Student Loans - Pre-1998

AU_Ruby

Morning.

I'm hoping someone can help clarify something for me, as I'm struggling to get any definitive advice.

I started University in 1997 (18yo) on a 4-year course and took out a student loan in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. I have deferred payment up to the present as I have been earning under the threshold. It is likely that next year I will be unable to defer as I am hoping for a promotion that will, most likely, take me over the threshold. (it may not depending on what the threshold is next year).
However, I have read that student loans taken out by university starters between 1990-1997 are written off after 25 years; specifically 25 years after the first payment of the last loan. For me, the first payment of my last loan would have been September 2000.

My questions are:
a) does this mean my loans will be effectively 'wiped out' from September 2025?
b) if I am unable to defer next year (i.e. if i earn over the threshold), which is usually done in February, will I have to continue paying my loan past the September 2025 date as noted above, or will they automatically be stopped/wiped irrespective of whether or not I have paid back the full amount owed?
c) if the loans are wiped, whether I'm paying them back or not, is this an automatic process or do I have to proactively do something?

I've reviewed the information available from the loan "providers" and it's clear as mud!! 
I would really appreciate any advice, particularly if you have been in a similar situation.

Many thanks 

Nasqueron

The pre-1998 loans, provided you were not over 40 at point of study, are wiped after 25 years even if you are paying - you would probably need to keep an eye on pay slip and the exact date when you started

silvercar

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

Pre-2006 plan 1 loans are written off when you are 65.

also highlighted in the MSE blog here:

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2017/05/will-student-loan-written-off/


——-

Sorry to mislead, although the above info is accurate for plan 1 loans, OP has a mortgage style loan, as it was taken out in 1997, so it isn’t a plan 1 loan.

Ed-1

silvercar said:

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

Pre-2006 plan 1 loans are written off when you are 65.

also highlighted in the MSE blog here:

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2017/05/will-student-loan-written-off/

Plan 1 loans started in September 1998. Continuing students took out "mortgage-style" loans which were all sold to companies such as Thesis, Honours and Erudio.

The write off should be automatic by the loan company but if it isn't then you can challenge them on it.

Deferment lasts for a period of 12 months. If you're not eligible for deferment (the deferment threshold from September 2024 will be over £40,000) before the loan is written off, then the statutory payments will be required until the point the loan is eligible for write off, at which point they will stop.

AU_Ruby

Thank you. I'm still a little confused.

Will the 'write off' be for all 4 loans? My understanding is that, as I started in 1997, all 4 loans were included in the cohort? The loans I took out in 1998, 1999 and 2000 were exactly the same as the one I took out in 1997 and not like the ones other students were having to take from 1998.
This is the bit where I'm struggling to find any definitive guidance/advice.

Any ideas? 
Thanks

Ed-1

AU_Ruby said:

Thank you. I'm still a little confused.

Will the 'write off' be for all 4 loans? My understanding is that, as I started in 1997, all 4 loans were included in the cohort? The loans I took out in 1998, 1999 and 2000 were exactly the same as the one I took out in 1997 and not like the ones other students were having to take from 1998.
This is the bit where I'm struggling to find any definitive guidance/advice.

Any ideas? 
Thanks

Yes, all loans for that course will be written off at the same time.

Bettyboop79

Hi there Joining this blog because i want to learn how to wipe my plan1 Pre-2006 loan before i'm 65. i'm only 45 now and have been paying it from 2000.  Somehow i owe more than i borrowed and I've been paying it for 24 years.  I need to find out how pre1998 & post2006 get their loans wiped after 25/30 years but pre2006 doesn't?  The rest of the country is the same England have theirs wiped after 30 years and same goes for Scotland.  Why aren't student between 1998 & 2006 (Plan 1) getting the same set of conditions?  Surely this goes against the Equality Act 2020?   I need some advice how i can fight so that Plan 1 students loan have the same criteria as all other students loans. 

silvercar

frannieannie_2 said:

Hi there Joining this blog because i want to learn how to wipe my plan1 Pre-2006 loan before i'm 65. i'm only 45 now and have been paying it from 2000.  Somehow i owe more than i borrowed and I've been paying it for 24 years.  I need to find out how pre1998 & post2006 get their loans wiped after 25/30 years but pre2006 doesn't?  The rest of the country is the same England have theirs wiped after 30 years and same goes for Scotland.  Why aren't student between 1998 & 2006 (Plan 1) getting the same set of conditions?  Surely this goes against the Equality Act 2020?   I need some advice how i can fight so that Plan 1 students loan have the same criteria as all other students loans. 

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

Short answer is you either pay it off or wait until you are 65 when it will be wiped. Those were the rules that you signed up to and unless you can persuade the government to change this rule you are stuck with it. The rules changed in 2006 because that is when student tuition fees increased from £1,000 to £3,000 a year.