Hope this is the correct place to ask this. Daughter is a Uni student and was in a mixed shared house with a number of others both male and female. All paid in to a deposit. A few months ago the basement toilet got blocked and overflowed. It's one of those macerator types and when the plumber inspected it a new unit had to be fitted - tampons were found in the system and were blamed on the failure. The landlord is now wanting to deduct the £600 cost of replacement from the deposit. Of course the chaps are saying this is nothing to do with them. The ladies are (reasonably) asking how can it be proven that they would be responsible? Can the Landlord do this or does s11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act (Landlord repair responsibilities) apply here? TIA Andy

Just seen an announcement that the Government is to sell off £900 million of Student Loans to the private sector for COLLECTION, it will be to the London Stock Market. Worth watching where this leads I think.

Hi, I've just received a very worrying letter from Drydensfairfax Solicitors telling me they will take me to court on behalf of Erudio if I don't contact them within a few days. Can they do this? The debt is from when I was a student in 1996, from The Student Loan Company. I haven't corresponded with The Student Loans Company since 2011. I asked for a complete breakdown of what they think I owe them using the Data Protection Act and the numbers they produced were incorrect! The amount owed was wrong in all their correspondence, it bore no relation to the numbers in the documentation they produced! I've paid, deferred, paid in alternate cycles over the years but according to them, I still seem to somehow owe them over £3000! I moved house. I am not on the electoral roll at my new address and have never been - 4 years and counting - so can they actually take me to court given that there is no proof that I actually live here? Is being on the electoral roll necessary for the commencement of legal proceedings? Can they really take me to court or is this an exercise in evoking deep horror and distress? Also, I am now 49 years old, will this debt simply expire when I'm 50?

Hi Under the new laws I see that fines are still allocated as a percentage of your weekly income. I was just wondering if anyone knows how this is defined for a student? The only money received is through loans and grants with no part time work. Regards Lewis

I could not believe I was reading this !! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4510778/Student-stabbed-lover-spared-jail.html

Hi all Just looking for a bit of information really. I took my first student loan in my first year of uni - 1997. and another loan each year after that so 1998 and 1999 - all the 'old 'style' loans. I have been deferring to Erudio since they bought them. However as for when these loans run out is it 25 years from the first one - 1997, or 25 years from when the last one was issued 1999? thanks all.

Hi, My son started a University course in September 2015 but left after a month due to health issues (both physically/mentally) we let the Uni and Student Finance know immediately. Student Finance are constantly in contact regarding an overpayment of just over £300 and refuse to back off and keep both phoning and sending letters, my son is claiming PIP but nothing else, he is on medication and a doctors letter has been sent to SF to explain the situation. They have suggested that I help pay his overpayment but im a carer for his younger brother and don't work. Ive been told that they will proceed to court and bailiffs and am worried about this. What is the best thing for us to do as he doesnt have any money at the moment? Thank you.

I have applied to defer my student loan payments to Erudio Student Loans (firm that the government sold student loans 2). I have given them my bank statement showing I get a small amount from my parents each month (I'm not employed or on benefit and I live at home rent free). Despite having my bank statement showing my income and the source of it (my parents), they now want a letter from my parents saying how much they give me. Surely there's no requirement in law for me to do this and a bank statement proves income and source of that income. This is just blatant attempt to put pressure on me to pay them. Anyone got any advice? They say if I dont get a letter from my parents they will not defer loan payments. Help! Thanks.

Hi, I am just wondering if anyone can advice me on what to do. I took out a student loan while at uni during the 1997-2001. I cannot remember paying or not paying towards the loan. As I understood it if you are earning £2318 or less per month (as stated on the letter sent to me by honour student) you can defer payment. I was made redundant in November 2010 and I am now self employed since January 2012. I have not been responding to their letters for the past 6 years or so as I am not earning close to that amount. I received a claimform through the post on the 15th of October from Northampton Court that I am owing £6236.16 Out of panic and confusion I didnt do anything this morning I log on to the MoneyClaim website where I filed and sent off the Acknowledgement of Service that "I intend to defend part of this claim. As I only have 14 days to do so as I do not want judgement to be entered against me as I believe the amount I owe is way less that £6236.16. My confusion is that I dont know what to do now. Please any advice/information will be well appreciated. Thanks

