Graduate loan with a closed student loan - possible?

Sorry about this, I've no one else to ask and the student loan company's telling me everything's fine! As to not drip feed...



I had a student loan pre 1998 for a few years. I was diagnosed with cancer 3.6 years after finishing, and I stopped asking for the deferment forms as I had other things on my mind, I didn't hear too much from the Student Loan Company either. The treatment and recovery took years. The next thing I hear is a letter from Erudio, saying my student loan had been sold to them and they wanted 7k. I've no idea how 3 years of student loan from before 1998 got to 7k as I had a grant too, I can't remember how much the loan was and I have no details for it. I wasn't working, I was very sick, so Erudio closed the account and said the balance was no longer due.



A little while later, my health took a u-turn, and I'm now working and I'm in remission, things are looking peachy. I've just been offered a place on a Masters course, it's something I've always wanted to do, so I contacted the Student Loan Company to find out about the disabled students allowance. The student loan company told me that I wasn't in arrears, and I should go ahead and apply for a graduate loan, I can then apply for the disabled students allowance. This is where the problem is - I've tried to do this but the Gov. web site won't allow me to apply for the Graduate Loan as it's saying I have arrears. When I call the student loans company, they say there's no arrears, I can apply online, but the Gov. web site says no. Would it be easier to print a form off and post it in, or will I be wasting my time again?



Many thanks, and sorry for the essay.