Link PAPLOC Now Claimform - Old SLC Loans

[WhitmoreReans]

I've finally managed to muster up the courage to try and deal with the fallout from my idiotic youth and I've started by checking my Equifax file. After reading the information on this forum I believe that there are a few things on my credit file that shouldn't be there ( I want to deal with them one by one as this is incredibly stressful for me ). Can someone take a look at this and advise how I should proceed?

 

From my Equifax file:Link Financial (Student Loans)

NamexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDate of Birthxxxxxxxxxxx

Terms 0 @ £ 0 (Monthly) Status Defaulted

Current Balance£ 4,592

Start Balance£ 0 Credit Limit£ 0

Default / Delinquent Balance £ 5,360

Start Date 20/04/2000 Date Updated 21/04/2010

Date Last Delinquent 08/04 Date Satisfied

 

As I understand it, this shows that the account was placed in default in August 2004, and therefore it should of dropped off my credit file by now. However, I'm confused by the 'Date Updated' - does this mean that the clock has been reset and I'll have to wait until 2016 for this to come off?

If anyone can give me some constructive advice then I would be incredibly grateful, as I said, this is a very stressful thing for me to deal with and I've tried to have a crack at this before but it got the better of me:mad2:.

[king100]

Have you paid anything for this account since you defaulted?

 

If you havent paid anything it might also be statue barred, so you dont owe a penny. Unless they have gone and got a CCJ against you.

[WhitmoreReans]

Thanks for your reply, I haven't paid anything since the default so hopefully it might be statute barred. I've checked the equifax file and there are no CCJs present so I guess that's one less thing to worry about. If it is statue barred do you know what the process is for clearing it off my credit file?

[king100]

Sorry am I reading it right, is it a student loan from the student loan company or is it a private loan from say a bank or loan company?

[king100]

You might want to google student loans sb there are alot of posts on here about it,

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?286955-Link-Financial-calls-about-pre-1998-student-loans

 

This being one, I also remember reading that it has to meet certain criteria for a student loan to be sb, of which I have no idea pre 1998 or something along those lines.

 

Personally spend 10 mins googling and reading others and you might get an answer. If you find that it is sb and you are 100% sure, then you send sb letter and all I'd forgotten. They should then update your file to reflect default 6 years ago and then it should drop off your file. It will take time to deal with it, it took me 2 years to get my credit file changed.

[WhitmoreReans]

Once again, thank you for your replies, you really are helping! It's from the Student Loan Company - pre '98 so it's the 'old' type, which after reading the thread that you posted it would appear that this is in fact statute barred. I'll do a bit more digging just to make sure that this is the case and if so, I'll send a SB letter and hopefully all will be well. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get my first full nights sleep in many years! Thank you.

Edited January 17, 2011 by WhitmoreReans

[king100]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?290201-Student-Loans-and-statute-barred-debt-help&p=3256719#post3256719

 

Perfect post for you too read, if it is sb send them a letter stating it letter found in letter section. They will try and bully you but once letter received that cannot chase you if they do report to ts. Personally also include that they must reflect this on your credit file as defaulted on a particular day. Thus they update your file over 6 years thus drops off.

 

1st report on file sorted.

 

Please check that by stating it is default is an acknowledgement to debt before sending. But u would send sb letter 1st and then tackle the issue if the default in your credit file after.

[liquidauctions]

You dont have to pay. Just write to equifax and get them to remove it. Date updated means the last time SLC comunicated with equifax regarding the account, This is normal practice as they send an update monthly. I would also check with experian as I found a default with equifax that wasnt on experian.

[king100]

back to top

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.

 

Taken from

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_factsheets/liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act.php

[WhitmoreReans]

Thanks!

[WhitmoreReans]

The default has dropped off my files with the CRAs but lo and behold I had a phone call fron Link on friday

( I informed them that I refused to speak to them over the phone) followed by a letter yesterday stating that 'without further reference to you we will immediately commence recovery of the full sum'.

I'm pretty sure it's statute barred so the SB letter will be sent (by recoreded post) today.

Unfortunately, I've had another letter from the SLC regarding the 1998 loan, which I'm pretty sure is SB as well (It was a course that ran from 1996-1999 so I'm pretty sure it's an old style loan),

however I'll include the full details in another post - I'm worried now what other nightmares from my past (years of which I cannot remember) will emerge!

[The Debt Star]

sorry if I'm being thick here, but am I reading this thread to imply that the Default was removed because the loan was statute barred rather than because it was still on the OPs credit file after the 6 years were up?

 

can anyone pls clarify if data like that at post #1 CAN be kept on one's credit files beyond the 6th anniversary of the Default?

