erudio student loans

[mrsbug]

Hi, I have an old student loan from 1998 which I have been deferring since then as I have never earned enough to pay it back (there are some advantages to being poor )

I recently had a letter from a company called erudio student loans saying they have bought my student loan from the government. All very reassuring about how the t and cs of my loan won't change, etc.

Now I've had the regular deferral letter from them and it's much more detailed than before. They want my bank details which I'm not really happy to give, and they say my details will be checked with a credit reference agency, which I don't think they used to do - my loan has never shown on my credit file.

Has anyone else had this? Do I have to give them this info?

I'm just glad my deferment is out of sequence, so not due to happen to well into the autumn. I have mine for this year already done by the SLC until then. I at least have time to watch how it all pans out. I feel for those who are panicking as theirs HAS to be done now.

Wowsers!!
Working on the post by a PP that they were told they were owed money back, I have just typed the figures for my 1st loan into a daily compound interest calculator for every year using both the real RPI figures, and using the 'guestimates' of what RPI would be by students loan company. It turns out if they had actually used real RPI figures my loan would be worth nearly 170 less.
I took out 4 loans so that would mean my total repayment figure is now more than 650 more than it should be.

mandakl, whilst I agree with you. What I think we do need to get considered - but as a separate issue, which is actually quite important, is that income should only be considered for the person who took the loan out. If a person receives child benefit, child tax credits, maintenance payments by an ex - for their children ie it wouldn't be paid if they weren't spending it on the child, that should not really be classed as income for the parent.

Fully agree with the principle and sentiment of that. I'm just not sure it can be backed up legally, but would love to be wrong.

I'm thinking along the same lines as the mis-selling of things like PPI, were student loans mis-sold. About to go out, but my ideas are fairly well formulated, will be putting them on here hopefully tomorrow for comment, then looking at contacting the financial conduct authority.

Actually, I can't tell from my online banking if it is a new dd or an amendment of the existing one. But there isn't one for SLC there any more.

LittleMisGreen - that's very interesting (no pun intended!), I'm going to calculate my loan interest to see if that is common. I haven't been told that my loan value is being reduced though.

I get working tax credits, but it's a joint claim, and on the same paperwork my partner gets child tax credits as well. I think SLC requested tax credits proof from me last year, this year I will redact all the stuff that relates to my partner!

For the people raising formal complaints, what are you actually complaining about? So far the only thing I can see is that they are trying to change the t&c sneakily and subtly? If we refuse to accept their t&c amendments and they agree, is there still valid ground for complaint? Further down the road, I can well imagine that there could be, but at present is worthy complaint?

Erudio's official line seems to be that they are not changing the T&c of the loan (as they're not allowed), but that the deferment t&c are separate, and that they can change them. Sounds dodgy on the face of it, but I wonder if their legal people have identified a loophole that allows them to do this? They might be projecting incompetence about it, but I'm sure they have very switched on legal people in a back room somewhere.

Conditions for deferment are not changeable by Erido as they are set down in law.

To change the conditions, you would need to change the law. That has not happened, and it is not something Erudio can do.

Just chipping in on the DD front. Erudio have definitely set up a new DD on my account. I have a print out from my bank from about 2 weeks ago of all active DD's and SO's and there was nothing from either SLC or Erudio on there at that time. I noticed on Thursday that there was a DD from ESL with a customer number on my account..

Good new for me is that my employer can give me actual hard copies of my original pay slips.
Anyway nothing much I can do till Monday so only one thing for it....
Pass the wine!!
Its been a helluva stressful week thanks to the knobends!!

emptycoffers, you make a very important point in your statement! We do indeed need to stick to certain issues that are factual, or we believe are, otherwise we will all be tarnished as a bunch of moaners. However, we also need to question these things if we think there is a problem, because as my background on Erudio shows, these people arent playing on a level field and if given an inch would take a mile. Erudio's aim to treat borrowers fairly at all times may seem rather insignificant and subjective, but this could be the part that smooths the potential hard edges of enforcing the law to the fullest extent. I know the sheer inconsistency in answers in rather bewildering and it is still rather unclear whether our loans will be registered with CRAs or not, as well as asking us to allow them to check CRAs when they are checking our deferral being bound with the deferral signature, we do need to separate speculation from actual fact, something i have been guilty of not doing at times in this forum. We need clear answers from Erudio because anything that Erudio changes now after so many complaints that differs to what the deferral form states, needs to be uniform and everyone informed so that it benefits us all.

emptycoffers: about the direct debit issue... I too have been in deferral since I left uni and have never set up a direct debit... nor have I ever been asked to set up a direct debit by the SLC... and no mention of a direct debit or any details of such has appeared on any of my forms throughout the years... so it seems to me that having a direct debit can't have been one of the original T&Cs. I also studied my copy of the T&Cs and can't find a mention of such a condition... it just says that ONCE I BEGIN REPAYMENTS I am obliged to have a valid direct debit mandate.

OK now i'm a bit confused/worried as so many of you are saying you already had direct debits set up with SLC and that this had to be done when you applied for the loan initially.

As I said in my previous post I don't remember ever setting up a direct debit... the SLC have never mentioned it over the years... and my bank has no record of me setting up a direct debit. I have had the same bank account since before I went to uni and I don't think it has changed in all those years.

So... are you guys mistaken about the direct debit requirement or have I somehow slipped through the cracks for the last seventeen years? And if I have somehow slipped through the cracks does this mean I have already breached my agreement?

