Hello, While I was at university, we were all given iPads on loan in our last year and I made the mistake of leaving mine in a classroom one day. I informed the university as soon as I realised and was pretty much told by at the time not to worry as they could likely locate it. Of course, it never turned up, or at least was not logged on their system to have done, and they started emailing me after my graduation (June 2016) asking me to return or pay for it. I informed them I didn’t have it to return and could not afford to pay them the sum of £500 for it. I ignored their invoices and eventually they passed it on to STA International to pursue from me. I am still receiving letters from STA every few months, big red capital letters telling me I have however long to pay before they escalate it. I just would like to know, are these safe to ignore? Of course all manner of things such as CCJ’s and whatnot has been threatened, but I’m not sure whether these are empty threats or whether they really have the power to do anything. It doesn’t seem to have escalated past the ‘URGENT’ letter stage for quite some time, and their most recent letter (received today) gives me 5 days to pay apparently. Yes, I did fail to take care of the iPad. But, I am also of the opinion that for the £9k a year I spent at that institution, I don’t deserve to be pursued like this. For that money I’d expect to be gifted an iPad, not bombarded with threatening debt collection letters. I am simply loathe to give them another penny of my money. If anyone has any insight to STA and whether this is likely to go any further please let me know!

Hi I dropped out of Uni after 3 weeks after realising the course was not for me back in September 2017. Just before Christmas I periodically started to receive letters from the Uni (Located in Scotland) requesting payment of £1100. Since my departure from Uni I have had no income whatsoever. Despite doing my best to find employment I have had no luck .My wife works and I'm very conscious not to be a financial burden to her. I don't smoke or drink and I limit myself to one meal a day. She is very supportive of me in my search for work, and I don't wish to give the impression that she is some sort of tyrant because I am sanctioning myself in terms of money and using household resources .I didn't show my wife the letters because I didn't want to worry her, and in many ways I just hoped the situation would just go away. I have also had 3 phone calls from STA International which I also ignored. Last week I got a Final Notice from STA International outlining ways to pay in instalments and I don't know what to do. I am just wondering what the procedure will be from here on in if I continue to ignore them. What is the worst case scenario? Can I expect a knock at the door? Ps. I was a mature student studying in Scotland (where i also reside) and prior to going to Uni I was in a job which I had served almost 20 years

In October 2016 I took out a loan online from the sister company of the O University (OU), OUSBA for close to 7.5K (for 2 modules). The repayments were 500 a month. After a few months my circumstances changed and I was unable to make those repayments. I arranged with OUSBA to pay a token payment of 60 a month until my circumstances changed. My circumstances became increasingly worse. I had and still have a lot of trouble with the OU - namely they refused to grade my end of year work because it was submitted a couple of days past the deadline. However, this was due to malfunctioning software provided by the OU. I have been appealing this decision (and other issues that I have had with the OU) for the last 6 months. It has meant that I do not receive my degree. It has been extremely stressful and has impacted negatively on my health as well as resulting in a loss of earnings. Given all this I was unable to make one of the token repayments at the beginning of November, but paid it by the end of the month. In January I received a letter from OUSBA which was dated the 23rd December 2017. In this letter they refer to a Default Notice from the 25th November 2017 (which I did not receive) and said that they were terminating the agreement. The last of my payments however was on the 21st December 2017 (2 days prior to this letter). I wrote to them explaining the situation and asked that they revise the termination. stating that I wished to continue with the token repayments until the situation changes. I told them that I could provide a letter from doctor and also proof that I am currently unemployed. They wrote back simply saying that the agreement has been passed onto their legal agents, STA International and I need to contact them. A few days later I start receiving calls, SMS messages, emails, letters from STA International that state I must pay the rest of the loan 6.5K in full and I must respond to them within 14 days. I am extremely nervous about this (I suffer from anxiety and the stress of dealing with the numerous issues with the OU has significantly intensified my condition - I receive weekly professional help with it now) I do not have this money, as mentioned above, I am currently unemployed and struggling to make ends meet as it is. I don’t want to make any mistakes in dealing with this. Can anyone advise me on how best to deal with this situation. Can STA take me to court? What’s the worst that can happen? I am truly at my wits end after all of this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