[dx100uk]

information/the status on an account is kept for 6yrs

 

so if you settled or completed say a loan - then for 6yrs from the settled date, the history of how you operated the loan is available, however, it does not affect your rating nor is shown on searches - once 6yrs is reached, it vanishes.

 

for 'active' accounts, be you paying them or not, individual markers will fall off after their 6yrs birthday, when an 'active' account becomes statute barred, then everything goes - as if it never existed.

 

mortgages and some student loans are diff, mortgages are 12yrs and some student loans even longer, however, any markers, vanish on their 6th birthday

 

dx

[The Debt Star]

so if you settled or completed say a loan - then for 6yrs from the settled date, the history of how you operated the loan is available, however, it does not affect your rating nor is shown on searches - once 6yrs is reached, it vanishes.

 

Quick question: are you saying that settled accounts can only be seen by consumer when we access our credit files and not by lenders?

 

any idea what a lenders credit serach file actually looks like? I had assumed it was the same as the one we can see. In which case, settled account conduct must affect getting credit, surely?

[dx100uk]

no lender can see the details you can.

they just get the score

 

settled a/c are good

but partial settled is not [ as bad as a CCJ]

 

active A/C's with default markers can be seen

but just the markers count and when.

so AP

should not be causing too much trouble

 

i suggest you read the FAQ's on the CRA sites.

 

dx

[WhitmoreReans]

A while ago I sent the standard statute barred letter in response to Link Financial's demand for immediate repayment of a student loan from 1996.

As it was a while ago that the letter was sent I though that was the end of it until yesterday.

I received a letter from Link and a statement from the SLC, in which they point out that

a) I sent a deferment application to the SLC november 2004 and that I last made a payment in july 2005.

I had completely forgotten about the deferment and don't dispute it(it was a period when I was living abroad) but I do dispute the payment, it's for £36.63 which is a really odd amount for me to pay.

I have no recollection or record of such a payment and to me it's really suspicious.

They also go on to claim that for statute barred purposes the six year period started when the last deferment ended ie september 2005.

Is this correct?

I can't post the letter yet as I don't have a high enough post count.

Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated, I though that I was finally ridding myself of these demons but it seems that they are still haunting me!

Here's the contents of the letter from Link:

 

Dear Whitmore Reans,

Thank you for your recent letter regarding your student loan.

Whilst we acknowledge your assertion that the matter is statute barred, the last correspondence received from you was your deferment application to defer repayment of your account for 12 months dated the 5th November 2004 which was accepted by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and ended on the 19th September 2005 a copy of your deferment application is enclosed.

Also enclosed is a reprint of your annual statement as issued by the SLC which shows that your last payment was received on the 5th July 2005.

A simple contract matter only becomes subject to limitation after six years has expired with no acknowledgement of the debt from when the last cause of action occurred. This period started when your account exited deferment on the 20th September 2005, as your last acknowledgement via deferment was within six years your account is not statute barred.

Therefore, please contact our account officers with your proposals to redeem your outstanding balance by return.

Yours sincerely

Business Support Team

[BankFodder]

Limitation periods begin from the date the debt became due - or over due, if you like.

If you sought a deferment, then it would probably be correct to say that the debt didn't fall due until the deferment had expired and the 6 years would run from then.

[WhitmoreReans]

Wow that was quick, thanks.

Am I right in thinking that it would become statute barred in september?

Also, can anyone confirm that by sending the statute barred letter I haven't set the clock ticking again.

Furthermore, should I dispute the fictitious payment for 36.63?

If I possibly can, I'd like to see if I can string them along until september and then tell them where to go.

[debt4get]

i would certainly dispute the payment and ask them for proof of where the payment came from etc...you should be able to get yourself to september

[dx100uk]

this is typical for link

 

there are plenty of threads on here about their underhand tactics

 

you should have kept quiet and sent nowt.

 

pers i'd ignore them totally.

 

and no that letter does not reset the clock.

 

dx

[WhitmoreReans]

You're right, with hindsight I should have sent them nothing but I genuinely believed that it was SB!

[Bazooka Boo]

Not too worry, now you have the facts, the earliest you need to contact them again is sept, but why bother at all?

[WhitmoreReans]

Thanks for the reply,

the thing I'm worried about is if they try to obtain a CCJ now that they know I'm 'alive'.

This would be a disaster for me as I am well on the road to realising my dream career - a CCJ would kill that dream stone dead forever (I'll only get one shot at it!) and everything I've worked for and sacrificed would be for nothing.

If they continue to hassle me, is there any way of delaying them from obtaining a CCJ until after september?

[cerberusalert]

If the a/c is Statute Barred nothing can unbar it and they will be unable to obtain a CCJ.

[harrassed senior]

You would first have to be served papers to say they are taking you to Court, so you would get some warning and time in which to act to prevent a CCJ, but don't worry about that for now.