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Last summer I was late defering my student loan, as I had moved acorss to self employed, so did not have a set of accounts for them. Repayments started from August 2018. In November, I'd given up the accountants, so I sent my P60 from 2017 in instead. A few days later I was inform my loan was written off from a letter, as 25 years had elapsed. I have tried to recover the £250 repayments back from Erudio Student Loans. There response was that the account is now closed, go away. It is noted that in 2015, Erudio Student Loans repaid back repayments to myself the a deferment was also delayed.
Therefore recently applied to Small Claims Court, and now being threatened by Drydensfairfax Solicitors, "(1) We shall be seeking the Defendant’s costs of the Application to Strike out your claim, the costs sought are in no relation to the matter progressing on the Small Claims Track;" "It is estimated that our costs will be in the region of £1,500.00"
1. Is my claim at all valid under the "Small Claims Track"? Small Claims Track is for debts up to a maximum of 10k, so this is the right one if you're trying to get them to refund your over payment.
2. In reading elsewhere the class by Drydensfairfax Solicitors are unfounded, if I my claim is invalid, the costs are unlikely to be that much, still £500 or so. It depends on how much work they have put into the defence. Every hour they spend is billable (they have to be paid), every phone call, every letter, every hour they spend filling in a form, it all mounts up. "We shall be seeking the Defendant’s costs of the Application to Strike out your claim, the costs sought are in no relation to the matter progressing on the Small Claims Track" < indicates that the costs won't just be £1,500, this is just for striking out the claim, not for defending it. Remember you don't have to pay their legal fees and costs if you win.
3. Should I close the claim, pay the £100 and walk away? No one can answer this for you, sorry. It'll cost them more to defend the claim then it's actually worth, and if you show them that you have a water tight case the chances are that they will settle before (it is a risk though). It might depend on when you paid the £250, if it was before the account was written off it may be wise to walk away. The overall decision is yours though (even if you went to see a Solicitor they can't tell you what to do, they can only advise you).
I have until the 14th February to respond.
HELP
Originally posted by SimonWestgarth
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Hope this helps.