Old Student loan(s) question(s)

LochnivarUK

 I saw a post on a student loan topic where it was mentioned regarding old style loans in the context of write off dates:  "It's not that simple. Depending upon the loan type, the year you took it and your age when taken, whether you took a gap year etc.  
The answers to those questions can change the write off dates which range between 15 and 40 years."

Firstly, if I took out a loan in 1996 (over 25 years since they said I deferred) then failed my first year, left uni for a year and then changed courses returning in 1998 does that mean that any loan taken out before I changed courses is subject to the mortgage style and any loan taken out from 98" onwards the 30 year/65 style? 

Secondly - do the first two digits of the student loan reference back in those days always refer to the year they were taken out? i.e. 1996 = 96xxxxxxxx 97 = 97xxxxxxx.

Thirdly - If a DCA has terminated a contract due to a missed deferment (justifiable reason for missing it, but not in their opinion), does the clock stop on the write-off based on the termination date of the contract or does it fundamentally still apply even if a DCA has assigned arrears from the point they decided to terminate? 

Thanks! 

MSE_ForumTeam5

We've moved this across to the Student MoneySaving board where student finance questions are best addressed

kaMelo

LochnivarUK said:

Firstly, if I took out a loan in 1996 (over 25 years since they said I deferred) then failed my first year, left uni for a year and then changed courses returning in 1998 does that mean that any loan taken out before I changed courses is subject to the mortgage style and any loan taken out from 98" onwards the 30 year/65 style? 

There are sandwich courses which have a gap year built in to their structure but ultimately you come back and finish off the same course as you started originally. These will be treated as one course and one set of loans. From what you've written this does not apply in your case. Started one course in Sept 1996, officially left that course either part way through or at the end of the year, took a year off then started a new and different course in Sept 1998.  In this scenario then the loans taken would be different types. The 1996 loan would be a mortgage style and the loan taken from Sept 1998 would be, assuming you're in England, a plan 1 loan.

LochnivarUK said:

any loan taken out from 98" onwards the 30 year/65 style? 

Plan 1 loans taken out from Sept 1998 and up to and including Sept 2005 do not have a set term or 30 years, they only get written off when you turn 65.

LochnivarUK said:

Secondly - do the first two digits of the student loan reference back in those days always refer to the year they were taken out? i.e. 1996 = 96xxxxxxxx 97 = 97xxxxxxx.

I don't know.

LochnivarUK said:

Thirdly - If a DCA has terminated a contract due to a missed deferment (justifiable reason for missing it, but not in their opinion), does the clock stop on the write-off based on the termination date of the contract or does it fundamentally still apply even if a DCA has assigned arrears from the point they decided to terminate? 

Thanks! 

I'm assuming this is in relation to the mortgage style loan taken in 1996.  
These type of loans have obligations on you, failing to keep these obligations, such as deferring on time, can lead to the loan being defaulted and once defaulted the loan becomes repayable in full and never written off. But that is not the whole story, mortgage style student loans are also subject to statute of limitations and can become statute barred. (unlike any 'plan' style student loan)

Given you mention a DCA I'm assuming that in their eyes the loan is defaulted so repayable in full.  Without getting into how it's ended up there for now I've a couple of questions.

Who owns your loan? 
When was the last time you acknowledged the loan?
Has there ever been a period of six years when you've failed to acknowledge the loan?

For the avoidance of doubt, deferral is acknowledgment of the loan.