Hi, First time poster because I'm having a problem with the SLC! Sorry, this is going to be long... I had a student loan each year of my 4 year undergrad Masters from 2003-2007. I graduated with something like £21,000 of debt and immediately started repaying through PAYE with my job. I was in the UK for 4 years after graduating and then did some travelling starting October 2011. During the travelling, the SLC was in touch with my family who told them I was travelling (and therefore I wasn't earning). With hindsight, I wish I had used my savings on paying off my student loan in full rather than going travelling. : '( In 2014 I settled down in Canada and I've been working there with a visa and got in touch with the SLC via the overseas income assessment forms and have been making monthly payments via direct debits from my UK bank (I send the money to my UK bank from my Canadian bank). As of today, I have £13,040 outstanding on my loan. As an aside, during my time in Canada and my annual assessments, I was having issues with the SLC where they would give me 30 days from the date of the letter to update them on my income and provide proof. Usually I would get this letter 2-3 weeks after the date on the letter, partly because Canada Post is slow but mostly because they were sat on the letters for ages (based on postmarks). That would leave me to scramble with getting a letter from my employer and sending it back to the UK, which takes 7-10 days so my letter to them often arrived late. I even wrote them a letter explaining that if they're going to set a 30 day deadline to someone overseas, they should send that letter immediately! as of October 2016 I'm unemployed. I quit my job in the oil and gas industry due to health problems caused by working crazy hours for the preceding two years. I'm back in the UK because I wasn't able to support myself in Canada (lost my savings in the downturn) and I live with my parents for free. I contacted the SLC and told them I was no longer working. The woman I spoke to was lovely and sent out some new income assessment forms in early November. They asked for proof my parents were supporting me via regular bank payments, which they're not doing since it's not a regular payment to my account and instead they just cover my expenses. I called the SLC again to find out what proof I should submit. During this call, I had a 'disagreement' with their phone operator who started questioning me about how the SLC knows I'm going to stay in the UK, how they know I'm actually unemployed, how they know I'm 'not just on vacation,' etc. I can't prove an intention! I submitted the info recommended, specifically bank statements (UK and Canada) that show I'm exceptionally poor right now, a letter from my former employer with my final date, a letter from my father stating that they're supporting me by paying for everything and letting me live with them rent- and bill-free, and the SLC forms they sent. I gave them everything I could to prove what I was saying, which is more than they were asking for! I also sent it with proof of delivery because of the number of times in the past that they claimed to not have received something I sent (a likely story) and have downloaded this proof of delivery. I sent these forms on December 8, 2016, the delay being caused because I was waiting for the letter from my former employer. Also, by this stage I had made two repayments totalling £148 during my unemployment. I was advised to cancel the direct debit so I did. Fast forward to today I received a letter from the SLC with big red letters saying, 'You need to read this letter and take action to avoid penalties and charges.' They're asking for the exact same info I sent them on December 8. Obviously I'm going to call on Monday to find out what on earth the problem is. Has anyone been through this with this sort of threatening letter?

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me on dealing with this issue. I have always had my student loan on deferment, as I don't earn over the limit where you are obliged to make payments, however I've had a couple of problems in recent years with the deferment forms not reaching me (whether this is oversight on SLC's part or my crappy postman, I cannot judge (though I have in the past phoned SLC and asked for replacement forms to be sent out and not received those either). SLC, being the joys they are, won't backdate deferment, so in the past I've had to pay e.g. three month's worth of payments to cover the delay in getting my deferment application sent in and approved. The situation I am now in is that I never received the deferment application forms in 2007 and hence payments became due again (they don't have my bank details so can't just take payments from my account). I did call SLC at the time and request replacement application forms and never received those and with one thing and another (and very difficult family situation in the last year and more) I haven't gotten around to chasing them again over the deferment. Which means I defaulted on the monthly loan repayments and ended up getting threatograms from Mackenzie Hall demanding payment of the arrears. I contacted them and arranged to make a monthly payment (which I can't really afford!) and have been doing so since last summer - however due to difficult financial situations I have missed or was late with a couple of payments here and there which means they now say because I defaulted on the payment scheme agreed, if I miss or am late with even one payment now, I become liable to repay the entire amount (I think it's at about £800+ now). The other problem is that the arrears seem to be accruing at a rate higher than what I am paying each month (£117) so my overall debt is going up, not down! I didn't actually realise at first, when I spoke to them and agreed to make these payments, that the debt they are chasing me for was not a static amount of debt handed over to them by the SLC, but effectively the ongoing debt, which is increasing each month as another payment becomes due. I'm not sure what to do about this situation (being a muppet - and not having found these forums previously - I've dealt with these idiots on the phone and not in writing). I'm worried about the fact that this debt is continuing to increase but I'm also pretty sure that the SLC have told me that I can't apply for deferment again (which would at least stop payments becoming due each month and increasing the debt) whilst I still have arrears outstanding! Does anyone have any advice? Should I contact SLC re: the deferment? And should I write to Mackenzie Hall and try and sort something better re: the repayments etc?

