Am I the only one tearing their hair out over the student loan company

[eatyourveg]

Filled out the online form - looked straightforward. Assumed everything was fine.

Letter from student finance England requesting confirmation of salary.

Ring student finance England to ask if its P60 or details of carers allowance or both. They have no record of me dh or ds existing on their system!

Send P60 and carers allowance details

Get a phone call to confirm salary as the online form has me down as earning 100x more than my P60. Confirm salary verbally and laugh the whole thing off and assume all is sorted

Scroll forward 3 weeks and letter comes today to say thank you for sending financial statements, they don't tally with what you filled in online please start again

Aaaaaagh!!

*I think they are just about as incompetent as you can get!

Currently I'm applying for student finance for second son, eldest is already a student. We filled in all the forms online and was told no further evidence was needed ( Although I'm divorced thye had seen my decree absolute when eldest son applied 2 years ago so system said they didn't need it again)
Letter arrived in post saying they needed to see decree! I phoned them up and the conversation went

Hello, I've received a letter saying you need to see my decree and was just checking you did.

yes we do

It's just that the computer system said you didn't as you've already seen it

Oh well, we won't then

So why have I got a letter asking for it

Just in case we need to see it

Well do you

I'll check, no we 've already seen it,

so do I ignore the letter then

yes, that would be fine

I gave up!*

Update!
Both son's applications now say "awaiting evidence"
I phoned up again to check what was wrong now!
Apparently they need to see my decree absolute to "check I am still divorced"
When I asked how seeing a 5 year old decree would prove I was still divorced, they were unable to tell me. Presumably divorced people never get married again!

SO now they DO need to see it!

It just shite isn't it. I'm on my 3rd lot of dealings with Student Finance - I have all 3 of them at uni this year (if dd gets her grades). Like you snowball they're awaiting evdience, no-one can tell me waht evidence and as this application is only the fee loan they don't need any evidence anyway.

Last year we had to apply on paper we weren't in the UK so filled in the 39 page form and sat back - luckily not too long as when DS rang to ask what was happening they said "we have no record of your application" - oh good! Lesson learnt - sent recorded delivery and all sorted in time for start of term.

This year thought it would be much more straightforward and completed online. Wrong. DS asked where is your dad's financial info - done says son , check computer - says no action required application complete. Another email - where is your dad's info? Done says so online - "not on our computer" -need to send it in on paper - done - still waiting

Another one banging her head against wall here.
I'll be a mature student. When I first went on their website they asked for a customer ref number. Since I got a loan out as a student 20 years ago I called them and asked if I had a number. They told me no, I would have to open a new account.
So I did.
A couple of weeks later DH had to confirm his income and after him going through every address he's ever lived (alot - his parents would move house every 18 months or so) he found out his original reference numberand filled out their form.
A couple of weeks later they asked me to send my children's birth certificates, my marriage certificate, my birth certificate.
A couple of weeks later they asked DH to send his P60.
I just went online to see how it's getting on, to see a message that the application is cancelled.
I called them to be told I should have used the reference number from 20 years ago that they originally told me I didn't have.
AAAAGGGHHHH.

They are beyond useless but as long as DS gets his money in the end I know we have to put up with it. DS just rang again - only processed up to those applications rec'd by 10 June(!) so can't tell us whether they have even rec'd the paper copy we sent a month ago.

My DS2 applied 2 weeks late for his loan. He received a letter in the post a few days later to say that the money would appear at the start of his course.

I was stressed out with him for his late application but could relax within a few days.

Yes. I can scream till I'm blue in the face, the student loan company will have its fingers in its ears singing "I can't hear you".

They are a nightmare and have not improved since they took over the application process.

My eldest was in the last year to apply via LEA. The Council sent the grants and loans people out to visit all the sixth forms and colleges and copied all important documents on site. The same person dealt with your call and claim and any issues were sorted promptly. Fantastic service.

And it was replaced with . In the last couple of years, the have lost 2 P60s and my DDs passport! As I understand it, the call-centre and document processing parts are in two different towns and never talk to each other!

I was so lucky that both DS & DD started before the SLC took over admin in our area - only just, but once DD had started under that system we stayed with the LEA for the next two years. I was able to talk to the same guy on the phone if there were any queries and he told me that it didn't matter if the form was late, as long as it was 6 weeks before the start of term - in fact they preferred it, as it avoided the mad rush! The money always arrived on time, and in DD's 3rd year we only had to fill in a simplified form to say our income hadn't fallen below the level for the full loan and that nothing else had changed. It was so much easier!

Finally - they have processed DS 2nd year application. Took several months and a number of phone calls chasing it up but it's done and all the figures look right so hopefully it's another year before we have to think about it again. Then it's year abroad so that will probably be a nightmare but until then it's RELIEF!
Finger crossed for all those out there still trying to get sorted.