Paying back student loan in full

[Leonaz]

Hello,

 

My situation is similar to many others

- after graduation I left UK and have no intentions to return any time soon, it has been like that for 4 years now.

 

SLC have been contacting me and sending letters to my parents house in my home country, although I do not live there anymore, however I do reside in the same country.

 

Recently I've been getting phone calls from a phone number which as I researched belongs to Transcom Leeds e.g. a debt collection company.

 

The details of me SLC and I assume Transcom have, are my phone number and my email (been ignoring the emails as well), the address they have is my parents address, I do not reside there anymore. I have never made a single re-payment.

 

So my question is

it safe to just keep ignoring them?

 

I see that Transcom does have a branch in my country, but I assume they still have to act under UK law?

Am I facing a possibility to go to court if I keep ignoring them?

Can I go to UK for lets say two weeks holiday and don't worry about them knowing that I am there?

 

Any comments and answers would be very welcome, thank you.

 

 

[dx100uk]

no debt collector has any legal powers - totally ignore they are not bailiffs.

 

when was the last time you deferred?

who are transcoms stated client?

 

[Leonaz]

 

What exactly do you mean by "deferred"? 

At least in the email they sent me it says SLC. So I believe SLC has either sold my debt or hired Transcom to chase after me.

 

One thing that concerns me is - can they pass my data to their local branch of my country and then try to locate me? They have been calling me for the last week every other day.

[dx100uk]

transcomm are a powerless dca stuff and all any dca can do about any debt they are not bailiffs and have zero legal powers...

even less on debts from a foreign nation...

 

you were supposed to defer your SLC loan every 12mts. from inception..

when was the last time you did so?

 

you can probably access your file via the slc website portal too.

 

dx

 

[Leonaz]

I think the last time I logged onto the SLC website was a year ago to check the digital versions of the letters they sent to my parents house, but I haven't sent them any details of my current address or employment for which they were asking.

 

In fact I don't think I have ever informed them that I even left the country, it just happened after I graduated, and they just kept sending letters to my old address by default.

 

However since 4 year have passed they probably did realize that I am not residing in the UK anymore.

[dx100uk]

I will gather and didn't earlier, that the slc loan you have is post 1998 so new style not the old style mortgage loan

and is still owned , as they all are by SLC themselves.

 

should you not have been deferring every year as per the rules.??

 

 

[Leonaz]

As I said previously I have not gotten into contact with SLC since I graduated, so I would say no, I have not been deferring every year as I haven't sent them a single email or letter with updated employment or residency information. 

Does that somehow allow them to push me into paying?

 

By the way thank you for taking time and answering my questions dx100uk! 

[dx100uk]

new style student loans  do not become statute barred

 

they exist, and are owed and can increase with non repayment penalties, until you reach 50yrs of age.  

 

all this info is readily available on any interweb search engine and the SLC website. 

[Leonaz]

But what if I am not intending to work in the UK ever again?

Can they take legal action or somehow force me to pay when I am not residing in the UK?

[dx100uk]

I think you already know that answer...

[Leonaz]

I don't that is why I am asking for your help but I'll take that as a definite "no, they can't".

 

By the way, I read a little about statute barred, isn't the time period for it supposed to kick in after a first missed payment?

Since I did not work in the UK after graduation, it should of began right after that?

Even for the new style loans. 

[dx100uk]

gov't debts cant become statute barred.

[Leonaz]

Okay, but besides that, if I am not planning to be working in UK, can I have peace of mind by simply ignoring them?

If I ever do have to work in the UK, sure I'll start repaying it then.

 

Cheers

[dx100uk]

I don't believe your assumption that not working in the uk resolves you from paying .....no.

residing or staying in the uk, if you ever intend to before you are 50yrs of age could be very problematic.

this could well lead to legal action.

 

ofcourse these debts are not a criminal matter, so present no issues passing through at any passport control at this time.

but with some 250'000 people whom have had their education freely paid for by UK taxpayers and then for want of a better word fleeing to earn money on the back of these qualifications abroad, often earning well above the foreign earning limits requiring repayment which are clearly detailed on the SLC website and STILL not repaying the loans...

 

I can see the gov't upping the anti on recovering the £Billions owed in the near future.

[Leonaz]

Hello,
 

I decided to pay back my student loan in full or at least in couple larger deposits.

Before I do that I wanted to get the experts opinion on this.

 

First of all I am living overseas and am earning above the minimum threshold.

I calculated that if I paid the standard 9% above the threshold it would work out to a higher amount than the fixed rate for my country, I will probably ask them to put me on a fixed rate and just pay back my loan within a year.

 

What do you think,

should I be doing that or is there any other options you would recommend.

 

Yes the years of paying back will be a bit tough, but it won't be a complete struggle, I just don't want this loan to keep holding me back for the rest of my life.

[dx100uk]

old and new threads merged for history

please keep to one thread

 

 

[dx100uk]

what year did you graduate please?

 

dx

 

[Leonaz]

I graduated in 2015

 

By the way, the reason I am asking is because I read opinions saying that paying back in full is stupid and should not be done, since student loan is the cheapest possible loan one could have.

 

Regards,
Leo

[dx100uk]

yours is unlike most we see here and it's a shame to repeat info that is easily understood here:

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2017/05/will-student-loan-written-off/?_ga=2.117811209.1462974349.1572401832-1959362957.1555459058

 

2015 being your issue as I suspect you were past 40 then too.

so you idea of getting shot by paying it off, might not be correct as you've spotted

 

dx

 

[Leonaz]

So more or less it would be wiped off in 20 years, which means that it surely is better for me to pay it back as soon as possible, since paying fixed rate would just extend the period of payments, thus having to pay more interest.

Would you agree mr Dx?

 

Also what do you mean past 40? I'm in my late 20s at the moment.

 

One more question,

if I agreed a payment schedule with SLC of let's say four large instalments to clear the loan in full.

 

 Are they able to give me sort of a discount for the interest, let's say cut the interest amount in half?

 

I am willing to negotiate with them providing that I will be clearing the loan in a couple years rather than 10 or 20 years, so I'm interested whether they can be flexible in such situation.

 

[dx100uk]

it's like I was saying , yours is an unusual case, hence I  thought you might have attended uni or WHY late in life whereby age comes into play..  you are in your 20's so no dice there.

 

you would need to read up on if the interest is a FIXED sum from take out, ie it does increase your outstanding balance once signed, regsrdless to the time it takes to settle the loan

or

the interest is monthly on the current outstanding balance so thus your overall repayment total increases as time goes on.

 

that scenario I've never looked at. 

 

if it were the latter, then the quicker its settled, the less it costs you.

if it were the former, I doubt you'd get a discount no.

 

but 

no harm in ringing and asking!!

cant ever hurt you to ASK SLC.