Thesis - and my student loan

[JohnnyD1]

Its my first post and I am looking for a bit of advice.

 

I had been happily paying off my student loan to a debt collection agency via direct debit until earlier this year when the payments stopped being taken from my account. I have about £2000 left to pay.

 

Now I am having Thesis getting in touch with me looking for payment. I am getting royally hacked off with having repayment set up and working only for someone else to take it over.

 

I have a few questions that I would like help with.

 

1) The Student Loans Company indicates on some of their letters that Thesis are the people to contact regarding 'Thesis administered accounts'. Are Thesis a separate entity from SLC?

 

2) Thesis have recently contacted my father and grandmother by phone (who were the original guarantors on the Student Loan). Is this an acceptable practice? And what is the best way of dealing with it?

 

3) If Thesis have bought the debt at a knock down price from SLC should I offer to pay 20% now in return for them closing the debt?

 

3) Is there any grounds for disputing the debt? Statute Barred probably won't apply as I had been making payment to the previous debt collection agency but I haven't acknowledged the debt to Thesis.

 

4) I will be sending a CCA template letter to Thesis today. I will let you know how I get on.

[veester]

You can probably complain along the lines of poor quality of service.

Not your fault they took over payments and they stopped taking payments during the transfer, you didn't cancel the payments.

 

Thus any charges/extra interest during the period of non payment don't apply, as its not your fault. If they argue take them to the FOS/OFT.

 

If they were guarantorrs - i am not sure, but arguablly as long as they do not harrass them then probably not a big issue. That said now the loan is being managed by a debt company the guarantoor element may not apply.

 

Plus during the handover you would argue they'd get all pertinant informaiton from the old debt collection agency, another tick in the crap quality of service box

[MARKWHEETY]

Just out of interest - why are you paying your student loan to a debt company in the first place....

 

The student loan has never been a credit agreement and thus they have no right to sell it on....

[cerberusalert]

Is this the old style student loan or the new 'mortgage' style loan agreement?

[Seminole]

There are other threads about Thesis on this site. As I understand it SLC have been selling tranches of student loan debt to Thesis for a while now.

 

I'm astonished that there hasn't been a political stink about this. Thesis are Link Financial by another name. Link are an odious debt buyer/ collector.

 

My understanding is that, among the debts sold, are those where payments are not required because the debtor is earning below the repayment threshold. Putting these sorts of accounts in the hands of a company link Link, given their normal business practices, is simply appalling.

[cerberusalert]

I'm astonished that there hasn't been a political stink about this. Thesis are Link Financial by another name. Link are an odious debt buyer/ collector.

see; InsideARM: LINK Financial Launches Brand Dedicated to Student Loan Servicing

[JohnnyD1]

Hi guys.

 

Thanks for getting back so quickly. Here is some more details on my situation.

 

The Student Loans date back to 1996, 1997, and 1998 when I was at university. Thesis have the loans for the first two years. The SLC still has the final loan and I am paying this off direct to them.

 

After university I did go off the radar for a bit and moved flat nearly once a year for about 5 years. I was self-employed and had my head buried in the sand with regards to my debt. Eventually I got round to facing up to my debt and got back in contact with the Student Loans Co a few years ago to sort it out. Part of the debt had been passed on to a DLC and I was paying off to them in installments.

 

MARKWHEETY - To be honest I want to find out if I can avoid paying off Thesis. Could use the money to feed and clothe my expected newborn baby.

 

"The student loan has never been a credit agreement and thus they have no right to sell it on...." please can you fill me in with more details on this.

 

I have sent off a CCA letter to Thesis. What do they need to enforce the repayment and if they do not have certain documents does this mean I can avoid repayment and tell them to go away? Can they legally enforce payment or could it lead to me getting a CCJ against me?

 

I will keep you updated on what I get back from Thesis.

 

I would still appreciate any other comments, advice or help from other members. Cheers for the help.

