Erudio Student Loans Continued part 3

[erudioed]

I dont know if this is the right way to do it and i apologise if it isn't but this is the continuation of www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/a2057131-Erudio-Student-Loans-Continued

Yep, that's what I thought too, they are hoping they can get people to at least pay some even if they don't pay all of it, if they are really entitled to defer.

I am now completely having received my annual statement today.
All the interest for the first 6 months of the year is nicely laid out on a monthly basis and totals just over £151.
Then they lump all the interest for the next 6 months together from when they took over in March so for March - August and that comes to just over £153.
Which seems fair enough until I read the phrase "...because this was our error, we have decided to only charge you interest from after the date of that letter 29th March..." so in other words no interest has been charged for all of March and the £153 is for only 5 months interest.
During that time I have also made more than £700 in repayments.
Surely the monthly interest should have gone down not up?
Anyone got any comments before I contact Erudio (ie I don't want to make a fool of myself if there is something obvious I am missing)!

Use the calling from abroad number it is cheaper.

Check out mse forum on erudio student loans. Lots of people in same situation. Over 1500 comments.

My interest didn't make any sense either and I'm not repaying mine. I was supposedly not paying interest for almost three months on my statement, however, their lump sum makes no sense at all.

I'd thought it might have been because of a change in interest rate but that didn't happen until 1st September!

Friends, it is with mirth that I find myself back on this thread after a couple of weeks of high octane culinary work. I was so tired I even cut my finger: I never cut myself at work.

I finally returned home on Sunday night to find an envelope waiting for me. It wasn't a reply to my 10 September 2014 letter as I hoped. Instead I found my annual statement, read the grovelling letter, and added it to my Erudio evidence pile.

For me personally, the queer element is the annual statement that says they took a payment on May 20th and then refunded it back on June 3rd. Their previous letter said that the money had been reclaimed through the DD indemnity scheme. If that were the case, then why such a gap betwen 20th May and June 3rd? As ever with Erudio, each communication from them furthers distorts what the truth may well be.

Glad to see the snipers havent managed to track you down yet!!! You've just come back at a rather interesting time, things seem to be picking up momentum. It would be good if you contact Anthony Reeves, the lawyer, if you havent already. I think he will be very interested to here your take on this and what would be better to make this whole contact/process advance smoother from this point forward. It could be the only chance we get whilst this issue is still a relatively hot potato.

hello,

haven't been back to this thread for a while but I thought I'd update as I had a call from the Financial Ombudsman to discuss my complaint (which I made back in June).

They told me that Erudio are allowed to report our pre-1998 loans to credit reference companies as a 'repayment holiday', but that this shouldn't have a negative effect on our credit scores. He said that the older loan agreements allowed the Student Loan company to do this, but that they just chose not to.

They are going to ask Erudio to send me the copies of my loan agreements and confirm that I am deferred (I am assuming that I am, but have had contradictory letters from them about this).

The guy I spoke to on the phone was sympathetic, he implied that he thought their tactics were immoral but, unfortunately, legal.

apologies if I am repeating information here, I haven't caught up with the whole thread.

Has anyone actually had their loan show up on their credit report yet?

I also had a confusing letter from Erudio a few days ago, saying that they were not currently charging interest on my account due to a problem with some previous correspondence which they sent to me which 'may not have been fully compliant with the consumer credit act 1974'. Any ideas what this is about?

Well done to everyone who is still fighting these b@stards

Hi there,
I'm slightly reassured to see hundreds of other people struggling with Erudio - just wondering if I can ask advice too?

I live in NZ, have done for 10 years, have never earned close to the monthly income level. I sent in my deferment to Erudio back in March, not realising they required more information than SLC in the past. However, they did not inform me of this, so my account sat inactive for 6 months (I assumed it was just a delay in the processing of applications, new company etc) until I received a letter from Erudio in September notifying me that my account is in arrears.

THEY HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED that they did not communicate with me for that period of time and that it was not my fault that my account lay inactive, however they say they can only backdate the account 3 months so I am still in arrears of £600.

What can I do? I have provided all the information requested as soon as I possibly could, the lengthy silence was from their end not mine, yet I am being threatened with all the same stuff as everyone else if I do not pay the money.

Do I make a formal complaint to them and or the Financial Ombudsman, or FCA? Not sure what to do next, any help would be gratefully received! It's stressful trying to sort this out from the pother end of the world!