Hi I am looking for some advice, I have been in contact with Erudio as due to my T&cs in my student loans my loans were due to be cancelled in july 2014. They are now more than two years later claiming I was in arrears at that time and I need to pay more than £4K. I had applied for deferment at the time from SLC they had rejected the deferment I disputed this as in all previous years my tax allowable pension and childcare vouchers were allowed in the calculation and Gross Pay was used to calculate the deferment . I heard nothing back for two years save some statements, a few months ago this from Erudio. I have explained the situation to them several times by letter and email. Now they are calling my home number every day which I don't answer and have repeatedly asked for them to contact by email or letter only so there is a paper trail. I have additionally contacted the financial ombudsman. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this Thanks

Hi there guys, my son decided that University was not for him and came home the second week of December 2016. He has just received a demand (request) for an overpayment of Maintenance Loan of £337.12 which is due immediately. They do however offer to discuss the matter and work out a repayment plan. This has been made by "Student Loans Company" slc.co.*k Unfortunately my son had already budgeted for what he needed for the rest of the term and had spent all of his remaining maintenance loan. As far as i was aware both the tuition fees and maintenance loan were not repayable until his earnings reached a certain threshold? If this is not the case due to him leaving early will he also be billed for his tuition fees for the rest of the term? There is also an added debt of his off campus university accommodation charges for the rest of the term (or maybe for a longer period depending on what the terms are for accommodation. This was arranged by the University) This is a bit of a mess so we need to deal with one thing at a time. + Maintenance Loan demand + 1. What can we do about this because my son has no income at all even though he has just applied for Universal Credits he will not get any income for quite a while because they do not count the first 2 weeks and then he will not be paid for a further 4 weeks after that. 2. Is there any way to get this debt sorted under the Student loan terms of only repaying when income reaches a certain threshold? I will tell him to not ring them yet until we get advice. Thank you in advance.

Before I narrate the incident I'd like to declare that I have realized my mistake and I'm really ashamed of whatever I have done. So please provide provide honest and truthful information. I was scheduled to have an interview for a job. I was running late and was wearing my brother's trousers as this is my first job interview (I do not have formal clothes). as soon as I entered the rail station I checked my pockets and couldn't find my oyster and thought I had left my oyster card at home. However, my brother's oyster was in the trouser and just so that I make it on time for my first interview, I decided to use his and as soon as I touched the oyster (for tfl london underground tube) one of the staff member called and said show me your card. I remained calm and showed him upon seeing his picture he knew it wasn't mine so he took all the details and asked me why have I got his card and not mine I said I was in a rush and by mistake I took his card. He was very adamant and very strict so he asked me to write my name and sign a piece of blank paper. He noted all the details such as house address, my appearance as well:|. He said we'll investigate further and check where it has been used to cross check which is completely fine because this is the first time I actually used his oyster and got caught straightaway He did mention that I was using my brother oyster to avoid fare and I said no. I left and walked out of the station, while on my way back I randomly opened my bag to see if I had kept my oyster in there. Surprisingly enough it was in my bag. By the time I got back to the station, the inspector was gone and since I was getting late for my interview I did not decide to do anything. What I want to know is that what are the consequences of this?? I know it is my mistake and because of my carelessness I could get into serious trouble. I have been looking online and it says that for some cases, a person can be fined upto a £1000 and a criminal record:sad: I am in so much stress because it is a matter of education and employment-it could be over due to this wrong decision I made. A criminal record is the last I need because I am in 2nd year of my university doing a health-science course (NHS) and can affect my studies. What is the possible outcome? the inspector did not give me any paper or form. I'm 19 and it is my first offence. How long do they take to get back to you? Will I just be fined or will I have to go court? Anything that I can to prevent them taking this case to a courrt? Any help will be much appreciated

