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?

@ simonpimpernel

What can I say - you are the exception that proves the rule. Stand proud!!

All I can offer in reply is that every year, for nigh on 15 years, every letter from SLC advising me that repayment is due unless I defer, has my original bank details printed at the bottom - advising me to check that they are up to date.

It's not my role to argue the toss on behalf of SLC but I can't imagine you get 'special' letters just for you - so either you or SLC has made a mistake. And I'm fairly sure they sent hundreds of thousands of the same letters out every year - are you sure you're looking in the right place?

In any case, you may as well forget all about SLC because you've got to deal with the here and now with Erudio. The past is the past - forget it.

It's up to you to decide whether you give them bank details or you offer them an alternative way of making payment. See what othe rpeople have done in the rest of the thread.

Doing neither is a breach of the Terms and Conditions - so you have to do one or the other.
The will then process your deferral application like any other and if your income is below the threshold you will be entitled to defer.

It's important not to lose sight of the wood for the trees.

Successful Deferral is your objective - not fiddling about with 'missing' mystery DDs and SLC history.

@ ekim

The form (section 8) asks if you are living off credit cards, loans etc...

To me it's quite clear - they are not asking everybody for their credit card balances just for the nosey hell of it.

They are ONLY asking people who say they are living off credit cards/loans etc to declare details about them.

I have a credit card - I will not be declaring it because I do not live off it - it does not constitute my income or any part of it.

In any case - they don't count it as part of your Gross Income - So you can Just Ignore It.

@ MyLifeShinesOn

Top letter. Very comprehensive. You've covere everything. I think your approach is spot on - removing their space to manoeuvre.

It's going to be fascinating to see how they address and respond to these letters.

@mylifeshineson
Thats basically the letter I have used also. Im not using their form at all. I have copies of 6 payslips (I get paid fortnightly) and last year's P60 and that too is being sent. I am expecting them to decline the deferment as I haven't used the form but until they change it they can away and sh!te.. I am well below the deferment level and I will definitely fight my corner.
Good luck everyone!

@ emptycoffers. Ive just said the exact same thing to my partner. The majority of deferels happen April and May they are going to have goodness knows how many of them and in all different formats.

Good luck to Erudio sorting this out.

Bet they didnt think a cheap debt bought from the government was going to give them this much hassle. A$$ holes!!

Thank you emptycoffers and powerpooh. Im really scared doing this. I normally tow the line with these things so to speak so it goes against my nature to do it this way.

Yeah me too. But this is what compies like Erudio are relying on. Scaring, harrasing and bullying people in to paying or not deferring. There is certainly enough of us in the same boat. Collectively we must have enough clout to take this forward.

as we know arrow global has a very special relationship with Experian (see pots before), and all this credit card stuff, NI number, address info has the whiff of data collection to me, one of the reasons it is very important to stand firm on not letting them pass on any info to CRAs. They are trying to make some cash off of us on the sly! Thats why it seeming has nothing to do with deferment.
I also have the same issue with my bank details not being written on the SLC deferment forms. MY bank details disappeared for no reason known to me one time and never reappeared. As i didnt cancel the DD, and i dont have one on my account from what i can tell, i just assumed SLC did something. However, it is the same bank account the loan went into, so i have told Erudio if they want the info go and look back at the forms SLC sent them. I havent heard anything else about the issue yet but i know it is going to be something that comes up again in the near future after i return whatever i decide to send them.
This week though, i have been promised an answer to my compliant and a letter stating deferer loan info will not be passed on to CRAs. We will see. Then i will approach the issue of not returning the deferral form as it is written because it contradicts the letter about CRAs, or not signing it but filling in the info and crossing through the rubbish...or the popular letter approach many here are trying.

Just to confuse the picture further, I posted earlier in the thread to say that one of my loans has been sold to Erudio but that SLC sent me the deferment form for all four loans as usual two weeks ago. I filled this in, as I have done every April every year since 2000, sent it off, received my notice of deferment back yesterday and it says it covers all four loans, including the one Erudio has! It seems that SLC are handling the deferment on Erudio's behalf, as they did for Honours Student Loans, who previously owned the debt. This seems to be different to everyone else's experience so I'm not sure whether it's some sort of glitch.

@ EmmaBemma

I think SLC are still covering a few people if they still hold the majority of your loans.

But if all your loans have been passed i think Erudio will be handling deferment. I read a statement somewhere that said this is the first time the actual deferment process would be handled by the private sector.

