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Original poster

student loans - help me asks worried from sussex

16 replies

Tortington · 03/02/2005 19:40

bare with me -

i have a loan from 96 which gets taken out of my wages - thats the way it was then.

the rules changed in 97. when i got a loan then it was a seperate account for that year and i has to arrange payment seperatley.

same for 99.

took a year out in 98. i contacted the stuent loan company becuase over £100 per month has been taken out of my wages for a long time - so i rang to ask about it to find out there were the accounts of 97 & 99. there was i thick as shit thinking they all ran consecutivley - they dont and i havent paid a penny off the other two accounts. they have been to a credit agency to collect the money - who didnt find me becuase i had moved. it has now been referred back to the SLC. so not only do they want the 106 per month out of my wages they want an extra 100 per month just to pay off outstanding debt and they want me to start paying the normal payment of 63 on top of that.

i phoned the cab - about another matter but i mentioned the student loans and she said that if they had gone to court something happened legally which meant i now have the power to offer them something - although she wasnt quite sure she was going to look it up and get back to me.

thing is - thickas shit me phones up the SLC wanting to sort it all out - am now in a mighty pickle becuase today i got a council tax bill for over 700 from 2001 - i didnt even know about and they aid i have to pay what they tell me to pay and thats that - the CAB lady said they were right. so even though i offered to pay 50 - becuase its been to court they say they want 100 pm - so have already sorted this and will pay 100 pm for 7 months. then on top of all this i have the SLC

so i know the law is different for council tax than it is if you owe say a catalogue - where you can offer then a fiver and thats that. is the law with regards to student loans like council tax int hat they can dictate terms?

if i phoned them up and said - look i ve looked into this if i offer you 100 per month thats my normal payment of 63 plus 37 off my outstanding debt - can they still take me to Court - get the bailifs etc.

gosh - did you understand that?

please answer cos am ded ded worried

i get the feeling that the minimal amount of £3.60 forever
i know you maynot be qualified

OP posts:
Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 19:43

ignore the last two lines i was editing and bogged it up

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 19:48

Hi had major problems with SLC and got a solicitor to deal with them as I found then extremely unhelpful and quite frankly full of sh*t (or rather certain memebers of their telephone team)

You cannot pay more then you can afford. If you offer them what you can afford they have to accept it and review regularly in case your cirsumstances change. They could take you to court but the court would just check your financial staus and still couldn't make you pay more then you could afford so SLC know it isnt really worth bothering as long as you are trying to pay the debt IYSWIM. That is the advice my solicitor gave me and he was in contact with them once they started getting arsey demanding I pay the amount in full (£3000)in 6 months and cr*p like that. DOn't worry. In the end I was paying £30 a month for a £3000 loan. I did that for 18 months then DH paid it off in full for me when he upped the mortgage on the house.

MABS · 03/02/2005 19:49

cannot offer any help or advice at all am afraid, but just to say I really hope someone is more useful than me ! Chin up my friend xx

Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 19:55

thanks mabs n starry.

thing s they are going to send me an income and expenditure form. -- still i cant help wondering if i can say - take the 100. which is 63 loan and 37 off loan debt - can i do that and not have them take me to court

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 19:56

Also just to add make sure you set out any intentions in writing and send recorded delivery and get them to confirm agreements in writing as I have to say, even my solicitor was amazed at how utterly disorganised, rude and obnoxious the whole organization is.

starry · 03/02/2005 19:59

I filled out the income and expenditure forms and my solicitor checked them and sent them off. He advised me to put down every little thing and I mean everything. I filled mine out so that it appeared I had just £37 unaccountable money left at the end of the month and then they asked for £30 so beware!

Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 20:00

and my dh ( also full of shit) says that they wont take into consideration other debts or "trivialities" such as day to say living expenses. if i fill in the form and show them all my money is accounted for - will they tell me to sod off the other things and loans n stuff i am payng off - would they say we spend to much on clothes n food etc?

am asking becuase when i phoned the council tax they said that other loans were not their problem - i must pay 100 per month or else the bailiffs were coming.

do the SLC have this power - if i am offering something - are they pbliged to take it

am so inarticulate sorry its a blabbering mess of blabber

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 20:03

It's highly unlikely they wil take you to court if you show you are trying to come to an agreement to pay them, so please don't worry. I spent sleepless nights worrying before I got my solicitor on to them - it's not worth it. Like most credit/loan companies they play on your ignorance so read up about your rights. There is a great website www.fool.co.uk/
cant do links but good info there

Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 20:03

oh thnaks starry thats a bit better then - so count haircuts petrol insurance for car - car finance mot school uniforms school trips and raffles and school materials for the kids plus household bills and insurances and other debts - clothes for me and dp for work. childrens lunch money, gosh am stuck

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 20:08

THey will take into account other loans as expenditure but will not prioritse them unless you are in default in paying any of them.

As long as you dont put ridiculous amounts for clothes etc then they would have no reason to question them. Don't forget prescription charges and things like that aswell if you get medication on a regular basis for example. I extimated the monthy expense of the utility bills by adding up the 3 highest for elec, water, gas and working out the average.

Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 20:09

i means tuff like printer paper for homework is something we buy will they accept that? what about replacement furniture? internet access for kids homework - not me on mumsnet ohnoooooo notme - them!

OP posts:
Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 20:11

oh prescriptions i pay over 20 pm for them - good thinking i would have forgotten that.

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 20:11

Yes, put down everything and that way if something crops up that they consider superficial/frivolous then they will come to you and question it but you won't know unless you put it down!

starry · 03/02/2005 20:12

Obviously a holiday in a 5 star hotel in the med would be considered frivolous as paying the loan is more important than that I guess (to them anyway)

Original poster
Tortington · 03/02/2005 20:12

starry your a whizz ta v muchio

OP posts:
starry · 03/02/2005 20:13

Your welcome. I'm glad my horrible experience with them might have helped someone else

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