Being chased by a debt collection agency re my student loans

[jaml]

Hello Everyone.

 

This is my first post and was prompted by researching the current issue that I have. I know that there is a whole host of information regarding Student Loans, but just wanted to post my cold hard facts and see what people thought.

 

The Facts

 

I started University in October 1995 and finished in 1998. I took out a Student loan during this period.

I started work in September 1999 and as was over the income threshold, I started making re-payments.

I continued working and making repayments until 2003

In 2003 I set up my own company and immediately dropped under the income threshold. I am pretty sure that I applied to the SLC (Student Loan Comany) for deferment at this point (will need to check my records - but may prove difficult due to the passage of time).

SLC were aware of my contact details up until 2004 when I moved overseas. I did not feel any obligation to notify them as I had not gone over the income threshold.

I have not contacted them or made any further payments since 2003.

To this day I have remained overseas and have also remained under the income threshold (now a house hubbie), however the following has happened with the SLC

- they passed the debt over to a DCA

- I assume a lot of correspondence has been sent to my old address in the UK (which has been let out since 2004) chasing the debt

- The DCA applied to the court in October of last year and obtained judgement against me (CCJ), I was totally unaware that a claim had been filed

- They must have checked the land register and worked out that I own the property as in December they applied for and were granted an Interim Charging Order

 

I would appreciate some advice on my next step. I'm hoping that the debt is now statute barred as I've not had any contact with the SLC for approximately 8 years. The Interim Charging Order and the CCJ only came to light when the last tenant moved out and I was preparing the flat for sale.

 

Not sure how to deal with the CCJ and the interim charging order at this stage - would obvioulsy like to have them removed if this is possible.

 

Many thanks for taking the time to read through my first post.

[patrickq1]

From memory I do not think a student debt can be statue barred cause it is goverment loan ? But you can apeal the judgement so perhaps one of the legal bods can guide u beTter

[dx100uk]

i take it this is LINK trying to spoof you?

 

your type of student loan WOULD have been statute barred when they took you to court

 

if it is link, they are crafty like that

 

and purposefully push through and get judgements on SB'd old style student loans

ehen they know they can send it all to an old address.

 

just WHAT you do now to get the charging order removed is another matter,

 

lets see if i am correct first before we move foward.

 

dx

[marmaris30]

Since you're selling anyway, then if there is equity after repaying any mortgage, that will go towards satisfying the CCJ, perhaps in its entirety. As long as you price it reasonably, or the debt would be satisfied in full, there is no reason why your creditor would block the sale. You do need to ask them though.

 

Otherwise you'd have to apply to have the CCJ and Charging Order set aside, which if successful would reset the process to the claim stage. In order to set aside, you need to show that you have a reasonable chance of defending the claim.

 

Since you've been out of contact with Student Loans for so long, when you should in fact have given them at least an annual update, I think you would struggle to come up with a reasonable defence. I'm not sure that statute-barred would apply to student loans, and even if you could show that you were below the repayment threshold, you'd still have to justify why you didn't keep in touch.

[jaml]

The Firm trying to recover the debt is Drydens Solicitors.

 

My research suggests that I'm going to have to try and get the CCJ set aside first on the grounds that the debt is statute barred. I need to work out the start of the limitation period, the national debt line website states that "The cause of action (when the limitation period starts running) for old–style student loans, is usually when the loan became due for repayment in the April following the conclusion of your course". So that means September 1999.

[dx100uk]

ok so not link [yet involved]

 

i was more thinking of from 2003 fwd to the date of the CCj

 

was that a clear 6yrs

 

what date in on the CCJ?

 

 

dx

[MrHat]

Old style student loans will become statute barred if there has ever been a period of 6 years without payment, deferment, or other written acknowledgment. If last deferment was 2003, that would have expired in 2004 and the debt would become statute barred in 2010

[dx100uk]

so thus:

 

The DCA applied to the court in October of last year [2012] and obtained judgement against me (CCJ),

 

so it was sb'ed when they went to court .....OPPSS!!

[jaml]

The CCJ is dated from Oct 2012 - so there is a clear 6 years even from the later date of 2003 when I stopped making loan repayments. I'm assuming the next plan of action would be to complete Form N244 and apply to the court to have the judgment set aside with a Limitation Act defence

 

Many thanks for all your replies - very supportive Forum.