Hello, I unfortunately find myself at a point in my life where I was made redundant, owe approx £30,000 and have very little income and no assess. I have decided bankruptcy seems the most logical solution as I have had to retrain so will be doing a degree for the next 3 years. The only issue I have is trying to understand what payments I will need to make, if any. So my income is as follows: Student Finance (Including Parents and Dependent Allowance) - £12000 (Paid for 39 weeks only) Tax Credits - £168 a week Child Benefit - £48 a week I have 3 young kids and a wife. My problem is I have asked both Citizens Advice and Stepchange but both are unsure if my Student Loan can be classed as income. I was quoted the following: 31.7.78 Student loan income It should be noted that where a bankrupt is in receipt of a student loan this is not income which can be claimed under an IPA/IPO. So does this mean my income would be tax credits and child benefit? I find it hard to believe that they would ignore my major source of income. Any help appreciated, for reference the figures are within a few £'s as I do not have exacts but am happy to find them if needed. Thanks.

I am in receipt of PIP and ESA, I have been diagnosed with Depression, Psychosis and PTSD. I live a very solitary life, with no friends or support from my family, I have a care worker from Mind who visits me for two hour once a week, aside from this I am completely withdrawn and live without any kind of contact with other people. I decided this was not a healthy way to go through life, after living this way for 4 years I decided perhaps further education could be a good option, to get to meet people and engage more in reality. In September this year I was offered a place on a part time post graduate degree at my local university, I was also awarded a £10.000 loan from student finance to cover the course tuition fees and extra expenses incurred by my studying (transport, study materials etc.), the loan is to be paid in six instalments over the two years of the course. I am now 3 weeks in to the course and I finding it very tough. I only have two hours of lessons per week the pressure is proving to much and it is now looking like I will leave the course next week, the loan will be cancelled as soon as I complete the course withdrawal form, however I have received the first payment. which was £1650. I am worried that I may lose my entitlement to ESA and PIP if I do not declare the time that I have studied for and also the amount of money I have borrowed and I am preparing a change of circumstances form to send to Jobcentre plus, could anyone please give me some advice as to how best to approach this situation.; Questions If: The total amount I have borrowed is £1650 (This must be paid back to student finance) The total amount of time I have studied is 6 hours over three weeks. I have a signed course withdrawal form, stating that I have left the course. I can provide proof of attendance showing that the course was only two hours a week. That I was only enrolled on the course for three weeks. I would like to know. . Was this amount of study time within the allowed boundaries set by ESA/ PIP Is this loan classed as Income or Capital by ESA/PIP Will I lose my entitlement to ESA and or PIP? If not, will my benefits be reduced? Many thanks Coda.

Hi Guys, I'm a returning international student with about £3,000 in credit card debts, phone loans and overdraft that I blasted about a year ago. Now that I have a postgraduate offer to study in the UK again, I was wondering what can I do to stay out of trouble. Obviously, I was young and immature to have been doing such acts back then. I was hoping to pay continue paying said debts above upon my first return home but the job market is tough and I was not able to even make enough back home to cover (especially when earning below average salary and local currency is worth 0.20 to a quid. Fast forward, I am definitely sure I would need to open a bank account to survive as Britain is a cashless society, and need an account to receive student allowances. What are my options at this point?

Hello. Sorry if this is in the wrong place but I am new. During the years 2010-2012 i attend university. I received loans and grants for this period. During 2011 ( the final year) me and my partner separated and obviously this affected the household income meaning I reapplied to student finance. They requested evidence which I supplied. They continued to request evidence over months, actually years after I had left uni. I supplied all the evidence I could and they then started to request evidence of my ex's earnings during the time we were together and proof of when we split (God knows how you prove you no longer live with somebody? I sent the lease but they didn't accept). Eventually I gave them my exs new details and sent everything he had given me. They continued to request more P60s or wage slips (through me) and my ex understandably had had enough of this year's after we split. They never contacted him directly. last month my mum received a letter from them asking if I live there ( I haven't for 8 years) and I told her to give them my address....as I assumed it was just student finance about my loans etc. Now Advantis are contacting me requesting £6000 for all grants received as I didn't provide evidence that I was entitled to them ( which I 100% was, I never lied and provided everything I was able to). I emailed student finance asking them to clarify this debt as I wasn't comfortable contacting a third party when I hadn't heard from them in over 4 years. No reply. I don't really know what to do, the debt is 4 years old so I can't remember any amounts. They could ask for any amount from me and I would know no different. My question is, should I contact advantis as they've requested? Thank you in advance.

