Hello, I am new and need advice.

I studied at Uni and thought I had paid all my fees in advance (mature student). On xmas eve I received a letter from STA saying I owed £700+. I did not reply as I wanted to speak to my uni when they reopened after xmas on 4th Jan this year. Uni had never contacted me in anyway to chase any outstanding date and this was a bolf out of the blue.

I have read online that its best to ignore them, but I have received three letters now and the odd phone call and becoming worried. I left uni and suffer a mental illness, that means I tend to worry and stress.

My friends and family support me and tell me to ignore them too, but I feel maybe I should just try to get the money together to get them off my back.

Today I received a letter from STA's solicitors stating that 'court proceedings will be issued in the appropriate jurisidiction without further notice' (I Live in England) and I am panicking.

Other threads online tell them to ignore everything, but the original people who post about being in my same position, never come back online and say how it all turned out.

All advice welcome.

I will try and find someone who can help.

Who are STA ?

When you spoke to University, do they say why there is this £700.00 which you had assumed was already paid and why they have not made contact with you before setting the hounds on you ?

sta international... debt collection on behalf of the university.

The uni were very wooley with their reply

but did state it was probably my last instalment of fees (I was a part time student).

I thought id paid upfront but I may have been in error now looking back on it.

At the time I was approved for a career development loan (via a highstreet bank)

but when they made multiple errors with uni over transferring monies,

I cancelled the agreement and paid the uni directly with my own funds.

I have asked others to look in on you - however, it might be worth sending a SAR to the Uni to obtain details of payments made and to find out if they have made any attempts to contact you regarding this issue prior to setting the hounds on you.

Can you upload a copy of this letter steve (less any identifiable data) ?

Regards

Andy

yes, here you go Andy

hadfield.pdf

Many thanks Steve

Okay if we could flesh the bones with regards to the actual debt..type of agreement ...commencement etc. amounts and any defaults etc

You state you are in England....did you attend Uni in England? Was the agreement initiated in England? Its just the letter refers to the appropriate jurisdiction.

Andy

The type of agreement is the confusing part and I do not have a copy anymore.

the course was 2010-12 and the total fees was £3600 of which I paid £600 initially before terms

and the balance in Dec/Jan 2011 when the career development loan I had arranged with a high street bank caused too much confusion.

So I paid the rest in full (I thought) to avoid any more embarrassment.

I thought I had paid the full remaining £3000 but uni stating I had only paid £3000 in total.

I paid via debit card from a bank I no longer bank with.

Last week I wrote this bank a letter asking for copy statements from those months, and have not yet had a reply.

I don't remember signing a credit agreement as I was paying in advance with clear funds from my own accounts.

I have had no letter or phone calls from the University ever about an outstanding debt.

The first I knew about it was when I got a letter from STA on xmas eve saying they were collecting outstand debt.

I work full time, and can get the money to pay if needs be (I have never been in debt before)

but I feel confused by the whole situation.

I live and attended the uni in England, all paperwork signed at the uni too.

Hi Steve...

Okay CDL (Career Developments Loans) are regulated by the CCA1974 and therefore you have protection from that legislation.With that legislation the creditor is bound to follow the guidance before they can seek any enforcement or request relief of the agreement.

Which Bank issued the CDL ?

As the creditor ever issued a Default Notice ?

You state you have done a letter....it may be wiser to DSAR request the Bank with £10 payment fee...this is a legal request for all the data held.

Some useful links....

https://www.gov.uk/career-development-loans/overview

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/courses/funding/Pages/default.aspx

Regards

Andy

Link to the DSAR draft..

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387306-Full-Subject-Access-Request-**Updated-January-2015**