Thanks JonCris - as it happens, Reading is our local County Court. (I'm not sure what "protection of CPR13" means - perhaps you would explain?) We have received a copy of the reasons why CCM have requested the judgement be set aside - they claim not to have received either the claim or the judgement (they only discovered this had happened when one of their clients informed them they had a CCJ against them!) and they have a reasonable chance of defending the case. We also have a copy of (probably a summary of) their defence. I don't want to go into detail but centres on them claiming they have never received any correspondance from us and therefore their only recourse was continued contact by telephone. We do, of course, have all the evidence we need to show we have written to them - including an email receipt from them when we sent a message via their 'contact us' page on their Website! I have also double-checked the address used for our Claim and it is the one published by them online - I shall print out that page and show it in Court.

My Credit Agreements weren't signed by the SLC either. I don't know what the precise legal technicalities are about the SLC not signing them, but I was advised by a magistrate that I know that a judge would be unlikely to accept this as a good enough reason to make the agreement null and void.

My wife spoke to the Court Manager today about the application to have the judgement set aside: The Court Manager said that everyone has the right to apply for a judgement be set aside, which is what CCM has done. At the time of making this application, no reason has to be given. A District Judge will now hear this application, when CCM must present their reasons, and the Judge decide whether to remove the judgement. If the Judge does set the judgement aside, CCM must then file a defence to the claim. (I.e. setting judgement aside does not mean 'losing' the claim; it means the claim has to be heard.) I hope this makes sense. I have found a couple of useful links related to this: National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 12 How To Set Aside A Judgment In The County Court Debt Factsheets - How to set aside a Judgment in the County Court I hope this makes sense to everyone.

Name removed - thanks! My wife will phone the Court tomorrow to see if they will give us any more info (the claim is in her name), and then I'll pass that along. Otherwise, all we can do is wait.

This is the letter I received today: I don't have any further information at the moment, but will post when I do. To answer your other questions: In terms of the actual alleged arrears, I have a record of how much is charges and will get them removed along with the arrears themselves. I have accurate records of when the SLC was informed that we changed address. The loan is deferred, but deferment wasn't back-dated to the start of the repayments, which has left arrears.

Rather annoyingly, I have received a "Notice of Transfer of Proceedings" today, saying my "claim has been transferred to the Reading County Court for that court to deal with the defendant's application for setting the Judgement aside". (I don't know why this can happen after judgement has been issued, but obviously it can.) I will keep this thread up-to-date with proceedings. Thanks for your advice noomill060 - I have a record of all calls from CCM (date, time and what was said) and shall certainly bring it to the Court's attention. I didn't know that this constituted an Attempt to Pervert the Course of Justice. They haven't contacted us since judgement was issued.

Interesting you say things seem to go round in three-year cycles - that's what I'd noticed too. When I moved house and changed telephone number, the SLC just looked me up and found my new number.

Sorry - for those that aren't familiar with it, Money Claim Online (www.moneyclaim.gov.uk) is Her Majesty's Courts Service Internet based service for claimants and defendants.

Victory! I have just read on the "Money Claim Online" Website that the judgement I have requested against CCM has been issued and that CCM will be informed immediately. I will let you know how smoothly the process of actually getting my compensation goes. PS. I guess this means that the next time they telephone me, I can ask if they have called to make a payment!

Hi Troggie, I've read the thread you started and have left you a message there.

Hi Troggie, There is a lot of information in this forum and, it is almost overwhelming, it is well worth spending a long time going through it. It is very reassuring when you learn that you are not the only one in your situation and that there are things that you can do. Please understand that my answer is based on what I have learned from this forum and other (mostly internet-based) sources and not from any legal training at all. First of all, I do not believe that the government have or ever would set a deadline for repayments. I, personally, would not believe this information and so do not worry about it. If you remain concerned, mention it to the next rep you speak to and ask for documentary evidence that this is the case. If you are in email contact with the SLC, then ask for it via email as well and keep you message as a record. If I understand your situation correctly, it sounds like you have a student loan and that some arrears have accrued. I guess that the main part of the loan is deferred, but the SLC require immediate repayment of the arrears. This is similar to my situation (in my case, the arrears were the result of an error by the SLC, so I am disputing them), and I have spoken to a lot of SLC representatives who have given conflicting advice. If you accept that the arrears need to be repaid, but can only afford to do so with a repayment plan, then I think it is appropriate for the SLC to request an income and expenditure form. This is how you and they can determine a suitable repayment amount. When you do this, be brutally honest with yourself. Don't underestimate how much you spend on food, and car fuel. Don't forget to include annual payments (eg home insurance, car insurance, car servicing, etc). Include absolutely everything. You will then, hopefully, be able to agree a suitable repayment plan with the SLC. Now, the only helpful SLC rep I ever spoke to told me that if I genuinely could not afford to pay back the arrears, then they could also be deferred. As I disputed the arrears themselves, I never pursued that option, but it is worth asking about. I guess that you would have to demonstrate (with some evidence) your income and expenditure for this to happen. Another thing to remember is record and keep everything. If you can, physically record telephone calls, otherwise make a note of the date and time of the call, who you spoke to, what was said and what was agreed. You could also then email the SLC saying, “To confirm today’s conversation with Mr Smith of your company at 9:15am, we agreed that . . .”. This will be invaluable if the situation deteriorates and you and up going to court, especially if you and the SLC dispute what has been agreed. I hope this helps for now.