Hi, I wonder if any one can give me any advice! I was enrolled into university September 2015 and was at university for around a week before I was involved in a serious car accident. The accident resulted in me having to withdraw from the course. The university provided absolutely no support to help me stay on the course as I was so reluctant to leave. I was told I had to pay £195 to them for 'Tuition fees' even though the first week I was there I didn't learn a thing! I've been paying £10 a month to STA International to clear this debt and have been for the last 6 months. Yesterday I got a letter from STA asking me to fill out a questionnaire where they're asking for all my financial details including my partners! i.e my salary and mortgage payments, car finance, gas & electric out goings. This is clearly an attempt from them to look at my finances and demand higher monthly payments from me. I contacted a STA adviser today who told me I agreed to the questionnaire when I set up the direct debit (this was over the phone), they have never had me sign anything to tie me into any sort of agreement! I told them I am not providing this information but will continue to pay my £10 a month until the debt is cleared. The adviser responded telling me they will phone, email and send letters until I send them this information back. My question is, do I have to respond with what they're asking for? will they be able to take legal action? I'm assuming not since I am paying them however I have never had any debt before and I am worried! Thanks G

Hi, I dropped out of university, due to illness, and the uni agreed that if I did not return I would be charged pro-rata and thus wouldnt have to pay any more cash as I had paid up to my date of withdrawal from the course. The Uni also agreed if I wanted to return to Uni this year to re-sit the course as I had mitigating circumstances, that I could also be allowed on the condition that I paid the outstanding uni fees to top up what I had already paid for the full year's fees. I am contemplating whether to go back next year, to sit the full year again for £1400 (Total price for course is £5.4k) or drop out completely and save the £1400. I have now received a Debt recover letter (attached) and hoping Caggers can advise as to what my next move should be? Any advise much appreciated. Kind Regards BB

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.

Hello Hope someone can please give me some advice on my situation. As a mature student I enrolled on an online degree course. At the time of enrollment when I asked about hours of commitment I was advised verbally that 15 hours per week was enough commitment to follow through with the degree course. Eager to start I enrolled and had 14 days from the date of the course date to change my mind. After a while it became clear to me and other students, that the hours we had been advised at the date of enrolment, did not coincide with the course reading lists and activities, as the hours recommended on each exceeded the 15 hours of commitment we had been advised during the enrolment process. A couple of other students and myself voiced our concerns on their online student forum a few weeks into the first semester, to which a student support officer replied, however I did not keep a record of this. The forum is no longer in existence. After the 1st semester it was clear I was not going to be able to maintain the schedule of works as I run my own business and needs must, and therefore dropped out, and was unable to login to to the course content and forum from this point on. I had paid approx half of the years course fee at this stage. The Uni then started to write to me about outstanding debt, to which I pointed out my dis-satisfaction with their enrolment process, and argued I felt 14 days was not enough of a cooling off period for a mature student to re accustom themselves with higher education and a degree course. They advised me of their complaints procedure. I stated before I can undertake their complaints procedure I would like copies of my forum posts and their student officers reply to that so I could include this to their Vice Chancellor in my complaint, I also asked for a copy of the syllabus and schedule of recommended reading and activities, again so I make my case. They refused to give me any information and still hold me accountable for the full years fee despite me not receiving either the full years course content and modules, or a full year of teaching. Each time they wrote to me I wrote back and contested the debt and asked for the information. I made the point again how can they advise someone 15 hours is enough per week to achieve the highest grade on a degree course without any prior knowledge of that individuals academic capability in the course he/she has enrolled for. I argued if I visited a physical university would I be told 15 hours a week was enough to achieve a first place on a degree course. On Feb 25 they wrote to me again advising of their complaints procedure. I wrote to them on the 27th again requesting the information and heard nothing back. In December I received a letter from STA international and have done some research on this forum and believe as the debt is with the Uni I have not taken an agreement out with them and therefore they have no right to chase me for the debt. I emailed the Uni accounts department and they confirmed receipt of my letter but advised me they had told me how to go about their complaints procedure. I told them I had requested information from them and they had no right to pass my debt to an agency. I have an email now form STA international stating: We are a debt collecting agency working on behalf of our client the ****** We have been instructed to collect the above outstanding amount and we have sent you a letter to this effect. To avoid any further costs or legal action you must contact us immediately on 0044 (0) 844 324 0607 quoting your pre-legal reference 1331195. Alternatively you can respond to this email. We await your urgent correspondence. So I wanted to ask: 1.) Should I have done a SARS on the Uni would that have provided me with the forum posts I wish to argue my case with their Vice Principle? 2.) As STA are working on behalf of the Uni does it mean they have a right to enforce the debt? 3.) How should I reply to STA? Or should I ignore? 4.) Is their any claim for mis-advice/information because of the enrolment process? 5.) As I was not able and have not received the full years course content/module and they have provided no service to me can they really enforce the debt? I understand they run a business but the way the lady reeled off the answer of 15 hours when I asked the question, in hindsight I know it was a common question and she knew she was not being entirely honest about the process. I also have a suspicion seeing the number of students who graduate each year on this course compared with the number who start is small, and I suspect their aim for first years is to get everyone on board signed up and then those that falter like me they can sell their debt on. Anyway any answers to my questions would be greatly received. Thanks for your time and assistance.

