Honours Students Loans - SAR

[no one shot jr]

Hi,

 

Like many others,

I am being aggressively pursued by HSL for an old student loan debt

and getting increasingly sick of their tactics.

(I have been on a very low income since 2005

- including being a student for most of the time

- yet still made monthly repayments without fail since 2006,

but they are still threatening to take me to court.)

 

I have been reading the forum and it seems like I can reclaim any penalty charges on this account - is this correct?

 

If it is, I am going to write a subject access request.

Do these sound like the right kind of questions?

Am I missing anything?

 

• The original amount of the loan they are chasing me for.
  
• The date this loan was originally taken out.
  
• The name and contact information of the loan company I originally entered into agreement with.
  
• The date the loan was sold to HSL.
  
• Full details – dates and amounts – of any penalty charges HSL has applied to the account.
  
• Full statements of my account from the date the original loan was taken out, detailing all credits and debits to the account.
   
  

Anything else, do you think?

 

Many help for any advice given.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

I expect the forum guys will be along later with advice for you. Weekends are always a little quieter here, so please bear with us until the people in the know are able to get here.

 

My best, HB

[no one shot jr]

thanks for your reply and welcome, honeybee13.

 

in reading some more (there are so many threads!), i've found a better wording. i've written two letters, one a SAR and one a CCA using the templates listed on the SLC general info thread.

 

hopefully something good will come of it.

[reallymadwoman]

I am no expert on student loans but can you clarify what type of loan you had - was it the old type with a fixed repayment or the new type where money is taken through PAYE? In either case I don't understand why you would be chased for extra - either you're paying the fixed amount or the money is being paid through your wages, surely?

[no one shot jr]

it was from 1997-98, so an old type, i believe.

 

i was out of the country from 1998-2005, hence not making repayments until 2006.

[reallymadwoman]

If you didn't contact them for the whole period you were out of the country then it's statute barred and you no longer need to pay anything.

 

Once something is statute barred, starting to pay doesn't make any difference, it's still statute barred.

[no one shot jr]

can you point me to anywhere official saying this?

 

i have made around £1,500 worth of repayments too!!!!

 

if this is the case, how do i go about dealing with informing them of this and stopping this harassment?

 

it would be of a great relief if this were true as i've just been evicted for complaining about disrepair and am in a giant mess / panic / stressful situation.

[no one shot jr]

my god - it's true! just been googling. oh that'll teach them for being so unscrupulous. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

 

seriously, my life has been so awful lately, this is a really, really, really welcome piece of advice / news.

 

THANK YOU!!

[reallymadwoman]

Unfortunately I don't think you can get the payments you've made back as the debt still exists and they can ask you to pay but if you let them know that you know it's statute barred and you're not going to pay anymore then they should no longer contact you at all.

[no one shot jr]

That's okay. What I've paid in "interest" probably about covers the original loan. It's just very good to know I can get them off my back.

[WarrenBuffet]

Can i just give you my experience as regards something similar, if you have not already then i would send a SAR to the SLC .

 

I was living and working in the USA in 02 and i failed to notify the SLC. They took a CCJ against me and sold the debt to Link/Thesis. So just be aware that to be totally sure your debt is statute barred 12 years need to lapse as if it comes close to 6 years without acknowledgment or payment SLC have a habit of taking a CCJ against you which in itself will restart the 6 year clock from the date of the judgement.

 

So, i would advise from personal experience that you establish by sending SLC a SAR if they did obtain a CCJ? If then you find they havent then happy days! Send Statute Barred letter.

[no one shot jr]

This is good advice, warren, thanks.

 

I thought about this but reasoned that since there was no record of a CCJ on my credit file when I returned from abroad, and since HSL have never referred to one, that they'd never issued one.

 

But perhaps I should err on the side of caution.

[reallymadwoman]

Why waste a tenner? Tell HSL it's statute barred and you're not paying any more. If there is anything to suggest otherwise, they will then provide it for free.

[no one shot jr]

RMW to the rescue again - very good point!

[WarrenBuffet]

That is a valid point rellymadwoman.

[no one shot jr]

So they have ignored the statute barred letter and are sending people on a home visit. Do I just send the statute barred letter again?

[dx100uk]

urm if it was statute barred and they've been fleecing you

and its gone into their pocket

 

go get it back!! the lot!!

 

that SAR is a must.

 

dx

[no one shot jr]

I've got too much on plate to be bothered with that. I just want to get them to leave me alone.

[dx100uk]

wont happen sadly

 

once these people get a cash cow on their books

 

they don't give up.

 

they don't actually send anyone BTW

 

its just a threat.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

they are NOT BAILIFFS AND HAVE NO SUCH BAILIFF POWERS

 

ignore them

 

dx

[no one shot jr]

Do they not have to leave you alone after sending them the statute barred letter?

[dx100uk]

in the sb letter did you explain that the debt was sb'd BEFORE you started paying them...

 

dx

[no one shot jr]

No. I didn't know about that. But the letter template I used said that it doesn't matter that I made payment. Once it's barred, it's barred.

[dx100uk]

yes but have they actually ack'd you now know they've been fleecing you blind...

 

I take it the letter you got back did not specifically relate to your SB claim

 

but is a generic threat-o-gram

 

dx

[no one shot jr]

Yes, the letter makes no reference to the statute barred letter I sent.