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?

Just to let people know that I contacted Erudio today and first they claimed that they hadn't received my letter - I told them the day and time it was signed for (Recorded!) so he 'downloaded' something and it appeared? How strange loll

He told me he could then go through my form after this call and let me know by writing within ten days about my deferment. He immediately phoned me back within ten minutes.

He told me that the letter my husband sent was not sufficient proof, stating he supports me and to the tune of no more than £x. They want our joint bank statements as further proof. This all in contradiction of an email I got saying that we only needed to say that he supports me and the money is paid into a joint account and not paid directly to myself as a form of allowance.

He also said that the letter I wrote (I didn't send the form, just the letter that has appeared on many Erudio forum posts) was not acceptable and I needed to fill in the deferral form. I had a great (fun) debate with him that he couldn't really answer about why I had to fill in all the extra details (homeowner etc..). He said they were for deferral so I said that was wrong as all the t&c said was to prove my income and no format for that was specified. He is sending another form out to me so I now have to decide what to do.
He also said that I needed to sign the form to confirm my address was correct and I said that I had done that in my letter.

I don't believe a word they say at all.

Can someone tell me what my next course of action is? If I write a complaint to them is there anything that I specifically have to mention? Should I send the form and just scan it and remove the bits I don't agree with via photoshop or just stick to what I have been doing? Do I wait for a response and then complain to the Ombudsman?

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread - it is a shame to know that other people are going through it too but glad we are banding together x

Thanks everyone for this thread and the information and advice posted.

I only found out that one of my loans may have been sold to Erudio when I rang SLC to check up on my deferment. Thesis has had the other 3 loans for some time now but all deferments have been through SLC.

This time the SLC lady told me on the phone that my other loan may have been sold to Erudio but she could not confirm for sure that they had neither could she confirm that they (SLC or Erudio) had received my deferment.

I sent a recorded letter with SLC forms to both Thesis & Erudio (stating that SLC could not confirm receipt of the originals) & received a letter from Thesis saying it had been passed back to SLC - nothing from Erudio.

This week I received a letter from SLC confirming my deferment of all loans.

I have no notification that Erudio has bought the remaining loan - only the verbal notification from SLC so I have no idea if Erudio have bought it or not

Of course I am happy I have another years deferment as I am eligible but it is disconcerting to not know who is administrating my loans - Thesis for sure on 3 but the other 1?

Re thoughts further upthread - if you ask for a copy of the original SL agreement you signed and they can't find it - does this nullify your agreement?

Sounds mercenary - and it is - but rather spooked that I may be pressurised into paying, when I clearly cannot.

Can't help but think of my Uni's student rag paper which ran a cartoon of a woman faced with a couple of guys with an ETC machine "You've defaulted on your loan - we're here to repossess your education"

i think if they dont have the original agreement you signed, then the deal is off as far as i am aware. Erudio would have to have your original agreement. There are forums elsewhere that deal with the complexities of such things and the time they have to reply by and repercussions for them. I actually thought it a good idea to swoop in now with one myself to test the water...maybe it is such a mess at Erudio now, some people could get their debt cancelled. I decided against it though not understanding the ins and outs.
Dont worry though, Erudio wont let you slip through their net and not allow you to experience the wonder of their own little amusement park! We're the little ducks swimming around peacefully, and they are the rod holding moodersmookers trying to disturb our own little pieces of nirvana. Luckily though, we have nitrous boosters and theyre gonna have do much more than their usual snidey little tricks to hook us.

@sarebear....always lodge an official complaint about what you feel is not right or inconsistent. This is very important if something happens and you need to go to the ombudsmen as the final safety net.

So their call centre staff can't even lie convincingly or get their story straight. No surprise.

On credit agreements.

www.oft.gov.uk/about-the-oft/legal-powers/legal/cca/unenforceable-credit-agreements

that seems odd mandakl, i was totally wrong then. They can still unleash hell effectively. Surely that way anyone could make up you had an agreement and then try and force you to pay, even if via selling your fictional debt to a debt collector. Maybe i read it wrong.

@halfpricedebt and others

See this is what I thought and this is what I have been advised by my solicitor... but then for instance Sarebear78 was told on the phone by Erudio that a letter is not acceptable and the forms MUST be filled in. Now it COULD just be scare tactics but it's a bit risky to assume that with so little room to manoeuvre y'know?

Here is the letter i was going to send them... it's a cannibalised version of one of the letters posted earlier in the thread basically.

---

ERUDIO STUDENT LOANS LTD
PO BOX 580
ROTHERHAM
S63 3FR

CUSTOMER REFERENCE NUMBER: XXX
LOAN ACCOUNT NUMBERS: XXX XXX XXX XXX

Formal request for deferment under the Education (Student Loans) Act and Education (Student Loans) Regulations.

