first of all, hello I'm new on here secondly, sorry for the slightly silly title this relates to a student loan from way back in 1992. It was deferred for many years, when it transferred from SLC to Erudio I noticed that £9 a month was coming out of my pay packet. I was earning below the threshold but decided to just let it happen, it was only £9 a month and not worth kicking up a fuss. That continued for a couple of years and then suddenly it stopped. No explanation or anything from Erudio about what was going on. Again, I just left it, what the hell I thought. There was then a gap of maybe a year during which I heard nothing from Erudio. Then out of the blue about 6 months ago I got a letter from them saying my loan would now be managed by Capquest. No explanation as to why. Nothing from them saying I was in default or anything, no arrears either. Capquest then start hounding me for the money. Its about £500 I owe. they wanted all the money, there and then! They wrote to me and phoned me. They wanted to know what car I have, what mortgage I have, how much my wife earns. They said I could not defer even though I earn well below the threshold. In the end I agreed to carry on paying £9 a month to them by direct debit. Its not the end of the world but I do feel like they've pulled a fast one on me. My loan is 24 years old. I long believed it would be written off at 25 years. Have they just knocked that one of the head for me between them? I had a statement from Erudio last month which clearly states I have no arrears. Yet when I emailed Erudio asking for a deferment form they said my account with them was terminated and I could only deal with the horrible capquest. Sorry for the ramble. Like I say its not the end of the world for me, I just feel like I've been conned a bit by them, and any thoughts or advice would be very much appreciated.

Hello, I sold a 4 month old hamster last night including full enclosure and all accessories (water bottle, food dish, wheel, toys etc.) privately on Gumtree. The buyer came around to my house and I briefed her on everything there was to know on how best to look after her (the hamster) and she paid the £10 and took her away. Today I got a less than convincing story via text saying she can't look after the hamster anymore because someone has fallen ill in a different country. I said if need be, I will take the hamster back in so the buyer is dropping her off back to mine tonight. Am I under any obligation to give her the £10 back? This has caused me considerable hassle having to wait at home (yesterday and tonight) for her to come around etc. To my understanding, as I am not a business, there is no Distance Selling Regulation or anything like that and the buyer's change of mind has no legal substance to warrant a refund?