Student Loan Rip OFF!

Nixxx

Hi All

This is my first post but I have been reading these forums for forever and feel like I know quite a few of you already (i.e successfully claimed back bank charges etc)

Ok I have read Maritns article on student loans but as I have no debt and a sizeable amount of savings, I thought I might as well start to clear it. (Ps, i hate that they are charging me 4.8% interest like an extra tax...it kills me :mad: )

Today I have discovered something which has made me so mad :mad: .
An explanation is necessary (apologies for the length)

Over three years of studying, I took out a student loan totalling approx £13.5k. As I left Uni and got a job, passed the threshold and began paying via the PAYE system each month.

Over the last three years I have changed jobs during the financial casuing inaccurate balances on my annual student loan statement. (This is where only one of my companies have reported the info to the student loan company and not both). Sad as I am, I believe I have every single payslip i have ever had in my working life (all 10 years of it...sad i know ), so it was quite easy to validate my student loan payment history to the student loan company.

Today I decided to calculate how long it will take me to to clear the student loan based on regular non PAYE payments and calculating the interest payments myself. Being a dab hand at excel, I painstakingly put all the information on there.

I realised one major flaw!

Companies do not tell the student loan company each month of your payments and they only tell them once a year :eek: . Why is this improtant? Well when your being charged approx £40 - £50 per month in interest charges alone, it is important each monthly payment you make is reflected in the residual balance. i.e If you owe £10k and you pay £200 each month through PAYE, then the interest amount you should be charged should be on $9,800 and not £10K. This might only save me a few pounds each month but over a few years it could amount to hundreds. I'm a firm believer that it is better in my pocket than theirs. Also remember that someone is earning interest

Now I know I am talking about what seems like small amounts and possible pedantic but I for one will be making sure that the student loan company changes my interest loan calculation on a monthly basis via a telephone call.

Sorry I just had to get this off my chest. Apologies for the rant.

thx

CLAPTON

it works like this
the money goes to the HMRC each month
the HMRC works out your contributions after the tax year end and gives them to the SLC
the slc backdates your contributions and works the interest out properly
you should receive a statement each september which should show your full payment history.