Hi guys had an interesting day yesterday, Got a letter from 1st Crudit, stating I owe a sum from 03/07, they stated if you pay 10% we will pay 90% a new one on me! I was in a class giving a lesson regarding debts, and how to deal with them. I used the details of the letter on the big electronic blackboard, pers removed. I broke all the rules and actually called them, went through the security then put the phone on loud speaker, explained to the guys on the other end that the call was being used as a training aid for the class I was running. They actually agreed to allow this and allowed the class to listen, I stated that the debt was SB'd and wanted this to be investigated and report back to me, they did not want to admit it was statute barred and wanted the 10% they were demanding, I asked all the right questions, like when was the last payment/acknowledgement they agreed that it was more than the 6 years for being SB'd, so a clever clogs in the class asked the question why are you asking for money that you can not get" they replied "it's worth a try because not everyone will know about the law regarding this2. The class laughed their heads off, the fool at 1st Crudit actually then got in such a state he called his supervisor to the phone he asked why was I letting a class listen to my call "simples" I say its to show them what idiots you lot are, he said "OHH OK THEN " then promptly hung up. This is a true story by the way just wanted to mess with a DCA. The letter regarding it being SB'd will be in the post soon

Hi all Looking for some advice, it would be much appreciated! about 3 years ago I was studying at university. Part of my course involved a field trip to the USA. I cannot remember but I believe the cost of this was around £400 ..... unfortunately after this field trip my uni career didn't work out and I had to leave. This left me in severe financial straits and I eventually had a DRO issued for me - however I stupidly forgot to include this uni invoice on it after having no contact with the uni or anyone else regarding this matter, about 2 months ago I get a phone call out of the blue from STA International chasing this money (nearly 3 years later). They have now passed it on to Hadfield & Co. solicitors who are threatening legal action etc. etc. The letter they have sent me does not include any breakdown or explanation of the debt, it simply has the reference, the client's name and the "debt amount" which somehow is £556 ?? Can anyone suggest what I should be doing - as, needless to say, I can't afford this! Many thanks in advance

Hi all, first post here so sorry if it's in the wrong place. I have been receiving phone calls and letters from a company called STA international claiming I owe £780 from a University Accommodation debt. According to the University it is because even though I moved out, I was still liable for the charges. I left university late 2008 and don't feel that this debt is mine. I stupidly made one payment to shut them up earlier this year (guessing it means I can't wait for it to become SB) What do I do? Thank you in advance for your assistance.