Student Loan Company

[rosierose]

Well, this one has me absolutely LIVID.

 

I paid £327.00 paid to Wescott (dca) early last year to settle my student loan.

 

Some months later Wescott claimed I hadn't paid them, so I forwarded the giro credit stub. At the time I asked the SLC what the problem was and they confirmed that I owed them nothing. All to the good. But, it seems that after having paid the debt in full, it Wescott added charges to the amount for administration fees.

 

Now the debt has been passed back to the SLC and they are trying to get a further £60.00.

 

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

 

Jeez!

[kokomar]

Not experienced this one personally but it doesn't surprise me in the least. Have you gone down the SAR route and reclaimed your charges yet? If not you'll probably find you can claim back more than £60. In fact I think if you find that you can claim back more than the £327 you paid Wescott you could argue that the debt should never have been passed to them for recovery and therefore refuse to pay Wescotts charges, but I'm not an expert so wait for someone more knowledgeable to pop along. Another thought just popped in, did you get it in writing that £327 was in full and final settlement? Not dreadfully helpful I know but just wanted to reassure you that someone was listening and bump you back up to the top!

 

Koko

[thejanegirl]

I too am battling with SLC, a tricky bunch if ever there was one.

 

They try and bully you into paying more than you can afford, in my opinion, and don't like to be confronted with legalities.

[rosierose]

Koko,

 

Haven't tried the SAR. Will do so today.

 

Here's an excerpt from the letter sent yesterday....

 

"I write with reference to your annual statement received 14.10.2006 in which you state you are still owed £60.63.

I dispute that I owe your organisation any debt whatsoever.

In the spring of 1995 I paid Wescot Credit Services Ltd £327.00 via bank giro credit as payment in full of my student loan. Summer that year Wescot once again asked for the £327.00. Obviously they had lost track of my payment, so I duly sent them a copy of the bank giro stub as proof of payment.

I heard nothing more from Wescot until February this year when, once again, they wrote asking to me for the original amount plus some £40-50 in administration charges. At that time I approached you for confirmation that the debt had been paid which you did during a telephone conversation with one of your call centre workers. I also requested you contact Wescot Credit Services to confirm that the debt had been paid in full, which you did. Trading Standards were also informed of the breach at this time.

Today I telephoned your call centre and spoke with ***** (of team 1, surname withheld). He informed me that the debt had been passed back from Wescot to you, that the £60.63 is outstanding and, if I were not to pay it, my account would once again be handed to a debt collection company. During that conversation I asked that his supervisor call me, which they have not.

I would be grateful if you would write to confirm your error within the next fourteen days."

That might give them something to think about. I'd love to know whether their chasing for money that I obviously don't owe them is a criminal or civil matter though.

Cheers

R

[kokomar]

It sounds very much like you are on top of this one, it's just plain incompetence, we should all be used to that from the SLC by now, but somehow it still shocks us. Great letter! Don't lose that Giro stub! Keep us updated on your SAR progress. You mentioned getting your annual statement, that should show you clearly when this £60 charge was applied, presumably the payment of £327 would be on your sept 04-aug 05 statement.

 

Koko

[The_Badger]

Always send stuff recorded signed for in the post to SLC - they're amazingly proficient at "not recieved in the post".

 

So much so that a cynical man might suggest its intentional - but I'm not that cynical am I?

 

[rosierose]

Brief update... They insist that I still owe them so I'll be ecalating my complaint and taking the S.A.R/CCA route to try to get some documentary evidence.

 

It is a matter of principal, so I will see this through. But, I do wish there was some mechanism whereby I could invoice them for all the time they're wasting.

[The_Badger]

If it gets to court then you can!

 

You can include as part of your claim reasonable expenses - I've heard of one guy on the Bank charges area of the forum say that they had a solicitor freind of theirs say that it would be perfectly reasonable to charge £3 per letter you send and about £10 per hour you spend working on the claim. But good records are essential to this - just make up a timesheet like at work and record when you work on it.

 

Might need to double check this is OK with a lawyer but then you can claim their fees back as part of the claim as well.

 

The Badger

[The_Badger]

Oh I think the £3 included the £1 recorded signed for postage.

 

The other £2 is for paper, envelopes, ink cartridges, electricity for the computer, wear and tear on the equipment etc.

 

As long as you have a list of what the £2 is for you can justify it!

I guess in a way thats the essence of the whole issue - the banks/SLC charging £30 for a letter is disproportionate and therefore unfair / unlawful.

 

The Badger

[Slab Layer]

Hello.

 

Help required!

 

I sent my request for SAR and CCA info on Nov 17th. I got a letter in response saying that they (the evil SLC) will get the SAR info to me by the 29th Dec, and have consequently cashed my £10 cheque...there was no mention of my £1 for the CCA info? What does this mean and what is the next step come 29th Dec?

 

Any help would be AweSome!

 

Cheers,

SLABLAYER

[rosierose]

Hi SL

 

The more recent SLC loans are not subject to the Consumer Credit Act. From memory I think the cut off point was somewhere in the mid nineties. A quick search should verify it. Check back and let me know?

 

Rosie

[Slab Layer]

Hi Rosie,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. My loans were taken out from '94-'98 so I think they fall into the bracket. From reading other threads I'm sure the cut off is '98.

 

Just wondering what to do next. I guess I just have to work out how much I am owed from the charges they have made against me. I think anythink over £12.50 for a fine can be reclaimed. Tell me if I'm wrong though!

 

Any advice would be grand.

[rosierose]

Hi there...

 

My understanding is that any penalty charges the financial institutions are unable to substansiate are recoverable. The point being that they are disproportionate penalties rather than a accurate reflection of the actual costs involved. Do you believe computer generated letter and a stamp costs £12.50??

 

Have a read of some of the of the stickies and the statutes.

 

Rosie