The student finance people are demanding MY customer reference number to support my daughters application - I took out one loan on paper in 1992

[CottonOn]

I of course have no idea what it is. It says it doesn’t matter how long ago it was and to use the customer number I was given even if it was completed ‘on paper’ (it was) The website says NO when I give it my ID details and tells me to call a 0300 number at 16p per minute and tells me the wait is at least 45 minutes. I’m not even in the UK this month so it will be astronomical. HELP! This can’t be normal - what am I missing? Other than ancient documents? I can’t see any other way. My husband is going to have the same problem.

I haven't been able to complete the online application for the last 3 years and my DD still got her loan ok.

It was infuriating - like you all who commented I also ended up in a loop of online/phone/letter each referring me on to the next and never actually getting anywhere!

The SLC are trying to catch everyone who has ever had a loan to see if you still owe them money - that's why they're asking for your details from the 90s.

i’d say because given how many posters are unclear on this thread… to actually read the message in question will clarify it

i was in your other thread OP (about how you have been taken by complete surprise re how much your going to have to contribute to your daughter going to uni)… it’s clear the entire process has caused you a lot of stress and confusion. Are you doing this alone?

Gah! It’s an absolute farce! I can’t access the account because it doesn’t have an email address connected to it and I’m ‘failing’ security because I have no idea which home they have as my address - we’ve moved so many times in 35 years. My only recourse the long suffering woman could give me was to write a letter. How the hell will that help? What a bunch of clowns.

I’ve spent two half hours on hold and the letter they want to reset my details has less info in it than I have already given them. It doesn’t have an email on it because it was 1992 and I don’t know where I was living when they last contacted me. Good grief.

Sounds completely infuriating. Nothing should be this difficult to sort out.

Funny how they have no problem knowing who you are when they are after your money!

I thought that too!

Unfortunately this is a common anomoly. I never took out a student loan but my dh did and he had to phone them to reset things so he could create an account when ds applied for student finance. Luckily he could still remember things like our old post code and phone numbers.

I see the PFF2 form has been linked so hopefully OP that will sort things for you.

I’ve lived at 8 different addresses since I started uni and I gave the address I was at when I took it out, but that’s not what they have for me, so I’ve ‘failed’ security. The hard copy letter they want only needs my DOB and current address. Why on earth isn’t this on NI number? What a phenomenal waste of time.

What does what the parents borrowed back in the 1990s have to do with anything anyway? Why do they even NEED this info?

It's not about what they borrowed as such, it's because you can only have one student finance account ever and those who took out a loan back then, even though it was before they were online, already have an account which is linked to your NI number, and so the system won't allow a 2nd to be created.

Which makes me think we had better all warn our kids to keep all their details safe for when they have children applying in the future!

But surely, if you can’t create a second account, because it knows it’s a second account, because it links to a NI number, we should just give our NI number?

It is an absolute farce. They absolutely should just use NI number.

This

Cause GDPR innit!

Do you mean because we can be identified by our NI numbers? But surely they’re a unique identifier.
The idea of linking a parent and child in a financial transaction for the parents life sounds dubious to me.

Who knows what the reasoning is.

Incidentally if anyone earns over the threshold for getting more than the minimum loan you don’t have to bother with any of it. But if you earn less it’s a ballache.

I would have interpreted "you" as meaning the applicant, which is your daughter.

The whole thing sounds batshit - if it's about the fact that you had an account, why don't they just base it on your NI Number? Madness.

Surely if the loan is 32 years old and I’m guessing it’s paid off then they have no need or legal requirement to hold on to your old loan details. I don’t think they’d be exempt from GDPR/Data protection legislation and would need to have a very good reason to be holding on to your data or requiring that degree of information for someone else’s loan.

Allthey should be asking about is your household income now to assess your daughters loan.

Not sure why people are doubting you Op.
If the student applicant applies for minimum maintenance loan then the parents don’t need to do anything.
If the student applies for more than minimum maintenance loan then parents or parent and their partner they live with need to supply income documentation but the mechanism for doing this is via parents old loan account ref if they had one.
So lots of parents end up in this mess as they haven’t got old ref number and the accounts pre date email or mobile phones so can’t pass security.
I assume it’s to try and catch up with people with unpaid loans or push students into just applying for minimum.
I’m surprised it’s not been more in press. It’s absolutely mind boggling.
So mum has a live in bf who isn’t dad of the 18 year old adult applying for loan. He’s expected to supply his income details. So he says ok. But he can’t do that as he borrowed £500 in 1992 and unsurprisingly hasn’t kept the paperwork. He needs to ring up, impossible to get through on phone. If he does they want his email and mobile..both of which he didn’t have in 1992 but trying to explain that to some youngster on the phone!

@Investinmyself my situation is similar. I’m a step parent providing details. It’s a bit galling as I am not financially responsible for said step child. She currently earns more than me for a start. She should qualify for more than the minimum loan so I have to do it otherwise she can’t afford to live. Tbh I think she would struggle significantly even with a full loan amount but that’s another story.. The whole system is not fit for purpose and adds weight to the suspicion that it’s preferable to discourage lower income applicants.

Shouldn’t it be your daughter who is applying?

the question is relevant if it is the person studying because there are rules on how much student finance you can access.

The student applies and through that application it triggers information requests from parents/ step parents/ partners living in home. This is where we are running into problems regarding previous accounts with SLC and their impenetrable website and phone lines.