Honours Student Loans

Adnacadabra

Hello!
I wonder if anyone can help.

Today, I received a letter from the HSL titled 'Important - Notice of a change to Collection Services'.
They are informing me that, as of now, I am 'not eligible for the following benefits associated with the original agreement:
1. The right to apply for deferment
2. The right to have your agreement cancelled in accordance with the section 7 or 8 of the relevant agreement. This means you have lost the right to have your loan cancelled if you:
(i) were under the age of 40 when your last agreement for a mortgage style student loan was made and you reach the age of 50 or when your last agreement for a mortgage style student loan has been outstanding for not less than 25 years [...]'. All of these apply to me. I was in my 20s when I took out the Loa and I have just turned 50.
They continue to say that 'This letter is to notify you that with immediate effect, we have transferred your account to Link Financial Outsourcing (Link) who will be responsible for managing your account in the future.'

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Does anyone understand it? Know anything about 'Link'? Does this sound incredible / impossible / or even illegal to anyone - or am I just being biased? Am I in some kind of deep trouble?

Happy to share more of my situation background (which is not controversial or that unusual I think), but interested to hear the first impressions.

Many thanks in advance!

kaMelo

Some questions for clarity;
Is this is in relation to mortgage style (pre 1998) student loans?
Are you in repayment or deferral?
Have you always complied with your obligations such as supplying deferral notices on time, keeping your contact details current?

@silvercar
possibly better on the students board?

Adnacadabra

Thank you so much for responding, keMelo! How do I find the student board, please (new here)?

Good questions.
I always complied regularly with deferrals, which is where I'm at. However, about 2 years ago, I seemed to be on the threshold of earnings, with some variable over the latest 3-4 months, which is the length of record I was usually required to submit. The average of the record showed just within the threshold for the referral, while the very last payslip showed just above. They insisted to take only the last month's record, I thought that was unfair, we had a few to and fros about that; and I just stopped responding to their calls and letters - I could not see the conversation going anywhere and I was prepared to defend my point of view in the court of law, if that's what they wanted, with all the evidence needed, because my earnings were genuinely low and they still are. However, they never took the matter anywhere other than calls and letters asking me to call them back, except now.  

I never started paying off the loan, which was taken between 1996 and 1999.

Does that help?

MAny thanks

silvercar

Moving this to the student board.

OP the student board can be found here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/student-money-saving

kaMelo

Adnacadabra said:

Thank you so much for responding, keMelo! How do I find the student board, please (new here)?

Good questions.
I always complied regularly with deferrals, which is where I'm at. However, about 2 years ago, I seemed to be on the threshold of earnings, with some variable over the latest 3-4 months, which is the length of record I was usually required to submit. The average of the record showed just within the threshold for the referral, while the very last payslip showed just above. They insisted to take only the last month's record, I thought that was unfair, we had a few to and fros about that; and I just stopped responding to their calls and letters - I could not see the conversation going anywhere and I was prepared to defend my point of view in the court of law, if that's what they wanted, with all the evidence needed, because my earnings were genuinely low and they still are. However, they never took the matter anywhere other than calls and letters asking me to call them back, except now.  

I never started paying off the loan, which was taken between 1996 and 1999.

Does that help?

MAny thanks

It doesn't make any sense to take only one pay period into account, or indeed three or four, to work out whether you've reached the earnings threshold. It's an annual threshold so your annual earnings need to reach the threshold for loans to become repayable.  Just for clarity have your annual earnings, including any non disability related benefits received ( income support, child benefit, tax credits, universal credit etc), ever breached the annual earnings threshold?

Unfortunately disengaging with them was a mistake, by failing to engage, either by deferring or setting up a repayment plan if it was required, your account would fall into default. Once in default the account becomes repayable in full and  will never be written off. This is what the letter from HSL is telling you, your account is in default and any age related cancellation of the loan is no longer applicable.

But this is not the end of the matter and the way I see it there are two ways things could play out.
Mortgage style loans are subject to the CCA and can become statute barred. For this to happen you have to have failed to acknowledge the loan exists for six years after which the loan becomes statute barred. The loan still exists in theory but no one can take legal action to recover anything.  How long has it been since you acknowledged the loan?  (for the avoidance of doubt deferring is acknowledgement)

A second option would be to register a formal complaint with HSL about their failure to follow deferment correctly. If you have never had income over the annual income threshold then this may be the way to go but, by registering a complaint you will also be acknowledging the loan and pushing back any statute barred date.

Adnacadabra

kaMelo, this is so useful!!

The last time I wrote to them was 31 March 2023, sending the deferment and supporting documents (which happened to be from a temp job agency I worked for, for 5 days, but the timing was such... I explained all that).
Why do you say that no one can take legal action to recover anything?

All my deferments in the past were approved by them, except when it got to this one. Like I explained, I was not earning above the threshold overall, but they did not want to acknowledge that. I did not know what else to do, but stop responding - the conversation was not going anywhere. I see now that I should have made an official complaint there and then, but I did not know what the channels were. I contacted my local CAB at the time, but, frankly, got who seemed to be a person in training, who got distracted by her personal curiosity about why my earnings were different each month. I am a freelancer. I didn't see where I could go with it all so I left it, because I had other, financial, health and personal things on the plate. I have not earned above the threshold since and I am not earning above the threshold at the moment.  

What's your view with all that in mind?

Thank you kaMelo!!