Tens of thousands of people will receive refunds, plus interest, for charges incorrectly applied to student current accounts held with RBS and NatWest between 2002 and 2016. The RBS Group, which RBS and NatWest are both part of, says it has written to affected customers. The two banks offered interest-free overdrafts on their student current accounts. However, some people had the option to increase their arranged overdraft limit, in exchange for interest being charged on these higher balances. But following a business review this year, the RBS Group discovered this went against the terms and conditions of the account, which said students would not be charged interest on any authorised overdrafts. As such, it is refunding any interest it charged on these authorised overdrafts, plus interest. http://www.moneywise.co.uk/news/2016-08-25/thousands-due-refund-after-rbs-student-account-error

I've received a letter saying around £100 plus another £80 of compensatory interest is to be refunded to my account reflecting a mistake in charging overdraft interest to my student account which I opened in 1998. I called the remediation operations as directed by the letter to sort out at least the charges, but the representative I spoke to wasn't able to help much, but she said that this should represent all interest charged to the account. It doesn't match up with even my last 6 years of statements, which total ten times this much, plus several charges. I've previously claimed my penalty charges back from natwest, but did not get into the interest as it seemed too complicated at the time (c.2006/7) I can only easily get statements going back 6 years through online banking, and although I have a ton of historic statements from my previous claim, I don't have anything from 2006-2009. Anyone had a similar letter? Can I get statements beyond 6 years old?

Hi all, I've read a lot of people in a similar circumstance to my own on here, but thought I'd post my case as it progresses. I received a letter from some company called Honours Student Loans (HSL) a few days ago saying that they have 'now located me' and that I owe them £1600 in 'arrears' for a debt of £2500 and they have also applied a 'trace fee' to my 'debt'. From what I've read on here I'm not the only one, although a lot of the cases I've read are quite old now, so not sure if they've changed their tactics at all. Incidentally my original loan was for £1800 and I paid some of that off in bits so god knows where those figures came from. my student loan was from 1997, after which I started to pay it off for about a year, I deferred for a year, I moved and continued to defer, I moved again, informing the student loans company all the time of my address. I stopped hearing from them, no deferrment forms. Long story short I read in the paper that they were about to go bust and thought that the debt had just been anulled. That's probably when HSL bought all their loans. I was 17 odd years ago, last contact was maybe 14 or 15 years ago. Bottom line is that my debt is statute barred (from what I gather on here). I ran a credit report on equifax, I have no CCJ's current or passed, credit rating is good. today I'm sending the statute barred template letter, royal mail signed for. After that I guess I'll hear nothing for a while and then I'll get a reply saying I deliberately withheld my address or something, which is nonsense, (also from what I read on here), then god knows. Is there anything else anyone can think of that I should be doing at this stage? Any tips? Thanks