[cerberusalert]

It's the old style loan & the chances of them being enforceable are slim.

 

Was there a clear period of six years where no payment or acknowledgement of the debt was made? If so they/it will be Statute Barred anyway.

[gyos]

The student loan has never been a credit agreement ....

 

The pre-1998 loans were regulated credit agreements.

[MARKWHEETY]

This is totally unbelievable and should be made more public.... I cant see how the SLC can have had the right to sell on your student loan (basically government money).

 

I would go down the route of SARS requesting the SLC and get all information they hold on you and then find out where the have the right to sell your agreement onto a commercial company. This is a government backed organisation selling your debt commercially.

 

At the end of the day the idea of the loan was when you reach a threshold to pay it back through your tax code (new loans or not) and regardless of if you went off the radar then you should be repaying this through your tax code / employer not to a seedy debt collection agency (ie deductions before you get your wage slip) this practise has got to be damn right immoral.....

 

Even it does turn out to be a credit agreement I bet it will not be enforceable.

 

Get more info and post it up here!

 

This has really got to me, will offer any support I can....

[slyspy]

with the SLC now starting to add defaults (in contravention of their original agreement conditions), they are acting more like DCA's all the time.

[gyos]

This is a copy of a pre-1998 agreement that I have seen. (not mine I should add)

 

[JohnnyD1]

GYOS - That looks exactly like the Loan Agreement forms I signed all those years ago. I might have original copies somewhere but I am not sure.

 

It's the old style loan & the chances of them being enforceable are slim.

 

Was there a clear period of six years where no payment or acknowledgement of the debt was made? If so they/it will be Statute Barred anyway.

 

From the time the loans were taken out I did not acknowledge the debt until I made a first payment to DCA Credit Solutions on 28th April 2007. I don't think I ever sent any deferment form back to SLC during this time either. Since 28/04/07 I have made regular payments to THREE different DCA's and Thesis is the fourth. Do I therefore still qualify for Statute Barred?

 

If I am correct in saying there was at least a clear 6 years before I acknowledged debt and even though I started paying a DCA and I have the same loan agreement as GYOS posted, does that mean I can tell Thesis to take a hike, case closed with no further consequences?

 

I have not yet acknowledged the debt to Thesis only ask that they send me a letter with details when they first called. I have been dodging their calls ever since. Probably why they started bothering my Dad and Gran.

 

This forum has been a great help and an inspiration and I have only been on here 24hrs. Great work guys. Thanks.

[cerberusalert]

If I am correct in saying there was at least a clear 6 years before I acknowledged debt and even though I started paying a DCA and I have the same loan agreement as GYOS posted, does that mean I can tell Thesis to take a hike, case closed with no further consequences?

Yes, they have to prove there wasn't a six year gap where no payment or written admission was made. Send them this; http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/599-letter-sent-when-debt-is-statute-barred

[JohnnyD1]

When does a Student Loan become due? Once you graduate, once you start working, once you start paying it off????

 

The handy pop-up info when you hover over 'Statute Barred' gives me even more confidence.

 

"In principle, a debt cannot be enforced after 6 years from the date upon which it became due.

The 6 years runs from the last time that the debt was acknowledged in any way or from the last time that a payment was made towards the debt.

Once a debt has lapsed, it cannot be revived - even through a subsequent acknowledgement or payment.

The relevant law is contained within the Limitation Act 1980."

 

So basically my understanding now is that there was a period of over six years that I didn't acknowledge the debt or make repayments. Even though I have subsequently made payments. The Limitation Act 1980 makes any claim any party has to persue this debt null and void.

 

What do I need to ask Thesis for, for proof that I MUST pay them under the law? And if they cannot provide the relavant documents is there an appropriate template letter to send them?

 

Or what documents can I provide to Thesis to proved that they have no legal right to persue this debt?

 

Or can I just send Letter M (http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html) from the Templates Thread. Would I need to add an additional paragraph stating the period I was out of contact before I started paying or will it work without?

