Hi, I am writing on behalf of my husband. Will try to cut everything short and get to the basics, but if you feel you need more information to help you form an argument then I believe that I have quite a few things in our favour. The main point is, last year my husband paid off his student loan in FULL of approx. £5000 we thought all is clear, fine and well. Ironically a week or so later we received a letter from our University in RED writing saying that we owe money. Of course it said if you have already paid then ignore. We assuming that us paying the student loan was the same thing as paying the tuition fee as it usually covers it. It was almost as if the University received some kind of "tip-off" from the Student Loans company (SLC) that "we've got 'em" and for them to get in touch with us (for years my husband was abroad so he never used to receive their letters.) this letter stated "due to a course taken in 2015" which was way out since he studied 2005-2008. they have already made mistakes on their letters which I have copies of. I have been back and forth now between SLC and the University, as at first I was told that the SLC had "clawed back" the £1,225 tuition fee that they should not have paid on our behalf in the first place. Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) are now chasing us because SLC have taken back the money from them. All too confusing. Now that story has changed. SLC say they NEVER paid the tuition fee for the final year of study 2007/08 because my husband's loan application was not accepted and withdrawn as he failed to provided the necessary evidence. they only gave him a loan for the 2nd year which included the coverage of the tuition fee for that year. My argument then is that why was he allowed/able to graduate? We had friends that had to leave the course or could not continue at that time if they had not paid the fee. Period. we should not be made responsible to pay this after almost 10 years when they have made an error somewhere on their side/system. And since we have cleared the loan side of things. Did that make any sense? I hope so. Please any advice, suggestion, questions or feedback is much appreciated. Thanks in advanced, Kind regards

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

I needed to contact my university to get some transcripts. They told me that I have over £2k+ of fees that I still owe them. This is the first time that I heard about it. I've never received any letters from them. My home address did not change for at least 5-6 years after I graduated and I don't recall seeing any of the letters from them. I don't remember owing them any money at all. Do they automatically expire after a certain amount of time? I've asked for evidence for this. I don't think I've got any receipts for this and my bank statement won't go that far back. I do need the transcript for my next job.... so wonder whether paying 2k for it is worth it.

Hi This isn't actually for myself by my girlfriend. I have used this forum before and it was great so would appreciate some advice here. Its a complicated situation so in order to fully understand what has happened, here is the complaint she sent to student finance last week. "I would like to make a complaint regarding the communication skills and moral dishonesty of student finance. Before detailing the areas of my complaint I would like to state that I have always completed all paperwork on time, queried any abnormalities and upheld all details stated in the contract. To begin, I was given a maintenance loan and tuition fee loan without query when I began my degree in Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool (after recently completing my previous degree in Chemistry). I was aware that post-graduate students differ in their entitlement to student loans and spoke to numerous student finance advisers regarding this both before and after applying for a student loan. Not once was I told that student finance were making a mistake in allowing me my tuition fee loan and I was misled to believe that I would be able to finish my degree with complete financial support. That such a fundamental mistake could be made by so many of your staff is unthinkable and considering the impact it has now had on my studies, career, financial situation and well being. I am unable to understand how this mistake could have occurred multiple times and am seeking a full explanation regarding this. Not only did your staff make errors but I have been supplied with a full tuition fee loan for almost two years of my course and in this time your screening process has not picked up on this anomaly. I hope that this will also be addressed when investigating this complaint. Next, the manner in which Student Finance has dealt with their own incompetence can only be described as appalling. I received four letters in the space of two days and each letter had different values I was entitled to and confusingly spanned across a number of academic years. Together they were incomprehensible and incredibly unclear. My online account had always stated that I was received £0.00 for everything since you updated your online system. Upon querying this at the beginning of the year with one of you advisers I was told that it was just taking a long time to update. So I spokewith one of your advisers again to ask what all these letters meant; and although they also had trouble comprehending the situation I was told that the decision to discontinue my tuition fee loan had been made some time ago. I was never notified that my profile was being reviewed, given no written explanation as to why student finance had made such a mistake and offered no apology. This lack of communication is atrocious. How is Student Finance able to justify this knowing the impact this would have? As the investigation of this complaint I would require a full apology and would like to know the protocol Student Finance uses when dealing with ethically sensitive decisions. As of yet I not received the customer service that is advertised to students. Finally, I would like Student Finance to truly know the impact this has had. I am unable to fund my studies, am unable to apply for bursaries and have no additional financial support. I would never have invested the time and money into such a demanding and lengthy degree if I had not been misled by Student Finance on several occasions. I now face ending my course just before my exams that I will be unable to take and deal with the vast additional debt that would never have occurred. The actions of Student Finance will not only destroy my ambitions and career opportunities but will undoubtedly affect my well being. I expect an honest investigation on how this has happened,a sincere apology and how Student Finance aims to rectify such an abhorrent situation. " She has now been informed by her University (Liverpool) that she now may owe them 18k for the first 2 years of her degree. We live together and are independent (we rent) so obviously she cant afford to pay either the 18k herself or the further 3 years going forward. She obviously would want to continue with the degree if possible however we will have to see what happens. A strange situation I know. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Patrick