Dear ALL,
I have been reading this thread for the past two weeks or so and I am in the same boat as you. Got first letter telling me about the sale transfer and asking for my consent for data to be shared with CRA agencies which I didn’t send back, and the following pack with the new deferment form, with all the highlighted Warnings and Musts and extra personal and odd info needed. I am a foreigner and English is not my first language, but still found the form, requirements and warnings very misleading and not clear at all, something dodgy about it. I have always been under the threshold and have postponed my repayments for about 14 years since graduating. I had a DD set up; since I think to remember my payments came direct into my bank at the time. After finishing College I moved back to my country and after sometime the English back account got closed for not being active and didn’t ever since refill the DD mandate on the form –even though it stated that “I must provide bank details if they change”, but sent SLC bank statements from my country, when evidence of support was necessary for them to process my deferment.
Few year ago I moved back to England – I had spent all my 20’s and part of my 30’s here, where I made many true good friends, and unfortunately things became very difficult in my home country- I informed SLC of my new address and economic situation and kept deferring. I have been surviving because I stay at a friend house without paying rent, doing odd cash in hand jobs-which some have been paid to me as cheques- which worries me because it shows in bank statements- and also temporary contract positions.
I have shown the deferment form and letters to friends and had mixed responses. Some say fill it in and send the form and don’t worry about it because I am under the threshold, other advised me to be wary and to not to sign the forms and use the same procedure as before has changed and go to CAB.
Last week I went to my local CAB. They could not offer me any advice at all on the matter but were very understanding and gave me few numbers to call and free calls service. First I got through to FSA and was told that Erudio was registered with them, and they had the right to do CRA checks, but if I made a complaint I had 8 weeks until they response and my matter held till then. Afterwards I phoned Erudio to to see what they say about this dodgy deferment form- couldn’t afford to phone an 845 number myself. To the operator I expressed my concerns about the new form for deferment and that I didn’t understand it and found it misleading. “What’s what you don’t understand about it Sir” I said I thought they were trying to change the T&C of what I originally signed for and that they asked for far too many unnecessary info. “No Sir, the T&C have not changed, only the information for deferral have changed”. But why I asked? “Well, it seem that SLC didn’t ask for enough info for deferment and we are changing that, but the T&C of the original agreement remain the same, only the deferment form has changed”
I went on to say that many of the questions in the form were irrelevant to the original deferment requests. Why do they need my NI number? “Well, that’s for tax purposes” And why do you need my previous address, if SLC already know everything about that? “We have only been given certain info and we need to know about that” Ok I said, so how relevant to my deferremt been approved is how long I lived in my previous address? Silence from her part until I said “Hello?”
In the end she recorded a complaint from me and I asked for my original T&C to be sent to me, to which she agreed and made a note about my complain. Then I phoned the Money Advice Service and was first told to sing the form, but later not to sign it I wasn’t sure about what sing it implied to me!
So, I am going to send an post recorded letter to Erudio, saying I am very unsure about their new deferment form and seemingly underlying clauses implying a change of terms and conditions to the original loan terms and to the T&C for deferment, I will also ask for a written confirmation for everything .
I am sorry this is a very long post but would appreciate any advice. We should all stick together against this shark loan company and assert our rights. Shall we all write to the PM and not to the local MP? Easy to contact PM email.number10.gov.uk/contact.aspx
Sorry it is to long winded or grammatically incorrect, but I feel with you all, since I have been sick worried about this for some time, feeling anxious and very concerned about Eridios fair procedure.
Best regards to all

Quote " Well, it seem that SLC didn’t ask for enough info for deferment and we are changing that,"

What complete bull!

What do you mean? mandaki

I mean that SLC asked for what was needed for deferment. i.e. proof of gross income.

Erudio's claim that they are asking for all the extra info because SLC did not ask for enough is just complete nonsense. Erudio need no more that SLC did. Proof of gross income. That is it. Cl;aimig they need more is complete and utter bull, as I said.

that you cant take what erudio say at face value...their staff dont know most of the answers and just say anything they can to get the upper hand in a conversation. Most of us have experienced that.
by the way, if you call the number for international deferers you can find on their website, it is a regular landline number in the UK so it may be free if you have a phone package with free uk calls. i cant imagine it makes any difference if you are in the UK and use it.

sorry. Just realized you were quoting me.
But that's what they said. That SLC didn't ask for enough info for loans to be deferred. So they need more new info, which I think is not necessary according to deferment T&C

Oh dear. I am late to the party as usual.