I formally request that my student loan accounts under the above reference are deferred for a further 12 months pursuant to the Education (Student Loans) Act and Education (Student Loans) Regulations.

I confirm that my name and address details on the covering letter I received from Erudio Student Loans Ltd are correct.

I also confirm that my only source of income currently is state benefits. I receive Employment Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Housing Benefit, and Council Tax Support.

My currently monthly income is XXX

Of the above amount please note that the Disability Living Allowance should not be taken into account when assessing my eligibility for deferral under the terms and conditions of the original agreement. I also consider it unfair to count either Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support as income since both are paid by the government to the local council directly and I receive none of the money personally.

In accordance with the regulations I provide evidence that:

• my gross income for the relevant month* is not more than the deferment level.
• my 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.

*where “relevant month” means the month before the month in which the borrower asks for deferment.

I have chosen not to complete the deferment forms provided by yourselves as it requests private and personal data that is not relevant to the above deferment conditions as set out in the original agreement. I note that your deferral form also includes several changes to the terms and conditions of the original agreement which I do not wish to consent to. Unfortunately signing your deferment forms constitutes an implicit agreement to those altered terms and conditions so I am unable to sign them.

I further note that there is no requirement in the legislation or in the terms and conditions of the original agreement to apply for deferment in a given format or on a specified form.

Please note that I do not consent to any additions, amendments, or otherwise, to the Terms and Conditions of the original loan agreement by Erudio Student Loans Ltd. This includes the recording of any student loan deferment information with any Credit Reference Agency, with the exception of where a formal Notice of Default has been served in accordance with The Consumer Credit Act (1974) and The Education (Student Loans) Regulations (1998). The recording of any information with any Credit Reference Agency in relation to the right of deferment under Schedule 2, Section 1, Paragraph 9 of The Education (Student Loans) Regulations (1998) will be constituted as a breach of the original loan agreement, and may result in civil proceedings being brought against Erudio Student Loans Ltd. As such I wish to formally request that Erudio sends me written confirmation that my information will not be shared with any Credit Rating Agency.

I also formally request a copy of my original loan agreement.

I have been advised by my solicitor that this letter, together with the proof of income I have enclosed, sufficiently complies with the terms and conditions of the original loan agreement and the criteria for deferment established therein.

I declare that all information given is correct to the best of my knowledge, and the total gross monthly income disclosed comprises my total current gross monthly income. To the best of my knowledge and belief, my average gross monthly income for this month and the next two months will not, or is unlikely to, exceed the current deferment threshold.

I look forward to confirmation of deferment.

Yours faithfully,

---

Have I missed anything obvious or made any mistakes?

Which to believe........ Lying scumbag of a debt collector or a solicitor......

Ha!

In fairness my solicitor is a bit rubbish and barely looked at the paperwork or anything.

@persephone49

Could you be kind enough please to scan and upload the terms and conditions of your agreement please as 97/98 starting is what I need? If there is a way to PM on here please do that and obviously blank out anything personal.

@mandaki

I've read through the terms and conditions you uploaded in March, many thanks for that, they looked like what my agreements looked like. What year was the terms and conditions you uploaded from please?

There's a can of worms with SLC, BIS and Erudio with the loan sales. Essentially lies, deception etc. There's multiple areas to complain about. Here is just a starter example:

I've found my supposed "Notice of Assignment" letter from SLC in the Erudio welcome pack sent in February. Have a look on the back of that letter from SLC and it states under the loan number(s) table:

"What You Need To Know
The Terms and Conditions of your loan(s) and how the interest rates are currently calculated and applied to your account(s) will not be changing."

Notice on the letter that WILL NOT is in bold type. That's right folks "your terms and conditions will not be changing".

In the same packet / letter Erudio then tries to deceive the recipient into changing the terms and conditions of the contract. This is technically fraud by deception. SLC have lied to us during the transfer. No judge in the land would say they have not lied. I would urge anyone with spare time to post a recorded delivery letter to SLC complaining about how they have lied to us on their transfer letter. We have not been treated FAIRLY.

Hence why the sneaky B's at Erudio sent out a FAIR PROCESSING NOTICE. It's all in the words. By signing anything they send you you are contracting with them. Sign nothing they send and state you DO NOT CONSENT TO ANY OF THEIR NEW TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT in anything you send them. Write a deferral letter like as shown on the No 2 Erudio blog, arguably APPLY UNDER PROTEST, as we have been lied to during the transfer.