@yorkshirekiwi: that sounds about par for the course with these vultures. There terrible management of 'customers' followed by us picking up the price for Capita's shameful customer service. The will have tendered to be the frontline for the Erudio consortium, so there is no excuse for any individual paying the price for their shambolic operation. First, complain to Erudio. If they still insist on this 3 month trick (when its their error), take it to the ombudsman...you have to wait for erudio to answer first. Alternatively, ask the ombudsman to put in your complaint to erudio for you...this is the better option i think. Then immediately contact the FCA and tell them the process is weighted against you, giving them the evidence you have in erudio's replies.
Meanwhile, pepper everyone you can to get the name of Arrow Global, Erudio and Capita in the limelight...see Simon Read at the Independent, Paul Lewis at the BBC and Martin Lewis at MSE. If you are on social media, moan, complain, say these companies names as often as you can in messages and do your best to help raise awareness. We have an election coming up, and i personally have had interested parties contacting me for info. This could become an issue at the general erection in May about how pro-business this government is, and will increasingly become if they get reelected. We are the only clear evidence for this that can be proven...the Post Office sell-off is too soon to show that conclusively. Tell anyone you can think of. If we dont sacrifice some of our time doing this, we will all be much worse off in the coming 10 years or so because these vultures excel in grinding us down, within the law, and really affecting our lives. We have to all play our parts, otherwise we will be very sorry with each passing year. Now is the time and we cant just fight our own corners if we want to get this relationship changed to one where we are not being bullied and manipulated by things we know nothing about! And dont forget to update here on your situation and comment as often as possible because it will be very helpful for us to understand the current state of play...many of us have been defered, so all we have is the new experiences of recent people going through this deferment process to go on.

Could not have put it better myself erudioed. Also there is an email address for the select committee investigating financial services on the MSE. It can't hurt to copy them in with All our tales of woe.

Also it might be good if we could could get a stickied post up on this site and others about the story so far and how and whom to complain to.

There is a lot of info in the many threads it just needs to be gathered together for easy reference as new victims of erudio find their way to these threads!

@erudioed Thanks for that. I will get onto these complaints asap, just wondering though as I am in NZ, relying on snail mail takes so long and often not reliable, can complaints by email still be seen as "official"?

I am following you on twitter (I think it's you!) so will definitely keep going on about this on there, am pleased lots of you have got your deferments, but it is such a shambles of an operation. I had no idea this was going to happen when Erudio took over these loans, such a stressful situation.

Having read the post by MsBug, just wanted to make the point that even if they are allowed to pass data (which is debatable) to CRA's under Clause 16, the real issue is that this unfair term and the way they are exercising their rights under the loan agreement (ie not considering an application unless you complete their DAF with consent to pass on to CRA's) does in my view (and that of Counsel) create an unfair relationship contrary to section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This issue is something which I doubt the Ombudsmen and the remit to decide. In my view, it is an issue for a court to decide.

Anthony Reeves
Lawyer

@yorkshirekiwi: yes, its me on Twatter! I complained over the phone personally...although they didnt take my complaint down well according to the answers i got. I would have thought email would be ok but maybe someone else knows better who did it this way.

Thanks for that Anthony.

And dont forget, there is no evidence they have reported our loans yet (i wont ever be checking, so if someone has an account with Experian please do post if it is clear or not)...a few of us suspect its just a threat, especially given the amount space it takes up on the deferment form. It reads like, as i think most of us did, if you defer this will happen...which all debt collectors know means a certain percentage of people will actually start paying to avoid that fear of credit damage (even in this unique case of student loans, where we can legitimately defer and still keep 100% in line with the contracts we signed).

If people simply want to have chat with me, then please do. I am not bothered if you don't want to instruct me. I am happy to give you my time and help if I can. I am genuinely interested in this point of law. Sometimes, lawyers do offer their help where financial gain is not the only motive !!

Anthony Reeves

@YorkshireKiwi

I sent my complaint to the FOS :

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

and the FCA :

www.fca.org.uk/site-info/contact

You have to complain first to Erudio, get their final response, then complain to the FOS. This will take a while but you should ask Erudio to suspend any further action as they at fault for the arrears.

I always email Erudio with a hard copy recorded mail sent as back up. You are on the other side of the world so I guess you could set up your email to ask if sent mails are being read (not to sure of the technical side of this but it can be done).

