Needing advice

[melba]

Hi,

 

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but:

 

After a few years of illness and other problems during which time i did not defer student loans (though i would have been eligible had i sorted it) they have finally (somehow) gotten my address and debt collection agencies have been writing to me for the last few weeks.

 

Initial letter was demanding a payment of around £700 or i would have bailiffs visit, be taken to court etc. Rightly or wrongly i didn't get in touch - there seemed no incentive to do so as it was still 'pay or go to court' and i can't pay and didn't want to aid them in speeding the process after having made contact with me - plus crap i know but i couldn't deal with the stress as i had so much going on.

 

Next there was a letter warning i had a week or something to get in touch otherwise more charges would be added and i bailiffs, court etc.

 

The last letter says i have to call their 'doorstep collection department' to arrange a time they can come to my property. If i do not they will call at any time after that between 7am-9.30pm on any day except sunday. It says,

"The doorstep agent is instructed to effect collection of the amount due and to compile a property/asset report to assist in any possible future Legal action"

 

I'm 'guessing' this is scare tactics. My questions really are - does this person have the right to enter my home - if i simply don't answer the door or refuse to let them in is there anything they can do?

 

Also student loans are unsecured loans so do they have any right to take my property into account? I am a owner occupier (mortgage) - do they have any right to effect that - like i would have thought if a loan is not secured on my home then my home can't be taken away from me? Is it just scare tactics or is there anything in there flat?

 

I'm on benefits currently for ill health and am 5 months pregnant - i do not have capital other than a little equity in my flat but there is no way i can afford to increase my mortgage. What can they realistically do?

 

Is there any benefit to getting in touch or does it just aid them - they have not at any point confirmed contact with me for years and none of the letters have been registered post or special delivery. Up to last month they had no contact address for me other than my parents who told them repeatedly that i didn't live there and they didn't have a forwarding address.

 

Half of me is thinking it's all threat and they can't enter my property or take any of my property or cause to lose my home - another part of me is freaking out though.

 

This is a huge essay - probably in the wrong place - but if anyone can help me with any of my questions i'd be really greatful or provide me with links as to where i should be looking.

 

Many thanks,

Melba x

[djweeble]

The last letter says i have to call their 'doorstep collection department' to arrange a time they can come to my property. If i do not they will call at any time after that between 7am-9.30pm on any day except sunday

 

DON'T call them, write by recorded delivery and tell them that you will not under any circumstances deal with doorstep collectors, and that you WILL use all means LEGALLY available to you to have them removed from your property, forceibly if neccessary.

 

does this person have the right to enter my home - if i simply don't answer the door or refuse to let them in is there anything they can do?

 

No, and NO.

 

Also student loans are unsecured loans so do they have any right to take my property into account? I am a owner occupier (mortgage) - do they have any right to effect that - like i would have thought if a loan is not secured on my home then my home can't be taken away from me? Is it just scare tactics or is there anything in there flat?

 

If they do eventually take you to court, and you don't pay as instructed by the judge, then if they dig deep enough and find that you do have it, they CAN apply for a charging order against your property. Whether they would get it or not depends on a miriad of circumstances.

 

I'm on benefits currently for ill health and am 5 months pregnant - i do not have capital other than a little equity in my flat but there is no way i can afford to increase my mortgage. What can they realistically do?

 

The only thing they can realisticaly do is take you to court, and the fact that you are on benefits for whatever reason will go a long way to helping you. A judge will not make you pay more than you can properly afford.

 

Stick around, there'll be other answers here soon, some with better informed information than I can give you.

 

Remember, your pregnant, so for your baby's good don't worry, it'll all be OK, and with the assistance of the people here you'll get it sorted.

[lookinforinfo]

Melba. now that the debt collectors know where you live, and that you own the house, they are not going to go away. Yes, you are between a rock and a hard place, but should you end up in Court by not dealing with the dc,

you will not have got rid of the rock, and the hard place will be harder

because you will have a larger amount to repay. And a Court case allows the

possibility of bailiffs knocking on your door and possibly taking your goods-

not the best scenario when you may probably be about to produce by the time that happens.

 

Difficult though it may be, your best bet is to deal with the dcs' sooner and

prevent matters escalating.

So first, send the cca letter where they have to prove that they are entiled to claim the money from you. At the same time, until they have shown you

a copy of the original agreement, they cannot institute any action against

you.

 

If they are able to prove they legally can collect the debt [and if they can't

the debt may be voided] then you can offer to repay at an amount that

you can afford. Initially that may only be a few pounds a month. And if that

is what you can afford, it would be stupid of them to take you to Court

as they run the risk of seriously falling out with the judge. This could mean

them not being allowed to charge their costs to you and maybe even having to pay your costs.

 

It is therefore far better to contact them and take control now. It is advice

that many others on the forum will agree with, and like me, wish we had

adhered to that advice when we were in the position you are in now. [The

debt position that is, not the pregnant one! ]

 

The cca letter can be found in the debts and Bailiffs "sticky" section; the

last thread on it includes the template letters by Barracad, and the one you want is

post 15. Once you have sent it, keep us up to date with the responses

you get from them and we will guide you through.

