Hi, I've previously posted a thread on here about my old style mortgage loans which despite being statute barred were being chased for by Link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?350214-Old-style-student-loan&p=3835170 That's all gone quiet now however I was hoping for some advice regarding something else. I want to return to studying and I've been accepted onto an Access to Higher Education course in Health Studies. To pay the college fees I want to apply for a 24+ Loan however I'm not sure whether my previous loans will affect my application? There is a part of the 24+ Loan application form that asks if you've previously had any loans and if you are behind with repayments. I've spoken to Student Finance today to get my account login details and the advisor said my previous loans won't affect this one (I understand they have been known to give conflicting/wrong info though). All my (statute barred) loans are now owned by Erudio anyway so I'm not behind with repayments to SLC however could I still be on some sort of blacklist regarding applying for finance? I don't want to apply for the loan, enrol on the course, then later on find out my loan hasn't been approved leaving me with college fees I can't afford. Thanks for reading, any advice or similar stories would be appreciated.

Thanks for the reply and clearing things up for me. Much appreciated.

Hi, I'm after some advice regarding my rights over a faulty mobile phone. At the beginning of February, I renewed my contract with T-Mobile and got a new Nokia Lumia 920 as an upgrade. A couple of weeks later I decided to try their EE 4G service so switched to that network which I'm happy with. However my phone has developed a fault whereby after I use earphones and unplug them the phone still thinks they are plugged in so I get no sound from the phone from music or YouTube etc and also I don't get any sound when I make or receive a call unless I put it on speakerphone or re-connect the earphones. I can get the problem sorted by fiddling with the socket using an earphone jack but it always returns. It's more of a nuisance than anything but I do want it sorted. I called into an EE store to ask what my options are and they said that as the phone is over two weeks old I couldn't swap it and it would have to go away for repair, when I enquired whether I would get a replacement phone in the meantime they said yes but it would only be a basic one. I left it there as I was away this weekend and needed my phone for email etc. What are my rights regarding this? I understand EE are within their rights to send the phone off for repair but surely they have to offer me a courtesy phone of similar spec to the one I already have? I pay for a 4G service so surely I am entitled to receive one? Whilst the phone is over a month old surely it's still considered new enough to not be faulty through my own fault (incidentally upon doing a Google search this problem seems to be quite common with this phone) so I can still claim a replacement if they can't repair it without inconvenience to me. And I'm not sure if this matters but I ordered the phone through their website so do the Distance Selling Regulations affect my case one way or the other? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Haha thanks for the reply and reassurances. I shall continue to ignore them

Hi again, I am 99.9% certain that this will be statute barred on February 1st, however the 0.1% uncertainty is down to Link having my current mobile phone number. I changed to this number in summer 2006 which is after I last deferred it with Student Loans. Whilst I'm almost positive I didn't defer again in 2007 I'm not quite sure how Link could have my phone number. I have definitely never made a payment on the account but I'm trying to remember if I ever spoke to anyone at Student Loans and gave them the number then. The reason I ask is I received another letter today from them which said they will now start to use other means to recover the debt, which could be i) it being passed to an internal investigation department, ii) a CCJ or iii)A fee charging debt collector who will call at my home. Do you think it's worth sending them the prove it letter after Feb 1st? Or should I continue to ignore. I just don't want somebody knocking on my door,

I emailed TXT Loan with a formal complaint listing the things that I felt had been handled badly or gone against OFT guidelines and today they replied, and apologised for the way my account has been handled! They have offered to reinstate the original repayment plan with no added interest or charges, wow I wasn't expecting it to be that easy! In addition on Saturday I received a letter from Advantis saying that they had been unsuccessful in their attempts to conact me by telephone and asked me to ring them on an 0844 number. This despite me stating in writing in December that I only wanted to be contacted in writing. So I took great pleasure in sending them an email saying I was going to report them to the OFT for unfair and/or improper practices. Thank you for all your advice renegade, it really is greatly appreciated! Proof that with a bit of knowledge of your rights and refusal to be intimidated, these companies will listen to you.

Is there a template for what to put in the letter or should I just keep it simple?

Hi renegadeimp, thanks for the reply. I made the two payments via standing order straight into TXT Loan's bank account so I have proof from bank statements that these were made. For the June payment I have an email from TXT Loan to say they received it, for the July one nothing, until August when they claimed I defaulted on the agreement. I have never spoken to anybody on the phone, apart from a very brief conversation with someone from Advantis where I said I would agree nothing over the phone and to put it in writing. I have kept all correspondence regarding this. To write a complaint to TXT Loan should that be a proper letter or would an email suffice? Thanks for the help.