It is now 7th January and CCM have not responded to the County Court Claim. I have therefore requested judgement by default! I wonder if they will pay, or whether I will need to engage the services of a debt collection agency! By the way, since the notice was served on CCM by the court, they have telephoned me quite a few times (yes, over the Christmas period), including last night - the final day for them to submit a defence.

Just to keep those who are interested up-to-date, I have filed a County Court claim against CCM for £1,000 for compensation for the distress caused by their harassment. They have until 6th January 2010 to respond. I shall let you know what happens. I have procrastinated about suing the Student Loans Company, because it is not so straightforward submitting a claim against them in Scotland when I am in England. I will do it soon though.

Close Credit Management telephoned twice today, so I now must follow up my threat to issue a county court claim against them. Does anyone have any examples of similar situations and their outcomes? What would be a reasonable amount to claim in compensation?

Here's a similar letter I have emailed (via their Website) to Close Credit Management, who have been particularly unpleasant in their phone calls. Dear Sir/Madam Your Ref: xxxxx, Student Loan Company Dispute with Mrs K Mitchinson I refer to the accounts with the above reference number and the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing. I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only. Your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading. Furthermore, I have previously written to you concerning the issues that have arisen. This matter has occurred due to an error in the administration of my student loan accounts; there are no arrears outstanding. According to the CPUTR 2008 and the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) ‘Guidance on Debt Collection’, it is unfair for you to pursue me for payment when I am not liable. Furthermore, in not ceasing collection activities whilst investigating this disputed debt you are using deceptive and unfair methods. Ignoring the fact that the debt is disputed, and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment, amounts to physical/psychological harassment. I have today sent you a copy of my final letter to the Student Loans Company concerning my accounts and informing them I am preparing legal action against them and will be issuing a county court claim. Unless you cease collection activities immediately, including all phone calls, then I will issue a separate county court claim against you. Yours faithfully,

Here's a letter that I sent today - I will keep you up-to-date with what happens. Letter Before Action Loan Account Numbers xxxxxxxxxxx & xxxxxxxxxxx I refer to the accounts with the above reference number, which you claim have outstanding arrears. I have written to you on a number of occasions concerning the issues that have arisen. I have kept you fully advised in a timely fashion of my circumstances and the facts in this case. This matter has occurred due to an error in the administration of my account; there are no arrears outstanding. I am familiar with the CPUTR 2008 and the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) ‘Guidance on Debt Collection’. I point out that the OFT say under this Guidance, it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. Furthermore, in not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive and/or unfair methods. Moreover, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment. At the time of writing, there are three organisations (Banner Jones, Close Credit Management and Smith Lawson & Co) simultaneously claiming to be acting on your behalf and insisting on an immediate payment. I am of the view that your continued harassment puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and am, therefore, preparing legal action against you and will be issuing a county court claim. Official documents will be sent to you in due course. If you wish to avoid this action, then you must write to me within 14 days to state that all arrears and charges have been removed from my accounts and send up-to-date statements as confirmation. No further correspondence will be issued prior to commencement of legal action. Yours faithfully,

I apologise if this topic has been covered - I have searched this forum, but there are so many issues concerning the SLC, I couldn't review them all! My wife has had several issues with the Student Loans Company, the latest of which now looks like it may go to court. To summarise, the SLC claims never to have been notified that we changed address (I did notify them), and therefore the Deferment Application Forms were sent to the wrong address. My wife, therefore, did not claim for deferment, the loan became payable and arrears were accrued. Six months later, the SLC wrote to us at our new address (I don’t know how they found this out, because I don’t think we were on the electoral role by then), informing us of the arrears (just over £300) and requiring immediate payment. The very familiar saga of letters, additional charges, Smith Lawson and then a real debt collection agency followed, which has been well documented on these boards, so I won’t bore you with the details. Now, however, my wife has received a letter from “Banner Jones Solicitors” saying they are now preparing the case for legal action. I am confident we will win - I have discussed this with a magistrate that I know - but would still appreciate some more advice. Has the SLC actually ever taken anyone to court? Does anyone have any experience of this and what was the result? Also, has anyone taken the SLC to court for harassment? What was the outcome? Thank you for any advice.