[melba]

Thanks for the advice - the first post is reassuring to know they don't have any right to enter - the second reply is the pragmatic crap i've gotta face doing despite really not wanting to and being tempted to just hide.

 

I'll look in the stickies to see if i can find the letter you are talking about - frankly haven't got a clue about much of what you referred to and will have to get my head around a lot of this.

 

The thing with student loans is that i think whilst you are in arears you cannot defer the loans even though you are on low income so that constantly more arrears are being added on - unless they are cleared it keeps going up and up at a ridiculous rate. Once cleared you can defer payment but i am in no position to clear them.

 

This dca is only coming after one loan - there are 3 others that must be in a similar state.

 

Sorry useless rambling now. Anyone know anything specific to slc?

 

Thanks for advice.

[lookinforinfo]

Melba I am sorry. Afraid I got carried away trying to get the debt collector

off your back and forgot that as you have a student loan, it does not come under the Consumer Credit Act.

 

Your best bey may be to speak to the Student Loan people and explain that you haven't deferred your loans, is there a way that you can still defer them

now.

I understand that if they will let you defer them, while you may have to pay

something off the £700, that amount can be paid over time, and the balance

can be deferred until your salary is high enough to kick in.

[melba]

The student loans company will not let you defer if you are in any kind of arrears - therefore you spiral into it deeper and deeper.

 

I'm freaked by the way they seem to stand outside of the law - like you can't cite student loans if you're going for bankruptcy and they're not covered by the consumer credit act. Seem a bit of a law unto themselves.

 

Presumably i still need to follow your advice regarding immediate action with the dca?

 

The problem is the £700 relates to one loan - there are 4 in total - some bigger and older than this one so the total amount will end up over £3k in arrears - and no way to defer therefore full monthly payments plus fines and charges being addd to that everything single month - and allegedly an extra fine being addded now for every week it remains in arrears. IF they're not covered by usual legislation i think they can add whatever charges they like.

[Bailiffchaser]

Although they are not covered by usual regulations there must be somthing in their own contract.

[lookinforinfo]

How old are the loans. If they were among the early ones, then some of them may be statute barred. Before dealing with the debt collectors, ring the

two numbers below and explain your predicamient. Then ask how you can resolve it-as painlessly as possible. Don't give them any information on any loan that may be older than 6 years. Then come back to us.

 

Student Financial Advisory Service 029 2041 6170

 

Student Debt Line 0800 138 1111

[melba]

That makes a lot of sense as to why they're only chasing for this one loan that i took on my post grad course - the others would be over 6 years ago.

 

What does the 6 year mark mean - statute barred i think you said? Does that mean they are written off or what? I had it in my head that if a debtor failed to make contact for 6 years they couldnt' go after the loan but this is total anecdotal who knows where i got it from stuff.

 

I'd be really grateful if you could explain what the six year limit means.

 

Thank you so much for all the advice so far. I haven't contacted anyone yet because i still don't feel like i have a clear picture and dont' know what is best. Someone said contact the student loan company but i can't see that as a good option in case that brings the whole of the history of loans up and after me.

 

Thanks again!

[melba]

^^

[lookinforinfo]

Melba, I am sorry not to have got back to you. This section gets so bust

at times that threads seem to whiz over the page so quickly. Anyway, I

caught your query on anothere thread, and copied this response from the

"National Debtline" website-

STUDENT LOANS

Student loan agreements are simple contracts and this gives the Student Loans Company (SLC) 6 years from the date you last paid or acknowledged the debt to go to court to enforce the agreement. There are two sorts of student loans and different rules apply depending upon when you took out the loan.

Old style or “mortgage” student loans are consumer credit agreements. Payments cannot be automatically deducted from your wages. The SLC has to go to court before they can enforce the debt against you. This means that the Limitations Act can apply if you have not paid or acknowledged the debt for over 6 years. (Asking for the loan to be deferred could count as acknowledging the debt and start time running again).

From September 1998 new style or “income contingent” student loans include rules to say that repayments are automatically deducted directly from your wages or through your tax return if you are self employed. This means that the SLC are still allowed to take money from your wages for a loan over 6 years old as they do not have to go to court to do so.

 

So it depends when you took out the loans, and if they were the old style,

have you acknowledged the debt in any way-eg asking for a deferment.

[Pen]

Wow I can at last help someone. Melba, if you have been ill for a few years and are still ill you can get out of this loan agreement. I know this for a fact as I have done it. All you need to do is write to the student loans company again but this time you need to include a letter from your GP stating that you will not be able to work again. The GP needs to state these words inexactly for them to cancel out the loan, It will depend on your GP though as not all will state this about a illness as no one knows what will happen in the future. I was lucky mine wrote it for me, There is some sort of clause for this within the student loan guidelines so either call them ask to speak to their legal dept and inform them what you are doing they should give you time to get the letter together and advice you on what to do.

