Any new info on whether we can fight the 3-month backdate rule?

[Sirensinger]

Hi to all ex-students being harassed by SLC

 

Just wondering whether anyone has any new news or ideas about fighting the 3-month rule for backdating deferment?

 

I saw there were a few people discussing what it might be breaching in this section a while back. I am in a situation like a lot of others, where SLC are demanding payment of a missed instalment (luckily in my case it's only 1) and £100 'admin charges'. I'm going to do the usual thing for the charges, but it appears the missed instalment was my own fault because I moved to a temporary address and didn't tell them (well not in writing anyway, I thought I phoned but have no proof, and they say I didn't, of course) until 4 months after the deferment date, so I allegedly owe one month's money.

 

Like many others, I've never earned enough to stop deferring, and it makes my blood boil that if I forget to defer for a month, I'm treated as if I suddenly got rich enough to pay, even though I'm in tremendous financial hardship.

 

If anyone has any ideas of laws or regulations etc which I might be able to fight with, please post them here, I'm currently refusing to pay but it's been threatened that they might demand the whole loan, so I'm wondering if I could build a court case..... My feeling is that if we don't earn enough, we are entitled to defer, and that should be the end of it - I don't see how they've been allowed to get away with this rule. If it's statute, as someone on here said, is there a way we can fight it?

 

Good luck to all,

 

Sirensinger

Edited September 11, 2008 by Sirensinger