Sorry to read that so many people are being affected by this problem. I got the forms a couple of weeks ago and as usual I stuck them in the in-tray to be dealt with later. I hardly glanced at them, so was unaware of the changes.

Yesterday morning my best friend from Uni (20 years ago) said I should look at this as it affects both of us. Got a shock when I began reading and even went to the shops and bought the Indy with it's big article. Eek.

Okay. So I calmly phoned Erudio. The person I spoke to was nice enough and we had a bit of a chat. All very pleasant. I am planning to defer, and really don't care too much about what info they have as long as the deferment is granted and my individual credit report stays the same.

However the chat revealed that the first letter with the notice of assignment gave us borrowers the 'option' to volunteer to have our details lodged with the dreaded CRA's. This is totally voluntary and I bet no-one filled in that first optional form. However - and this is the big issue from what I can see - the new deferral form takes away that option and makes it compulsory to sign the statement agreeing to having our deferred loans registered with the dreaded CRA's.

So to avoid having a credit "Black Mark" the only option is to not send back the first optional form and also to not send back the deferment form and I suppose commence repayments. That is it in a nutshell. I can defer but now have to weigh up my options about that credit "Black Mark." Not bothered about me so much but the wording says it affects other people in the household (see back of form) and their businesses. That makes things a tad uncomfortable for me.

This is not fair and like many on here I agree it is a change to the terms and conditions.

Most importantly though is we need to look after each other and look out for each other too. I noted some people are v. worried and making themselves sick in dealing with this. Some of the posts are quite inspiring and it is good that there is some very limited media coverage. Fingers crossed for the future.

One final thing. I never asked Erudio because I would probably not got the answer, but does anyone have an opinion about what would happen if the deferred loans were put on our credit files and then when I hit the age when the loan disappears, i.e. aged 50 or after 25 years, what do you think would remain on the personal credit file? Probably too much detail and like the last poster very sorry for the long post.

Protest and Survive indeed

@erudiospicious

They may have said that, but it is completely and utterly and obviously untrue.

They have proven themselves to liars on other matters as well when dealt with over the phone.

@Nyckelpiga

You do have a choice.

You can either not use their forms and write a letter requesting deferment with your proof on income enclosed.

Or you can just cross out the parts of the form you do not agree to, and include a letter saying that you do not agree with your loans being reports to the CRAs and you do not agree to any other change in your terms and conditions.

Hi Mandaki. Hope your good and thanks for that.

Yes. You are correct. I see that from the posts and the template letters are good.

I suppose it is too early to know if Erudio will accept those letters and amended forms. Fortunately I am a last minute charlie, so by the time I actually get to that point there should be some feedback here on Mumsnet.

Are there no lawyers on this thread that can give us the answer? lol

BTW the girl I chatted with said it is currently taking about 5 days to process forms at the moment.

If you can prove you gross income is under the threshold you have a legal right to defer. End of.

You don't have to give or do anything else in order to have that right.

Erido can try phish for more info, make you think that you have to do other things, agree to other things, but none of it is true. It's lies and smoke and mirrors designed to push people who are entitled to defer into making payments instead. Erudio are debt collectors. They want to collect if they think they can get away with it.

Cross posted.

@ emptycoffers

I'm sure I am looking in the right place but there is nothing there... just "account number" and "sort code" etc with empty spaces next to them.

I'm a bit worried now in case there has been a mistake and Erudio uses it as an excuse to claim I have breached the terms and conditions or something.

I don't see how it could be my fault tho... as I said there has never been any bank details on my deferral forms for as long as I can remember and I just assumed this was normal... the SLC have never contacted me to say I was filling in the forms wrong or that I had missed out some information or whatever so I assumed it was all okay.

Anyway.

So are you saying I do now need to give Erudio valid bank details and a direct debit mandate? Even altho the supervisor I spoke to agreed that Erudio were not entitled to those details but would "like" to have them?

Just another thing. I know I can back date deferment by 3 months and I also know my direct debit is all set up correctly. If I end up having to back date my deferment after Erudio have taken money from me then do I get that money back? I think I did with the friendly Student Loans Company when I messed up and forgot to fill in forms back in my younger days. The people at the Student Loans Company were always so friendly and understanding. I think I will miss them.