Send Erudio £1 and ask for original copies of the original terms and conditions of the contract that you signed with them / SLC. You never signed a contract with Erudio, but by applying for deferment you are accepting there is a contract with them. A contract that has been transferred arguably deceptively.

I will not go into more at the present time publicly as some knobheads from SLC, BIS or Erudio could be on here.

Sorry if I did not reply to anyone as I did not realise the subject / chat was still running. There's many more issues, they are arguably in breach of relevant Acts of Parliament and other stuff.

@Free123

Someone on MSE said they were going to post up example agreements for the various years. I'll see if I can give them a nudge today as some copies I have are unlikely to scan well.

Jeremy Corbyn asks Minister about debt collection policies

Hansard:

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what restrictions on future interest rates and debt collection policies were placed on the new owners of the Student Loan Book. [178841]

Mr Willetts: The Government announced the sale of the remaining publicly owned Mortgage Style student loans on 25 November for £160 million to Erudio Student Loans Ltd. There will be no changes to loan terms, including the calculation of interest rates which are fixed at a rate equivalent to the Retail Price Index, as a result of the sale.

Erudio Student Loans must adhere to strict OFT guidance about treating borrowers fairly which includes particular protections for vulnerable borrowers and those in financial difficulty.

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131211/text/131211w0002.htm

I think if you provide the right evidence - headed paper/official documents etc, there's not much they can do. They have no legal remit to ask for anything other than your income. I'm sending them a letter from my employer which has "crime" in its name so I'm hoping that gives them a mild fright. My savings are nothing to do with erudio and if I had enough savings to pay it off if would have done so by now.

As l

Vince Cable announces proposed sale March 2013:

There will be no change to borrowers' terms and conditions as a result of the sale

Student Loan Book Sale

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Vince Cable): I am today announcing that the remaining publicly owned mortgage-style student loan book will be offered for sale by the Government under the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 as amended by the Education (Student Loans) Act 1998. The sale will take place in conjunction with the Scottish Government, the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland and the Student Loans Company.

Mortgage-style loans were available to eligible higher education students who were enrolled between 1990 and 1998. Borrowers are required to repay in fixed monthly instalments over a defined period, typically five or seven years. Interest is charged at a rate equivalent to the retail prices index. Repayments can be deferred for a year at a time if a borrower’s income is below the threshold, which is 85% of the national average earnings. Currently the threshold is £27,813. There will be no change to borrowers’ terms and conditions as a result of the sale.

The Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for loans issued by those respective Administrations and both have agreed the sale. English and Welsh loans are the responsibility of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

There were two previous sales of mortgage-style loans in 1998 and 1999. The remaining loans owned by the Government are mostly either in deferment or in arrears, so total annual repayments are low.

The loans to be offered for sale have a face value of around £900 million but, due to the low level of repayments in relation to the loan book, the market value will likely be significantly lower. The Government recognise that the private sector may improve the collection of repayments using their expertise. Additionally, they will provide operational benefits to the Student Loans Company (SLC) as the significant majority of the administration is transferred to the buyer. This sale will reduce public sector net debt and forms part of a wider effort to maximise the value of Government assets.

We will be assessing all potential buyers against a strict set of criteria and a sale will only proceed if value for money for the taxpayer and borrower protections consistent with the law are assured. The sale will not include any income contingent repayment (ICR) loans, therefore no current students or borrowers who solely took out an ICR loan after September 1998 will be affected.

More details of the sale will be published by BIS in due course.

Bloody phone - as long as you have robust evidence, what can they do. Plus when the collections department tells you what they don't need on the form - which shows they are trying to intimidate you, then do what you will to defer.

If you are already in deferment and are eligible to defer, cancel your DD. They don't need it unless you are due to repay.

still no answer about whether our loans will be registered with CRAs but another worrying concern expressed by Simon Read i the independent.
The independent article:
www.independent.co.uk/money/loans-credit/row-goes-on-over-deferred-student-loans-9255587.html

Is anyone able to confirm that if my loans were transferred to Thesis Servicing several years ago that they are not part of the loans sold to Erudio now?

Thanks

It's only the ones that SLC still had that have been sold to Erudio. Thesis ones stay with them.

@Free123 forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4945901

Kindly posted up there after I asked if they could.

Just thought I'd register to post that I have today received a letter from Erudio confirming deferment of my loan for the 2014-15 year. I came across this discussion during my own deferment application process and have nothing really to add to what has been said above. However, I thought it worth mentioning that a successful application for deferment by Erudio is actually possible.

@ 1991graduate

Great news - congrats!

Did you apply to defer without any changes to the forms and with full evidence?

Or did you alter/deface the form in any way, submit only your own letter?