic when I don't have a job and don't get any financial help, and making me pay for their !!!!!!-up that's really bugged me. And I really just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this and I didn't really want to constantly be hassled

jmaximus

Hi,
I had a similar letter when I questioned my plan, they said they will not take it to court as they don't have the legal power and it won't effect credit rating. But they kept ringing I raised a formal complaint but it was pointless. In the end I agreed to repay at £3 a month as all I could afford lol, they said Dd was for £10 Min so I said I would do a standing order which I didn't but they never contacted me again 

NJ02A

jmaximus said:

Hi,
I had a similar letter when I questioned my plan, they said they will not take it to court as they don't have the legal power and it won't effect credit rating. But they kept ringing I raised a formal complaint but it was pointless. In the end I agreed to repay at £3 a month as all I could afford lol, they said Dd was for £10 Min so I said I would do a standing order which I didn't but they never contacted me again 

Oh thank you, that's reassuring! It's just the demand for it which I find annoying. Did they move you from plan 2 to plan 1 as well?