Student Loans Company/Smith Lawson & Company Recovery Se

[Nurselayer]

Hi there, I am fighting The Student Loans Company/Smith Lawson & Co too, perhaps you might find my thread of interest.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ght=Nurselayer

The charges that they have made are unlawful and can be reclaimed in the same way that unlawful bank charges are, however this is not the approach that I am taking. You will see that the National Treasurer of the NUS has posted on my thread, if you are having problems with the SLC I would recommend that you contact the NUS and try to get them to help you too.

[The_Badger]

Hi Nurselayer - just read your thread - very interesting.

I only have the one loan and I have the original agreement here with me so I can't really go down your route - but my letter charges when returned would be nearly the same as the loan itself - so I'm just writting the Subject Access Request letter now.

I've missed payments etc before so I'm going to get a credit check and see if I can get it any notes on it removed if they relate to charges.

Thanks and good luck with your claim.

The Badger

[physicsgraduate]

Originally Posted by The_Badger

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 if you request a signed copy of the original agreement, they must provide it within 12 DAYS.
If they take longer than 30 days to provide it, they have committed a criminal offence.
The Badger

Hi all I am also having problems with SmLC. Was abroad and having financial problems and got behind with the deferment over 1 year. If i request a copy of my form today, does the 12 days thing start from the day they receive it, and does it include Xmas and New Year, ie is it 12 working days?

I sent the SLC a fax this time last year with my email and phone number, but they never replied and and also say they never received it. Unfortunately i don't have a copy to prove it though, are they in breach of any laws there?

My loan was from 1990 to 1994

Thanks, here's my thread on the subject gving you all the shizzle on my problem if your interested. Any help is greatly appreciated.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...y-problem.html

[noomill060]

If you took out a loan when you were under 40 years of age the debt is written off when you reach the grand old age of 50. Above 40 and the debt dies when you get to 65.

[noomill060]

You MUST send a £1 postal order with your CCA section 77 request.

ALWAYS best to send anything to SLC by Recorded Delivery and check the tracking number on www.royalmail.com as they are very good at errrrrr...losing things!

Also I spoke to a lady in SLC's collections and asked her upfront if their £20 was actually legally enforceable (which we know they arent, being punative in nature and disproportionate to any loss suffered by SLC) and she confirmed that , no, they arent.

[Ocelot0411]

Hi there

As you will see this is my first post on this site and I would like to begin by saying that I was somewhat relieved (whilst also slightly disturbed) to see that I am far from the only one having terrible problems with SLC/ Smith Lawson.

My issue is a slight variation on those shown above, but I would be grateful if anyone could advise me if they have had a similar problem and of course offer any advice on the matter.

My problem regards the deferment of my student loan for the last financial year (2005/2006) and I can confirm that I am currently repaying the loan from April 2006 onwards. To cut a very long story short the SLC refused to defer my loan as one of the wage slips which I sent in was above the monthly threshold for that year (due to a one off project for which I was paid overtime). When I sent in the deferment Application I also sent them my new address (which they conveniently "lost"). The next thing I heard from them was a letter from a debt collecting agency saying I owed over £700 in arrears. I have of course disputed this and thus far refused to pay the arrears as my annual earnings for the year in question were below the annual limit.

I have since had many unpleasant dealings with SLC regarding this matter both over the phone and via written correspondence, but I must confess I have now given up on calling them as they are extremely rude and aggressive and also every time I call I am told a completely different story.

From what I can ascertain so far, my case seems to revolve around the following issues;-

1) Deferment - is this a right if you earn below the limit or is this discretionary?

2) If discretionary at whose discretion is this and where are the rules for deferment in the original agreement?

3) The deferment limit - is this annual or monthly or does this depend on when you took out the loan (I am a pre - 98 borrower / victim)?

4) Does the fact that they claim to never have received my notification of change of address give them the right to refuse to defer my loan (the are arguing that until I receive written confirmation that the loan has been deferred that I am liable to pay it, even though I have never received this before)?

I must confess that this is now a matter of principle. I am sick and tired of going round in circles with these people and have been tempted to just pay the damned alleged arrears and have done with it, but I must say that other peoples' experiences which I have read on this site have inspired me to hold firm and not be bullied by these Charlatans.

Your help would be appreciated!

