Student Loan Deferment Conspiracy ? (long)

[noomill060]

welcome to CAG, by the way.

[maybelline]

Better Regulation Executive (BRE): Let us have your ideas:

 

under consideration

[Idhoca]

Hello everybody.

Although I feel ashamed about it, I would like to share with you my experience. Mind you, it is quite different from yours.

This is due to my personal situation which was very complex and complicated when the problems with Student Loans started. I sent the deferement form and received no reply from them. After a while I started to receive letters asking me for immediate payment . I have replied telling them I did send the deferement form as I was not working at that time but they seemed not to have received it. After that I moved from Spain, where I was living and came back to live in my homeland, which is Sardinia (Italy), and which is where I live now. They kept sending me letters asking for payment but I neglected all the letters. I am aware that this is not the right way to solve the problem but in that time that I could not handle it in a proper way. I have no idea how to get out of this. At the moment, I do not know I much money I owe them or they are asking for. Since they ignored my deferement form, few years (4 or 5) have passed and I think it’s time for me to face this problem. At the moment I do not know what to do and I will be glad if you could give me some advice. I am ready to take on all my responsability although they put me in the right condition for breaching the contract. Mind you, I did not receive any phone calls from them. I think the biggest problem is that I don’t hold a copy of the bloody deferment form.

Thank you in advance

[maybelline]

I would say do a SAR under the DPA 1998, cost £10 and get all your information.

 

alternatively just do a CCA request, templates in library, cost £1, this will get you a copy of the agreement, ask for a statement of account also and any deed of assignment if they have passed it to a debt collector, although it may be that it is still in house with SLC.

 

from there you can begin to build a picture of what you want to do, and what to do most urgently.

 

if you have evidence of illness, benefits, low income etc gather it all up for the relevant periods so you can demonstrate to them why you would not be eligible to pay them if this is the case, and start to think about charges.

 

good luck:)

[welshwizard]

Hi there

 

would a 'deed of assignment' exist if the loan had been passed to mackenzie hall, buchanan clarke & wells and capquest?

[welshwizard]

Just a thought? I wonder how SLC, their dogs of war that are the DCA's and the Goverment would look if people started killing themselves because of the distress caused by the complete failure by the SLC et al to function correctly, within the law and in an ethical manner?

 

There are people here (me included) that are very close to the edge and we shouldn't be!

 

In Bridgend the authorities are all running around like headless chickens becuase there have been 17 (I think) suicides (Teenagers) in the last year. Would they be running round like this if people all over the UK flooded message boards with talk of suicide and accusations against SLC, the dogs and the Government? And all because someone somewhere failed to do their job right (in a spectacular manner) and didn't process deferment forms timeously (or however it's spelt).

 

Shall we start a new campaign because I have nothing to lose now.

[daveydavey]

Have courage !!

 

Breakthrough : remember it seems the Gov't has backtracked or at least softened its position regarding the false arrears generated by 'missing' deferment forms - see the submission to the Better Regulation Executive here :

 

Better Regulation Executive (BRE): Let us have your ideas:

 

- & see the response ! Print it out, refer to it when making (a) formal complaint (s) , all stages, use it in Court !! If a judge sees it, written in black & white by a Government official regarding 'better Regulation', that a deferment *can* be 'backdated' for more than 12 months if a borrower can prove his income was below the repayment threshold (when it should have been deferred in the first place) over the relevant period, then any case brought by the SLC & Honours Student Loans etc would be highly likely to collapse!!

 

So if you're in this position, complain formally, go through all the stages, then complain to the FOS if necessary (you have a right to do this re pre -1998 loans) / or if you are taken to Court print out the BRE's response. If you are constantly hassled by debt collectors inform them the Gov't has clarified the position ... etc etc

[debt4get]

can someone tell me are these loans for courses taken before 1998 or after because on the gov website it states quite categorically

If you started your course in or after 1998, your student loan repayments will be based on your income.

If you earn less than a certain level of income - the 'repayment threshold' - you will not be required to repay anything. If you earn above the threshold, you will repay a percentage of the amount you earn over the threshold.

If you started your course before 1998, you will have a different type of student loan.

[daveydavey]

The problems occur (mainly) with pre-1998 loans. After 1998 , the Inland Revenue started to administer the loans, so those on a low income were automatically deferred until their income reached a certain level. Problems have occurred with an unrealistic proportion of annual deferment forms for pre-1998 loans not being processed for whatever reason, & the consequent unreasonableness & bloody-mindedness of the SLC & Honours Student Loans Co. in being unwilling to correct the 'arrears' figures thus generated, the loan companies then passing the 'debts' onto debt collectors, threatening to demand repayment of the whole of the loan declaring the low-income borrower to be 'in default', harassing vulnerable groups who qualified for deferment into repaying 'arrears' and / or the whole of the deferred loan amount, adding unrealistic & unlawful repeated £20 charges for computer-generated letters sent second class, then falsely claiming the charges had been 'approved' by the OFT, 'moving' & misrepresenting the administration of loans from the 'SLC' (Student Loans Company) to the 'SLC' (Smith Lawson & Company) when the two are in fact the same organisation etc etc.