Hi, hoping somebody will be able to help and advise me. Last year I stupidly got a pay day loan from TXT Loan to cover some emergency car bills, but, as is so often the case I couldn't afford to repay it so just kept reapplying for the £200 loan straight after repaying it. Eventually I decided to default on it and try to set up a repayment plan which I managed to do quite easily at £25 a month via standing order. Total I was to repay was around £259 I made the first repayment in June which went through and again in July but after checking my account noticed TXT Loan hadn't taken it off my balance. I emailed them about this and they said there was a delay in processing it and they would let me know once that had happened. Getting to the end of July and still no sign of the payment I again emailed them to ask why it hadn't been deducted. Again they said they would contact me when it was credited. My due date for August came and my July payment was still not credited so I withheld my next payment to see what would happen. Sure enough they contacted me to say my payment was late and I was at risk that my account would be defaulted. I replied asking why they had never contacted me or applied my July payment to my account and they came back saying it was credited on 09/07/2012. I have emails from them after this date claiming otherwise. Due to this default they claimed I now owed £406 and passed my account to Mackenzie Hall. After a few email exchanges with them disputing the amount and saying I was willing to defend this in court, they said they were in the process of obtaining documents and would contact me again. They didn't. Instead I started receiving letters from Advantis Credit demanding payment for £406. I told them that as far as I was concerned I owed £209 and enclosed a copy of an email from TXT Loan showing my balance. They came back saying this was not adequate proof and I needed to send something such as a headed letter - I never received one! - and that collection procedures would continue, I replied saying I was making a complaint to the OFT over their handling of the matter and they came back again apologising and that their internal complaints dept would also look into things. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from them saying - - That upon investigation I have not sent them enough proof for them to query the debt with their client. - As I breached the contract the extra debt is probably down to charges and interest (I guessed that) - So that they can verify the balance they have requested a balance from TXT Loan with a breakdown of charges and payments - For me to receive a copy of the original credit agreement I need to send Advantis £1 before they are able to obtain it - If no further contact is made on this matter by the end of February then they will consider the matter closed (and, I assume, collection procedures will continue) I'm not too sure what to do next. Should I send them the pound? I am happy to repay the £209 but I dispute payinh almost another £200 interest and charges. Many thanks in advance.

Another letter from them stating that as I have shown 'minimal interest in reducing the balance it leaves them with only a handful of options at this stage' They don't actually say what these options are. They urge me to ring them to explain why I'm not in a position to settle the balance.

Hi again, after receiving nothing from them in months I got a letter from Link today and it wasn't a demand for payment as such, it was them saying they do intend to recover what I owe, even if it takes longer than first anticipated and then asking me to ring them so they can help me if I'm having financial difficulties and cannot afford to repay my 'debt' all at once. Should I ignore this for now until something a little more 'serious' arrives? Thank you.

Thanks for the replies I haven't received anything from them through the post since the first demand but they do seem to like leaving me a voicemail once a week asking me to ring them urgently

Just a quick update to say that, well, there isn't one. I've heard nothing from LA, ARC or Trevor Munn since I sent the letter Slick suggested. If I do hear anything back from them then I'll obviously post it here.

Thanks so much dx. That's exactly what I'll do. I had a phone call/voicemail from them yesterday but know not to speak to them on the phone.

Would you advise I ignore the letters for now?

I've checked my credit record quite often for the last year or so and nothing has ever been on there regarding my student loan.

Hi dx100uk, thanks for the reply. I deferred using the form Student Loans sent out annually where I had to either send pay slips or enclose a letter from my employer stating I was eligible for deferment.

Hi, I recently received a letter from student loan company claiming that I owed them x amount on a student loan etc. I last deferred the loans at the beginning of 2006 so thought it was now statute barred. Just to be sure I sent them the 'prove it' letter to see what they would come back with. I waited a couple of weeks and heard nothing but then received a phone call from Link Financial Outsourcing claiming they were now dealing with the debt and could I confirm details etc. I just asked them if they could send any information through the post which they agreed to. Yesterday I received a demand for payment from them with the usual DCA threats on it and was all set to send them another prove it letter and then the statute barred on if necessary but decided to read up on Link. I've now discovered that the debt doesn't become statute barred until six years after the end of the last deferment which means it won't be SB until the beginning of next year. I've never made a payment on the loan and the last written contact was my deferment in '06. Any advice on my next move would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Yes, that's right. The pink was the original and the white one was the one ARC sent me. I've sent off the letter you posted and await a response. Is the fact they added things to the contract after I signed it relevant? Are they allowed to do it?

Hi again, ARC (not Trevor) have written back to me with a copy of my contract and LA Fitness's terms and conditions. The contract was for 24 months and I did sign it. The letter states that as they have now provided this information they require full payment within the next 10 days or they will pass my account back to Trevor Munn for further action. What should my next move be? Many thanks.

Thanks again, letter all ready to be sent, going to send it recorded delivery to their postal address (not the PO Box they print on their letters) so I know they've received it. I'll let you know what they come back with.

Thanks for the replies, they're a great help. Just one query before I send off the letter, even though I am receiving the letters from Trevor Munn, they are saying that all correspondence must be directed to ARC. So should I send the letter to ARC or Trevor Munn as suggested? Thanks again.

Thanks a lot for that info, reassuring. So what (if anything) should I say to them if and when they contact me next? Would they be successful in getting a CCJ against me if I don't challenge them?

Hi everyone I know there's many threads on here regarding LA Fitness and other gyms but was hoping someone could advise me of my next step. I joined LA Fitness in January 2011, for what I believed was an initial membership of a year. However by November I was barely using the club and money was tight so I cancelled my direct debit. I got a couple of letters from LA Fitness one of which states that my initial contract was for one year and I owed them the two months remaining. I did plan to pay this so I was comepletely free of them but then a week later I received another letter from Trevor Munn Solicitors on behalf of ARC claiming that I owed them £552 as my contract was 24 months and they were preparing a county court claim. I can't find my original copy of the agreement (what with all the stuff they gave me when I joined I'm not even sure I received a copy) to see how long I did sign up for but I am pretty sure I agreed a year, and as I've said I have a letter from LA Fitness themselves claiming this too. Could someone advise me as to what I should do now, I did briefly speak to someone at ARC but he wasn't helpful and I didn't want to say too much as I know things should always be in writing. Should I request a copy of my contract and who would I ask; LA, ARC or Trevor Munn? Many thanks