Student Finance Wales: Completed my repayment, now asking for more money?

echidna_puggles

Looking for some helpful advice regarding the current situation I find myself in...

Storytime: I went to uni back in Sep 2014 (Plan 2), and subsequently dropped out in Jan 2015 following the correct procedures - informing Student Loans Company/Student Finance Wales of my departure, paying off the maintenance loan balance that I was not entitled to etc. I began making repayments in 2016 once I hit the repayment threshold. I also received the £1.5k Welsh Assembly Partial Cancellation of Maintenance Loan in full, in 2016.

Fast forward to 2022, I begin to get emails from SLC/SFW stating that I need to pay off my balance in full to avoid overpaying them. I decide to pay off the remaining balance of around £100 in June 2023, therefore completing my repayment. Unfortunately, a further c.£900 was taken from my June 2023 payslip - I was advised that this was due to the stop notification being released too late for my payroll to acknowledge in time. I was not pleased, but was assured I would receive a refund. My balance in the SLC portal was now showing that I was owed a refund, and I received letters/emails informing me that I was due a refund. I received the refund in July 2023. Shortly after, my balance returned to £0.

I received a letter earlier this week stating that I was due to start making repayments, thinking this must be a mistake I logged in to find that I now owe an additional sum of approx £1.7k. After speaking with the repayments team I am informed that the Welsh Maintenance Loan Partial Cancellation had been reversed, but they needed to check on this (nice of them to check only after they added it to my balance). 

Are they entitled to suddenly spring this on me, given the following:

1. They were informed in January 2015 that I left University
2. Despite being informed of my early departure, they still provided me with the full £1.5k cancellation in May 2016 as stated in the annual statement
3. I was repeatedly requested to pay off my balance in full for the past year to avoid overpaying them, and complied.
4. I am also unsure as to why the new owed amount is more than the total maximum cancellation sum of £1.5k that was provided to me in 2016...
   

In addition to the above, after a week of reviewing all of my correspondence with SLC/SFW from the last 9 years in a total panic, I have also spotted a sum of £900 added to my repayment balance for a new loan borrowed during 2017 which has accumulated interest ever since - I have not taken out any new loans since leaving university in 2015! When I asked about a refund (including interest), they couldn't confirm that I would be entitled to it, despite acknowledging that I was not in any form of education during that period.

I'm currently waiting for the 5 working days to pass before I can contact them again for an update. In the meantime, money has started being taken from my payslip again and I'm finding it really hard to sit around and let them take my money that I don't think they're owed (conscious everyone is in the same boat). Any help or advice much appreciated.

silvercar

First step is to find out what the extra money is for. Is it the £900 added to your balance for a new loan, plus interest or is it the cancellation of your £1.5k allowance.

In the meantime, check the conditions carefully to see if you were entitled to the £1.5k cancellation.

echidna_puggles

silvercar said:

First step is to find out what the extra money is for. Is it the £900 added to your balance for a new loan, plus interest or is it the cancellation of your £1.5k allowance.

In the meantime, check the conditions carefully to see if you were entitled to the £1.5k cancellation.

Thanks for your response! SLC confirmed that it's definitely in relation to a tuition fee loan as they checked to see if the amount had been passed onto the university, no mention of it relating to the £1.5k cancellation. I can't find any  guidance (yet) regarding entitlement if you leave early but will continue to search.

silvercar

Details here: https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/undergraduate-finance/full-time/welsh-student/repaying-student-finance

Legalise here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/primary+secondary?title=The Cancellation of Student Loans for Living Costs Liability (Wales) Regulations