I think SLC were rather lapse with keeping on top of things. I know I setup a DD when I took out the loans, maybe it wasn't mandatory, but I was certainly encouraged to do it. It has sat there idle for the last 17 years as I have always deferred repayment.

I know others who have cancelled the DD or moved bank accounts and while their loans were deferred SLC didn't care about the lack of DD. SLC were also rather trusting with evidence (or lack of it) when it came to deferment applications. Erudio will have no interest in being so lenient, and I've no doubt they will be as awkward as possible when push comes to shove.

I suspect it is up to the borrower to prove that their income is below the threshold - SLC used to accept 3 payslips as proof, Erudio may well want more, especially for people with more complex finances.

Thanks so much fillie!!

@ simonpimpernel

There are some things which apply/affect everybody and some things which are unique to just you!

I know when I applied for my loans, I and all my mates at the time, filled in the forms and you were asked for your bank/DD details.
There were boxes on the form to fill in.

You say you weren't/didn't - so what are the possibilities?

1. You were given special forms with no bank details requested? Unlikely.

1. You filled in your bank details and through some error at SLC they weren't processed? Quite Possible.

1. You can't remember entirely accurately. Quite possible.

1. You didn't give the details and can't remember what reason you gave or how they dealt with that - I don't know.

This is one of those things that only you will know. The STANDARD procedure was to fill in bank details on the forms. That's a fact.

In the Erudio deferral booklet they say - if you can't give Direct Debit details, for example if you don't have a bak account now - the you have to tell them what alternative arrangements you will make to repay the loan - you have to contact them.

HOWEVER, - they have an active DD on your account, they have done since they bought your loan - the odds are SLC always did and you just didn't know, and you are not in breach of your agreement as far as anybody can tell.

Don't worry about it aymore until Erudio either tell you you can or can't defer and, if not, why not.

Keep it simple that's my new plan!

@ simonpimpernel

every year since loans began SLC wrote to you askinf you to apply to defer. In that letter was a 'standard form' with the bank details you provided printed on the bottom and asking you if your bank details had changed adn if they had, to update them.

This happened every single year.

If you have your old paperwork - have a look back and you'll find out if you ever gave them you account details.

If there are a/c details printed on the form then they had an active DD whether you knew it or not.

@ekim

what i've seen so far suggests that Erudio are allowed to have a different deferment admin procedure, but that doesn't say they are allowed to impose different deferment conditions.

They are allowed to use their own forms etc but i still think the evidence you have to provide and the conditions for deferment are set out in legislation. A lot of the information they are requesting you don't have to provide.

Take section 8 of their form for instance, where they query how much savings you have or what loans and credit cards you have. None of this counts as income (and they even say they don't include these in their final calculation) but they still have the cheek to ask and expect this information.

Yes, that info is none of their business, and they obviously "phish" for it on the forms as an aid to "debt collection".

Proof of gross income in the relevant months and perhaps proof of ID are the only legitimate things they can ask for.

There is no need for a form at all to be honest. The letter previously posted is legally enough for you to meet the conditions to defer as long as you include the proof of income required.

There is no legal requirement for you to use their forms in whole, in part, or even at all.

If they tried to refuse a valid deferment because you won't provide this extra info they are phishing for, they would be breaching the regulations set down by parliament and the agreement.

I have spoken with a solicitor he has said that the deferment conditions for the loan cannot be separated from the original loan conditions.

That's good, LittleMissGreen. Did he say what you need to do in order to defer? Did he recommend not completing Erudio's form?

Surely then Erudio have to stop everything done so far, destroy all previous forms returned and announce that they will be starting again by sending out and redesigning their deferment process. Am i wrong in that if the above posts are right?

The conditions as set down in statute and in the moan T&Cs are just that you can show that:

9. Each year the lender will tell the borrower the new deferment level for the period between 1st September and the following 31st August. The borrower can defer making repayments of the loan if—

(a)the lender has not already asked him to repay the loan in full, and

(b)he can show—

(i)that his gross income for the relevant month is not more than the deferment level, and

(ii)if the lender asks, that his gross average monthly income during the 3 months immediately following the relevant month will not or is unlikely to be more than the deferment level.

Nothing in the regulations or loan agreements say that has do be done on forms provided.

moan loan

lol.

And from the actual agreements:

Moan!

erudioed: you'd hope so, wouldn't you?

@IchibodT
I spoke with a manager at Erudio about all this extra data they want. I said about savings as I have been saving for my wedding for seven years by making sacrifices elsewhere. I do not earn much and are well below the threshold required to defer. The manager I spoke to said that if I had a certain amount of savings then Erudio would require me to pay off the loan. My savings are more than the loan, but have been built up over years. The interest I get is minimal, and in total with all sources of income I earn under £25000, but since that call I have been so worried I have been physically sick. I am going to the GP tomorrow as I am literally pullinh my hair out. According to the manager at Erudio, my hard earned savings are fair game and they will make moves to take them. I have a specific date set to get married which means a lot to me, and I have been working towards that for years. Now it is going to be taken away from us. I am not being hysterical and not exageratting this. I know this 100% true as I taped the call for my own personal use because of earlier calls with Erudio that made me so paranoid. I bekieve my only option now is to not defer and just pay monthly till I spend the savibgs, then defer again. Erudio have made me ill - but surelt the government has to take the blame too. I will never vote libdem again......