Student Loan (Scotland) From 1991!

[jamtart18]

Hello - this is my first post on this forum so apologies if I'm posting in the wrong place!

I've tried to read through the existing threads on this forum and also the student forum and whilst I found some great advice I am still a little confused so I thought maybe best to start a new thread.

Basically, on saturday out of the blue I received a formal demand letter from buchanan clark + wells for £137.16 I allegedly owe to student loans company for a student loan I took out in 1991. I have had no communication whatsoever from SLC, and as far as I am aware all my loans were paid off.

The reason I know all my student loans were paid off is that they were sent to a collection agency based in Newcastle, because I mucked up getting deferral forms in and generally had a horrible time dealing with SLC. They made a very stressful time of my life (splitting up with a partner, buying him out etc) even more stressful with the manner they handled things. To cut a long story short, I paid them off at least 8 years ago and have had no contact to or from SLC since then. I don't have any of this paperwork at all because I as far as I was concerned the matter was over.

I have no idea what this £137 is for - rough guess it might be an outstanding admin fee for sending my loan to the original agency coupled with fees over the years? No idea.

I did call bucanan clark + wells but they had no history and said best to contact to SLC, then call them with the outcome. (They did suggest I pay then query later but I told them in no uncertain terms I wouldn't be paying somethign I knew nothing about).

I just need to know what my best course of action is? There's a limited time I think due to the collection agency being involved and I don't want anything on my credit record for non-payment etc. I can afford to repay this amount but it's a matter of principle.

I get that I should deal only in writing (I refused to give bc+w my phone number)? Anything else I need to do?

I know people have far bigger worries and it's not a large amount but I had such a bad time with SLC the first time round and even just the mention of their name takes me back 14 years, I don't want them to get a penny they are not entitled to.

[rory32]

I did call bucanan clark + wells but they had no history and said best to contact to SLC, then call them with the outcome.

Yeah right You do all the checking that they should have done before contacting you.

It's up to them to prove that any debt exists. Not for you to prove that it doesn't. In this case the alleged debt will definitely be statute barred.

Send BC&W the following letter via recorded delivery.

Dear Sir/Madam

Acc/Ref No 4563210025897412

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that under The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 Part 1 Section 6 "If, after the appropriate date, an obligation to which this section applies has subsisted for a continuous period of 5 years:

(a) without any relevant claim having been made in relation to the obligation, and
(b) without the subsistence of the obligation having been relevantly acknowledged,
then as from the expiration of that period the obligation shall be extinguished:"

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

The last acknowledgement of this alleged debt was made over five years ago. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from myself in the relevant period under Part 1 Section 6 of The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 , I would respectfully suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against myself to recover the alleged amount claimed.

Should you continue to pursue this account without providing this evidence I shall seek an interdict and damages accordingly. A formal complaint will also be made to Trading Standards along with a report to the OFT questioning your fitness to hold a consumer credit license.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account after that last letter.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully
Mr A N Other

[jamtart18]

Thanks rory32 - I will do that today.

After I posted on here yesterday I got a phone call from b c + w on this matter. So even though I explicity refused to give them my phone number, they recorded it anyway and called.

I told the woman who called I was disputing this debt then pulled her up for how they obtained my phone number (which is ex-directory, TPS etc) and said I would only be dealing with this matter in writing. To be fair, she was quite polite and said OK and again asked that we inform them of the outcome. She even gave me the phone number for student loans in case I wanted to call them (so what part of 'in writing only' didn't she understand ).

Should I send that letter to SLC as well or am I dealing with bc+w only now? They seemed to think I had a short amount of time to get something sorted with SLC?

I will let you know of any progress from this. As I said, it's the principle not the amount!

Oh, and in future I know to dial 141 or use my mobile with no caller ID when i make these kind of calls. Lesson learnt.

Thanks.

[rory32]

Just send the letter to BC&W. They can pass the info onto SLC (although I'm sure SLC already know that this is statute barred and are just chancing their arm).


EDIT: Actually theree is no harm in cc'ing the letter to SLC, so you may as well do that.

[jamtart18]

OK, so I sent that letter to BCW and they would have received it on the 1st Oct.

This morning I got a final notice letter from them dated 1st oct saying I had failed to notify them of any legitimate reason for non-payment and they can only assume I do not wish to settle this matter amicably. If i don't make payment immiediately they will start legal proceedings with interest and costs added to the principal sum.

No mention of the letter i sent ..... my instinct is to call them and go nuts but I will hold off until I get some wiser advice from someone who knows better

I did copy the letter to student loans but have heard nothing from them yet.

Thanks, I really do appreciate the advice!

[rory32]

It's just a standard template letter. File under ignore. Phoning them is pointless as you will just speak to some ignorant DCA monkey who is only interested in you making a payment so that they have some more commission at the end of the month.

[jamtart18]

Just a quick update - SLC sent me a letter saying I was to deal with BC+W until my account was up to date (arghhh, I don't owe any money - that's the point).

And today I got a letter from BC+W saying my account is on hold until they refer back to their client for further instructions. So I will just sit and wait for them to argue amongst themselves.

What a bizarre way to operate, it's clear to me now that their best tactics are to hope people like me, who don't have a clue how these things work, just pay up with the threat of legal action and such like. I dread to think how many people pay up for things like this that they are not actually accountable for.

If I hear anything else I will post but hopefully they will drop this now!

Thanks again.