HOWEVER I would email the FCA with your Erudio dealings/correspondence immediately. (It looks pretty clear Erudio have failed at customer service/treating you fairly and are totally at fault from what you have written). The FCA are quite interested in how firms conduct themselves and treat customers. The FCA don't deal with individual customer complaints but if we get enough folks complaining; esp with some back up letters from Erudio which reveals their practices; then hopefully they will DO something ABOUT this horrible shower. Just start your letter :

I understand that the FCA does not handle individual complaints against company’s but I want to put on record my problems with Erudio Student Loans handling of the deferment process of my student loan. I believe if enough people complain about their conduct the FCA may be able to take action. Below is a brief outline of my complaint that I have lodged with the FOS/Erudio....

Good luck.

Thanks for that, am just typing out a complaint now.
What is really confusing is that on the 30th August the amount owing in arrears was £400ish, then after they admit their error but say my arrears can only be rolled back 3 months, the new amount is nearly £600. Can anyone explain that for me?

Also am I entitled to put a block on Erudio taking anything from my bank account by Direct Debit?

Really wish I'd paid more attention to this changeover now, grrrr.

@yorkshireKiwi.

I personally would not let them have taken a penny! I am under the threshold and have sent them the evidence of this. I have no DD set up as YOU ONLY NEED SET ONE UP IF YOU ARE REPAYING BECAUSE YOU ARE LEGALLY OBLIGED TOO. Sorry for caps:)

There is of course massive confusion over this which means lots of people are paying out of FEAR of DEFAULT: which suits Erudio just fine.

So if you are prepared to fight Them all the way I would not give them one more penny. Also you may be able to claim back the money they took under the DD guarantee (not sure of the time frame on that TBH) as they did not appear to give you notice about amounts/timescales BEFORE extracting the money from your account - something the FCA are gonna love BTW.

Think there is a few posters on here or elsewhere have claimed funds back.

Check out the posts on MSE (money Saving Expert)

Bottom line is that Erudio are a DCA and will do anything (barely legal apparently) to MAKE money from YOU.

Just correcting a typing error in my previous post.
I should have said, "The issue is something which I doubt the Ombudsman has the remit to decide.."

----
Having read the post by MsBug, just wanted to make the point that even if they are allowed to pass data (which is debatable) to CRA's under Clause 16, the real issue is that this unfair term and the way they are exercising their rights under the loan agreement (ie not considering an application unless you complete their DAF with consent to pass on to CRA's) does in my view (and that of Counsel) create an unfair relationship contrary to section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This issue is something which I doubt the Ombudsmen and the remit to decide. In my view, it is an issue for a court to decide.

I would not put too much effort in with FCA as not really interested in individual issues. Make sure you pursue with FOS and ensure matter is escalated to an Ombudsman for a view - this will cost co £550 and will be bound by decision.

Be clear with FOS and keep things to the point. They really are the consumer champion and look for a fair and reasonable outcome.

Why not post experiences here ... nameandshame.freeforums.net

@pluthero Sorry, didn't make myself clear in my previous post, Erudio haven't taken any money from my account AT THE MOMENT so that's why I'm wondering if legally I am ok to remove any DD agreement I may have with Erudio. I'm not sure that I do have such an arrangement, my head is in a spin with this, maybe my bank will confirm for me or not whether I have an agreement, or maybe Erudio just have my bank details. AAAGGGHHH!!!

I have sent an official complaint to both Erudio and the FCA. With regards to the Ombudsman I have to wait for the 8 weeks to get a reply from Erudio before I contact FOS is that correct?

Thanks for your help guys, it's really confusing trying to work this out. Financial matters and loan terms and conditions aren't my strongest point haha!

Yeah you have to get a final response from erudio. Then FOS.

Re the DD. Depends how you want to play the game. Erudio could claim default if you do not have one in place But if you feel that you are under the threshold and have sent evidence then you should be okay. You can always use the DD guarantee to recover stolen funds!!!

Paulocookie

I would advise everyone to send a complaint to the FCA as they have more power to punish. Imagine if the 500 people who had money taken In error complained!
When erudio get stuff wrong and judging by these threads and many others they are Getting a lot wrong, we need to make authorities aware!

Personally I feel that putting a DCA in charge of the deferment process is a major conflict of interest! If erudio want to chase the many defaulters then fair enough but they will probably face more resistance from them! So the law abiding make an easier target and THAT is WRONG!!!

@pluthero Have just checked my bank account details online and I have no DD set up with any company that they can find, which is what I thought, but wasn't sure.
I am absolutely under the threshold (NZ wages aren't the highest) and have been for 13 years, have provided Erudio with more than enough evidence of this.