Hey all, Really panicking as I've been contacted by the dreaded DCA, STA International, regarding some 'alleged' outstanding tuition fees. Long story short, I attended Aston University from October 2008 to March 2009, which the full tuition was paid for that academic year. Upon leaving in March 2009, I notified both my department - who advised me to write a letter (which I did) - and the accommodation service, who refunded me in excess of £300 pro-rata for the rent I had paid up front (I have the proof of this). Following this, I notified the students loan company and tied up all the other loose ends. I then took up a place at another University in September 2009 and continued through and graduated. However, I recently started a new job in the finance industry and the job insisted on referencing Aston (this has been done before by my previous employer as well). Since then, Aston University has come back to me and stated that I now owe them £3,150 for the follow academic year of 2009/2010. I did not re-enroll for the second year as I had left the University and begun attending another one. In actual fact, I would not have been allowed to as I did not sit my Spring exams in the first year. What's panicking me is that my job credit checks all employees each month (part of our contract) and if I fail it, I lose my job. On the other hand, I don't have £3,150 to pay out just to clear the matter up, and that's if I did believe that I owed the money. Aston University are notorious for ignoring students and just plundering ahead, so I was wondering what I should do next - should I contact Citizens Advice Bureau? Should I advise the debt collection agency that this balance is under dispute? I intend to contact Aston anyway, however, I need to prevent this from damaging my credit file for the aforementioned reasons. Many thanks guys. B

I am not sure how common this is for the indigenous students of London? Almost two years ago, I studied for a Masters (Msc) degree at a leading London University in a Mathematics based subject. 99% of the students on the course were overseas Indian students. For some unknown reason I was charged the exact same tuition fees as the overseas Indian students. I should have only been charged £3,000 but I was charged £12,000. I complained non-stop to the universities finance department and they attempted to correct the mistake but failed to do anything to resolve it. I was then officially suspended from the university for not paying the £12,000 tuition fees within the agreed time. This meant I could not attend lectures, sit exams or hand in project work. I complained to the course tutor but I was ignored. I complained to the head of the finance department but I was ignored. I complained to the head of the Mathematics department but I was ignored. I have never received a reply from anyone at the university. I wrote further emails and letters to the university finance department. None have ever been acknowledged. I then received a letter from the University bailiff company demanding I pay £12,000 plus their administration charges. I decided to change my approach by escalating the matter to my local MP. My MP managed to persuade the university to see its failures. I received a revised bill of £3,000. No explanation was given for their mistakes. I was still deeply disappointed at the way my education and time had been wasted. The university expects the full tuition fees to be paid. Why should I pay for a course which I have not received? I should have only been charged for the six weeks I attended the university. None of this was my fault. I find myself in a situation where I have been issued with a county court judgement for £3,495. How can I reverse this or even fight it?