I could write and explain exactly how I done it but it is long winded. But please believe me it can be done and they will cancel the default notice also.

If you want I can PM you with a fuller explanation, I could even dig out my letters from them and email them to you although it will take me a while digging them out. Please PM me if you want . But call them and you do need to speak to the legal department as the people who just answer the phone do not know all the rules.

Good Luck and let me know how you get on

Pen

[melba]

No worries on delay lookingforinfo - just really grateful for advice. Thanks pen - the thing is i can't see a gp or my specialist being willing to write that.

 

My rock and hard place thing is that ppl keep saying contact the student loans company - i have avoided contact with them for years and am reluctant to now make contact so that they can say look she's acknowledged the debt. All but the last loan were taken out over 6 years ago however i'm unsure of when i last deferred them so i'm reluctant to get in touch and play into their hands if it turns out to be nearly 6 years or something.

 

So far nothing has been sent recorded delivery or such by the DCA so they have no proof i've even been contacted. I live in a building with a communal area that post arrives in so if they say we wrote to you in october they have no proof that they did or that i received it. Also the first point of contact with me has been threats of court action - no breakdown of debt, no anything. Before even ensuring they have definitely contacted me they are planning to send 'doorstep recovery agents'. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't go in their favour if it did come to court or fighting it.

 

I really don't know what to do because i really suspect this chasing one loan at this point in time is about getting me to make contact before the others are statute barred.

 

Oh i don't know what to do. I can't see any court in the land doing much to enforce a debt against a disabled person on benefits with no forseeable return to work in the near future and a baby on the way. also the arrears come from not deferring the loans (though i would have been entitled to) over a period of years during whihc i was repeatedly seriously ill then finally incapacitated - basically it would be showable that i was in no fit state to defer or deal with this.

 

I have so much going on right now with taking care of my health and the baby that i don't have much fight in me for dealing with this. And i don't feel like i understand the situation well enough to decide what is best to do.

 

Pen if you read this i'd be interested to know about how it went with getting it proved you couldn't work and the process with getting the debt cancelled - if its not too much trouble. I'm aware i'm being pretty useless and realise there's not much anyone can do. I'm stuck.

[lookinforinfo]

Melba, have you seen a recent copy of your credit file since it should give

details of your student loans on it. You can gey it on line from Experian for

£2, or i believe you can get it for free, if you sign up with a cr company,

then cancel before the direct debit goes through.

[melba]

Thanks for tip - just spent ages and put in tonnes of security info and bank details etc only to get a message at end saying i need to send my passport as they are unable to confirm my identity. Bit annoying and worrying that they have so much info - have emailed asking for confirmation i haven't entered the contract and won't be charged and that my information won't be passed on or viewable to third parties.

 

Thanks though was a good idea just can't get it to work for me.

[Bailiffchaser]

tRY EQUIFAX CREDIT WATCH FREE FOR 30 DAYS. aS LONG AS YOU CANCEL BEFORE THE 30 DAYS ARE THEY WILL NOT BILL YOU.

[Pen]

Hello Melba, I have just picked up the rule relating to disabled students and sick students they are as follows

SPECIAL ARRAIGNMENTS AND DEFERMENT ARRANGEMENTS

1)IF BECAUSE OF YOUR DISABILITY YOU ARE UNFIT TO WORK FULL TIME AND NOT LIKELY TO BE FIT FOR ANOTHER 3 YEARS THE REPAYMENT PERIOD WILL BE 120 MONTHS

2) YOUR GROSS MONTHLY INCOME FOR THE NEXT MONTHS WILL NOT BE MORE THEN THE DEFERMENT LEVEL THE DEFERMENT PERIOD WILL BE 35 MONTH

3) KNOW THIS IS THE ONE YOU NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON, IT STATES if, BECAUSE OF YOUR DISABILITY YOU ARE PERMANENTLY UNFIT FOR WORK, THE LOAN WILL BE CANCELED. you ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A SATISFACTORY MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT YOU ARE PERMANENTLY UNFIT FOR WORK, IN ADDITION CONFORMATION FROM THE DSS IS REQUIRED REGARDING THE AMOUNT OD DISABILITY RECEIVED AND THE PERIOD OVER WHICH THE BENEFIT WILL BE PAID.

And thats it, Before doing anything go and talk to the GP tell him what it's for and why you need it, some Gps are not that bad and will help if its to elevate debt, mine did and if he won;t write the letter then you are still in the same position of not contacting SLC, but please be aware they will catch up with you in the end.

The funny thing about all this was I wanted funding and could not get this until I had the letter from My GP. Once they received this they canceled my old loan and issues me with a new one. They know they will never get paid due to the letter I produced from my GP stating I will never work again so why give me a new loan, I would think it is because they cannot discriminate me from studying on the grounds of ill health so had no alternative but to reissue me with one, can you INMAGIN how pleasing that was to receive

Good LUCK

Pen