I've been able to defer repaying my student loan from the 1990s as I earn way below the cut-off point for repayment, largely due to chronic illness. However, this year, although I submitted my income evidence straight away, I was asked to submit more evidence as SLC claimed they could not establish my income (even though it was very clearly stated in the documents, as in previous years). I then sent off more financial information straight away which confirmed my income. Nearly a month later no one at SLC is able to confirm whether the information has been received or not. I have sent in the evidence again, as well as emailing them and calling them. They never call me back as promised and it certainly seems as though they are just ignoring my income evidence so that they can start taking repayments. When I got through to SLC on the phone I explained my situation and how little I earned the guy said he would stop the first payment - that will put me in arrears but then I have 3 months to prove my income. At the time I thought this was a good idea as I can't afford to start making repayments on my income but further research has shown this could spoil my credit rating. Does anyone know if it will be possible for me to reinstate this Direct Debit agreement by phone so that if SLC don't confirm the deferment in time they will take the first payment? Having researched online, I'd actually rather now pay the first repayment and try to claim it back after proving my income as if I go into arrears I can imagine that SLC will try and ruin my credit record. The bottom line is though SLC have had plenty of time to establish my income and as it is way below the cut-off point they should issue a confirmation of deferment letter. My first payment to them is due in a week and I'm at my wits end worrying what will happen when this date arrives. I've just sent off all the information yet again to their Complaints Department - it might seem a bit early to open a Complaint Case but I thought it might at last make them sit up and notice all the documentary evidence I've sent them. As far as I know my loans aren't connected to Erudio loans which I've just been reading about. As far as I am aware, my loan was originally with SLC and then it was taken on by Honours Loans. That said, it certainly appears as though it is SLC who have to tell Honours Loans whether or not to defer the loan. I'd greatly welcome any advice on this, given my illness I have plenty of time to this sort this out but SLC have ignored all the evidence I've sent them in the last month. Calling them seems a complete waste of time as even when they answer they just say their screen will either show a yes to deferment or nothing - it's not possible for them to look into the case for an update or to check out if any documents have been received. It certainly seems as though they are trying to wear down the lowly paid into paying back their loan even when they very clearly aren't obliged to unless they earn £2400+ a month . I certainly hope I won't have to go through this hassle every year.

Hello, I am new to the forum having joined today. I'd be so grateful for any advice please. In September 2015, I signed as a guarantor for my son's first year student rental in a shared house. I understood then (as now) that each renter and guarantor were jointly and severally liable for any debt or damage incurred. This agreement was signed by each party on the understanding that there would be six tenants in a shared house. However the sixth tenant never showed up and the letting agency have failed to find a replacement renter. This has meant bills have had to be shared by 5 instead of 6. The letting agency gave a verbal assurance that the 5 renters wouldn't have to pay for the missing tenant and indeed the 5 students have been paying a sixth of the overall rental each month. Now they have received a demand from the letting agency for the missing rent from the no-show renter, backdated from September. When our son queried why they were not chasing this person's guarantor, they said they'd made several efforts to contact the renter and his guarantor, to no avail - so now the other renters and/or their guarantors were liable. Today the letting agency has admitted the missing renter never did sign any contract with them, so he has no responsibility to pay the rent and neither do his guarantors. At no point has the letting agency advised the 5 tenants to recruit a replacement, or warned them of their liabilities for the room not being let. Any advice would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi all, I could really do with advice on this: This morning I received an email from UCLAN citing unpaid tuition fees from 2010. I called them as I believed it to be spam because my fees were paid and I didn't stay longer than 1 year. From the conversation with UCLAN and looking at my online info it turns out I was overpaid £2500 by Student Finance... 6 years ago. Student Finance have never contacted me about it and I am currently a student again elsewhere but UCLAN have said they're getting in touch with SF to make them aware of the overpayment. I contacted SF myself but they couldn't give me any info at this stage and I would be contacted by their collections team in due course Is there a length of time by which SF would have to have notified me by? 6 years of not knowing is a pretty long time... Many Thanks Kx

Hi all, I was studying a creative media HND course at College. However, I was suffering from bad depression due to money issues, personal health reasons and something bad me and my girlfriend were going through at the time. I completed my first year, But in my second year I left a couple of weeks after my April Payment (2015). Student Finance contacted me at that time and said it was classed as an over payment and that I owed them £2500. I already owed some money out and whatever I had left I had to pay the rent until August where I was living as I was in a contract and didn't have any other money to live on. With all what was going on I ended up forgetting all about it as I had bigger issues at the time. I have just received an email from CCS collect telling me to ring them, and i'm guessing it's the student finance. I would like some help and to see what my options are. I don't want a CCJ but I also can't afford to pay back anything either. I am really struggling at the moment, no longer speak to my parents and I have been staying on friends sofas for a few months now. Is there a minimum payment that I can set up with them and how much would that be. Although I probably can't afford what they are asking. I also have a £1800 overdraft with a bank that's maxed out. So I technically have less than 0 money. If anyone can help me and suggest what the best option would be that would be great. I really don't think it's fair that I owe them this money back and why they can't just take it back when I am earning a salary like any other student. I left with depression and still needed that money to continue to pay my rent off for the student year.