[emmaf01]

Deferment- from what the SLC have said to me, it is discretionary- HOWEVER I am currently trying to get info from them regarding my accounts, and I no longer know whether what I have previously been told by people there is necessarily the correct info. Sad but true.
If you provide the correct info for deferment- and if you have now given them the accurate info showing you are below the earnings threshold for deferment they have the ability (and obligation?) to defer the loan and backdate the deferment for 3 months.
If anyone has any info about deferment and the SLC I would greatly appreciate it, as it is deferment- or the lack of it which is what I'm trying to look at. Those bloody arrears are about £2k- and I've paid them nearly a grand on top of that. I've never earned over the threshold.

[emmaf01]

Oh, and them phoning about 3 times every day makes me glad I have caller display.

[maybelline]

Originally Posted by noomill060

If you took out a loan when you were under 40 years of age the debt is written off when you reach the grand old age of 50. Above 40 and the debt dies when you get to 65.

hello noomill060, thats what I thought! i distincly remember this clause but so far no one else has mentioned it.

[studentloanssuckcock]

Would somebody be kind enough to state Smith lawson and company 's P.O Box number as what little paper work i had has dissapeared and there not a real company so their not on the net.
Once again, these people are not debt collectors just student loans under another name...for those who hadn't read previous threads...

cheers great site

[maybelline]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...t=smith+lawson

sorry dont know their address, but see this thread.

[maybelline]

copied from The Badger, very helpful

Forgot to say:
Cheques for the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) and the CCA requests are made payable to "Student Loans Company"

In case anyone wasn't sure.

Also the address of the data controller (a legally required position for all institutions holding personal data under the Data Protection Act) for the Student Loans Company is:

Data Controller
Student Loans Co.Ltd,
21 St. Thomas Street,
Bristol.
BS1 6JS

You can address your S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) there as an alternative to that given in the Template above.

21 St. Thomas St. is also the address of Smith Lawson & Company Ltd. as mentioned above - so if you're dealing with that pseudo-branch of the Student Loans Company thats where to send information

THIS IS COURTESY OF THE BADGER that I copied over for convenience, thanks for your excellent work badger

[The_Badger]

Hey no problem.

just got my allocation questionaire through for Student Loans Claim.

By the way it helps when you get to filing a claim at the court stage if you quote the Civil Jurisdiction and Judegements Act 1982 as amended. This is because the SLC main office is in Scotland and so you want the case heard under English law here in England - I'll add the text of the additional paragraph to a template on the general thread.

The Badger

[maybelline]

thanks thats brilliant - new letter from a debt collection agency, Direct Legal & Collections which they say has been referred to them by their client, SLC, who have totally ignored my letter informing them of my circumstances for about the thrid time! how frustrating they are, they are threatening court action and a CCJ being registered. Can I put a claim into court to get rid of them pestering for a loan I do not owe, I am not claiming back charges of any kind?

[noomill060]

maybelline-

If they have added any of their £20 penalty charges to your debt, you may start a small claim to recover these in the same way as any other penalty charges.

This is exactly what I have done.

Once the papers land on their (SLC's) desk with a thud the boot is on the other foot and they will have to respond to the Court. After this there is no way they can hassle you until the actual debt is established.

[noomill060]

SLC caved in over arrears letter charges:

noomill v Student Loan Company ***WON***

[courtneycrumrin]

This is my first posting here and I found it whilst doing a search for Smith Lawson.

I have had years of problems with SLC/SLco

My wages decreased in Jan 2007 and I applied for deferment. I paid for Nov. & Dec. 2006, but applied to defer from Jan. 2007 onwards.

It took me months to get an application form out of them and I'd even sent them proof of the wage change before that, by recorded delivery. I finally got an application form in March 2007 and had to get a written letter of proof of wages as SLC lost the payslips I'd sent them in Jan. 2007.

I got my deferment, but they refused to remove the charges incurred during Jan, Feb. and March.

Now I was granted deferment and it was backdated, yet they will not remove the arrears charges that my deferment period covers. They phoned again today.

I am right in ignoring them? I did formally, in writing dispute the arrears on the details I have just relayed. That the arrears occurred due to their clerical error and loss of vital documents.

In addition, to those that may not know you can have deferment back dated up to three months. One of the main reasons I am disputing the arrears as my deferment covers the months they are charging me for, so my argument to them is that no arrears can exist in that time period.