Uk SLC and HSL loans living in Australia

[useless piece of paper]

Hi Guys

 

i have 1 slc loan and an honors student loan from 97,98,99.

 

I am in Ozzy and am now an Australian Citizen. no UK family, income , address or bank

 

I have always filled in my deferment paperwork and been deferred every year until now .

 

Hence my user name USELESS PIECE OF PAPER - never used it and ended up earning similar money to before i had a 'degree'.

 

I own a home here due to a partner who has high earnings and we have totally separate finances . I already pay a large amount of my salary to a mortgage and credit card debt.

 

So they refused my referral , what i would like to know is can i just walk away , they have my address , phone number and employer but realistically what can they do .

 

Ive read most of the forums on here and it looks as though ignoring them but via the proper medium is a possibility. I just don't have the money to pay them .

 

Are they chasing Greek students or Cypriots where the economy has failed. How far can they legally chase me . Any information would be gratefully received.

 

I have said i would pay what i could but they quite rudely told me it wasn't enough. Interesting they take exchange rate into account on deferring but in repayments they do not take into account cost of living in another country.

 

Any information would be helpful. perhaps even the name of a professional i can seek advise from as well

[unclebulgaria67]

If your student loan started in 1997 and you did not take out a new style loan which started from Sept 1998, then you will have an old style loan. These are subject to the limitations act and therefore if you have not made any payments are admitted to owing the debt in writing for a 6 year period, then there is not much that the SLC can do to enforce the debt.

 

If you have no plans on returning to reside in the UK, then I would ignore this and get on with your life.

[Pugstar205]

Hi,

 

How are you going with this? I'm in the same boat - I have 1996, 97 and 98 (old style "mortgage") student loans and have so far successfully deferred each year for the past 14 years. This year they wrote to say that I should start paying, despite my income being he same as 2012. I've been in Australia since 2004 and am now a citizen.

 

I have appealed the decision not to defer, but I am yet to hear back (been 1-month), although they have emailed to ask me to call them. The email does not refer to the appeal so I suspect it will be a 'and how will you be paying sir' conversation.

 

My plan of action is to offer a reduced monthly payment, but paid annually in advance. I can't afford the 137 (pounds) they want each month plus the costs of making the payment (fees / charges etc).

 

Do you know what action they can take? Can these debts be persued through the Australian legal or credit system or be 'sold' to Austalian DCAs and enforced over here?

 

I intend to post a question here once I know whether they will defer my loan further or agree to a reduced payment.

 

Regards, David

[unclebulgaria67]

If you have deferred them each year, therefore acknowledging the debts, then yes they could potentially enforce the debts. But it is not a straightforward process and it would cost them a fair amount in fees. They cannot use the county courts in the UK, but I believe there is some law going back to about 1933, where if you live in a Commonwealth country they can instruct a debt collector in OZ to apply to the Aussie courts. You should obtain some local debt advice in Australia.

 

Once you start paying, I suspect that they will ask a local debt collector to receive payments and you will be on for the long haul until the full amount is repaid. Therefore I would suggest that you obtain advice locally as to what the consequences are of doing nothing. I suspect that you would just be hassled by debt collectors, but would probably not be taken to court. But I would suggest that you obtain other advice to back this up.

[unclebulgaria67]

Read this thread and the links contained.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?361524-Scared-in-Australia

 

Also post #129 from this thread.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?221573-UK-debt-being-Chased-in-Australia/page7&highlight=australia

Edited June 9, 2013 by unclebulgaria67

[Pugstar205]

Hi,

 

Thank you for this response. I hope I can negotiate something with the SLC direct and commence making payments to them. I just can't afford to make the full payment in pounds each month from Australia. Morally, I want to pay; but from a practical view point it is a challenge to committ to the repayment amount month in month out. I have to eat and provide a roof over my head first.

 

Who would you suggest I take some advice from in Queensland - do you mean seek legal advice or debt advice from a local debt advocacy group?

 

This area can be really tricky and I've read posts on other forums where views have differed about the 1933 Commonwealth agreement. Apparently, this type of debt (SLC loan pre-1998) is considered consumer debt, and the loans after 1998 are civic debt. I'm not sure if this makes a difference to that agreement?

 

Thanks in advance for any futher advice or information.

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi,

 

Thank you for this response. I hope I can negotiate something with the SLC direct and commence making payments to them. I just can't afford to make the full payment in pounds each month from Australia. Morally, I want to pay; but from a practical view point it is a challenge to committ to the repayment amount month in month out. I have to eat and provide a roof over my head first.

 

Who would you suggest I take some advice from in Queensland - do you mean seek legal advice or debt advice from a local debt advocacy group?

 

This area can be really tricky and I've read posts on other forums where views have differed about the 1933 Commonwealth agreement. Apparently, this type of debt (SLC loan pre-1998) is considered consumer debt, and the loans after 1998 are civic debt. I'm not sure if this makes a difference to that agreement?

 

Thanks in advance for any futher advice or information.

 

Local debt advice. Also the ex-pat forums are useful, as there are thousands of people in OZ in the exactly the same situation as you. The cost of living in Australia is now really high and I would suggest that you must put this first, forgetting about any old student loan. Obviously if you were in a really good position and could easily afford repayments that would be a different matter.

 

The silly thing is that if you enter into making payments you are likely to receive more hassle than if you did not pay. That is what I read, which sounds about right. I have a feeling that as soon as you start paying, you will be in the hands of Aussie debt collectors who will write perodically asking for payment increase and income/expenses info.