[cerberusalert]

So basically my understanding now is that there was a period of over six years that I didn't acknowledge the debt or make repayments. Even though I have subsequently made payments. The Limitation Act 1980 makes any claim any party has to persue this debt null and void.

Yes

 

What do I need to ask Thesis for, for proof that I MUST pay them under the law? And if they cannot provide the relavant documents is there an appropriate template letter to send them?

You do not have to ask them for anything, they must prove that the debt is enforceable.

 

If you want a belt and braces approach you could send a sar to get copies of statements proving when payments were made towards the a/c, but personally I wouldn't waste the £10. The ball is in their court once you send the SB letter.

[cerberusalert]

When does a Student Loan become due? Once you graduate, once you start working, once you start paying it off????

The answer to that is in post #12, 'You must make your payment in the April after you complete or leave your course;'

[JohnnyD1]

 

The ball is in their court once you send the SB letter.

 

The SB letter states "The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time."

 

Will I need to change this to reflect my circumstances and indicate the period that I am referring to or can I just send the letter as written and see what Thesis comeback with?

[cerberusalert]

You could change it to "no payment was made from April (the year it was first due) until the date you first made a payment (which mut be a period of six years or more).

[MARKWHEETY]

Not 100% sure how that would work (SB) because in this case you can defer this loan every year until your 60 - but the debt still exists until its write it off at that point.

 

Just because you went off the radar for 6 years in this case could have been treated as a deferment rather than a "missing person" as such.

 

Just a thought!

Edited August 29, 2009 by MARKWHEETY

[cerberusalert]

Just because you went off the radar for 6 years in this case could have been treated as a deferment rather than a "missing person" as such.

Payment becomes due unless he applies for deferment.

[gyos]

Just because you went off the radar for 6 years in this case could have been treated as a deferment rather than a "missing person" as such.

 

Nope. Doesn't work like that unfortunately.

 

To defer, you MUST return the deferment forms and proof of income each year. If you don't then you must start making the scheduled payments. If you have gone "off radar", then no deferment will happen and you will start building up arrears of payments, even in your absence.

 

Been there and done that......

[debt4get]

as an aside and I do not want to hijack this thread, logically if the goverment can and has sold these loans to dca's then I am hoping they are going to put the banks on notice that unless they start repaying their loans they too will be put in the hands of debt collecters, QED I think

[angry cat]

Despicable, thank you Blair & Brown!

Student loans: private companies tighten grip on graduates’ wallets|11Oct08|Socialist Worker

 

This will no doubt lead to another nail in the PM's proverbial coffin.

 

Interesting isn't it?

 

Link Financial t/a Thesis took over these student loans debts in October 2008, this was around the very time when we were all complaining to Caerphilly/Lambeth Trading Standards about the Link Financial Unfair Business Practices;both TS offices were not helpful and in my opinion attempted to water down the complaints.

 

We then went on to make a mass complaint to the OFT...

 

At the time it was surmised that, there was a bias on the side of TS caused probably by the opening of the new Link Financial office in Caerphilly, which of course brought new employment into the Caerphilly area, thus the possible bias by TS.

 

However, we know now about the off loading by the Gov. of these Student Loans to the private sector, at the time when the Gov. were bailing out the Banks with millions of pounds of taxpayers money!

 

This government has wrecked this country and now they are intent on ruining the lives of the future of the country; the students.

 

IMHO, it was morally incorrect to sell of the Student Loans to private debt collector(s) such as Link Fianancial who use covert Unfair Business Practices employed in their cesspit world of debt collection.

 

Personally speaking, I am appalled, the matter is an utter scandal...SHOCKING

 

http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/15200740000.htm

 

AC

Edited August 27, 2009 by angry cat

[debt4get]

I know as a teacher how can i tell my students..study hard..get the grades...go to university...weigh yourself down with 20 to 25 thousand pounds worth of debt..and wait for the dca's to come crawling out of the woodwork when you finish