[debt4get]

thanks for the reply I was wondering as my loans were taken out in 98 on

however, that does not help you or the other thousands like you, why is it from 98 on whether you pay is dependent on income and managed through paye so you do not have to formally declare deferrement yet before 98 you must apply for deferment

have you brought this to the attention of the national press tv radio MPs and just about anyone you can get to listen, this must not be allowed to continue you should have the same rights as pre98 as to post98 for myself there by the grace of god go I if I had been another year earlier I'd be in the same mess I really feel for you all

[Jake Maverick]

I am currently having exactly the same problems with them!!! Have been in dispute for over ten years now.... I require individual statements so i can check them.....

 

Things have been escalating for last year as I currently have no income whatsoever! They refuse to give me benfits and it it is no longer possible for people such as me to have bank accounts (legal reasons, apparently) so i can not work for a living!!!

 

Have tried to sue them but it is not possible for mere mortals such as myself to access the court system anymore because they have changed the secret special rules again without bothering to tell me!!! They refuse to sue me and any day now my stupid mother is likely to let the yobs with no names into the house and it WILL end in violence!!! Best case scenario is that i go to prison for rest of my life....

 

Any body got any great idea???

 

 

The mods will not allow me to post what i really wanna post on this forum but if you want my story email me!!!!

[Idhoca]

I would say do a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) under the Data Protection Act 1998, cost £10 and get all your information.

 

alternatively just do a CCA request, templates in library, cost £1, this will get you a copy of the agreement, ask for a statement of account also and any deed of assignment if they have passed it to a debt collector, although it may be that it is still in house with SLC.

 

from there you can begin to build a picture of what you want to do, and what to do most urgently.

 

if you have evidence of illness, benefits, low income etc gather it all up for the relevant periods so you can demonstrate to them why you would not be eligible to pay them if this is the case, and start to think about charges.

 

good luck:)

 

Thank you maybelline for your advice. Could you explain how could I do a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request)? Being abroad and having left the UK several years ago, I find it difficult the get all the information I need plus I haven’t a clue of legal terms etc. Could you also tell me what CCA stands for? Probably not being in there doesn’t help me as I cannot phisically go to the library to get a template. I could get a friend to get it for me but I have to tell exactly what to ask for and where to go.

Once again thank you for your great help. I don't feel lonely anymore

[Idhoca]

Hi again! Through the internet I have managed to find out more information about CCA etc. I probably will do a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) but I would be grateful if anyone could post here a template and if you could also tell me where to send the request. Thank you all!

[noomill060]

Go here for a template SAR

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/96518-data-protection-act-subject.html

 

You should send it to SLC's Bothwell Street address.

 

Start a thread so you can keep us up to date.

[maybelline]

stick with it, thanks to all who gave me the support when it was hell, result at last:)

[Idhoca]

I will do, thank you so much.

[noomill060]

Whats the result, maybelline...?

 

do tell.

[maybelline]

written off (more later)

[Jake Maverick]

You had them written off??? that is EXACTLY what i am seeking now........do you have special powers or something?

 

I am not even allowed to take them to court!!! and they refuse to take me to court and i'm expecting door to be kicked in any day now!!!!

[maybelline]

Better Regulation Executive (BRE): Let us have your ideas:

[muddyroads]

hey there everyone, i am urging you all to make a compalint with slc and with Financial Ombudsman i have been having this lost form thing for the last 7 years and have had enough, why i should be blamed for them losing my forms is beyond me. thanks to the person that mentioned this 3 year deferment thing, cos i didnt even know they could do that. they sure as hell didnt tell me i could, i wonder why? anyway good luck with all of you having problems, dont give up. the more people that complain to Financial Ombudsman the moree chance they will have to adress this.

PS any time you call in the future lets make a game of what music they are being distracted by leading to them losing our forms, they were listening to lady gaga on my complaint/call to them.

 

PPS if you are like me and have problems writing to them by mail and feel there is no point, if they lose your deferment, whats to say they wont lost your complaint, use the email adress on their website, sorry it wont let me post it cos im new here

[Jake Maverick]

been my experience that they ignore emails as well....given up trying to deal with, getting debt collectors (possibly/ probably) harassing me and my neighbours, just waiting for them to get violent again....i WILL defend myself and probably will wind up being tortured in a so called 'mental' health institution' for the rest of my life for killing a 'non physical entity'! happens hundreds of time every year this country alone you know...although MSM only reports on abt 20!

[teachme2teachu]

Hi all. Somebody's hand needs to be forced here! Lost deferments even though they are continually resubmitted at SLC/HSL request?

SLC/HSL owe us a DUTY OF CARE when dealing with ANY of our enquiries/requests.

Should'nt we be building a legal case against these halfwits? There's certainly enough of us!!! I think it's about time we started lobbying MPs and government ministers. Start a petition against SLC/HSL. My deferment form request was lost/filed in the bin 5 years ago despite my continual reminding letters. The whole of my student loan is now in arrears. I believe SLC/HSL have failed in providing me with a DUTY OF CARE in that they lost/failed to respond to deferment requests and therefore forced me into default of my student loan. HSL need to be dragged into court, forced to confront the thousands of people to whom they have caused so much misery and have their licence revoked permanently. The same should also apply to their cohorts in this whole fiasco, Pennine Debt Recovery, AKA PDRS, AKA Brookdale & Walker Associates. These lowlifes continually ignore disputed claims and seem to be hell bent on trying to cause as much misery as possible through threats of legal action, personal visits and harassing phone calls. These organisations are well aware of UK law regarding their activities but openly flout it nonetheless. It's time to make a stand people!

[emmaf01]

Nice to come back to this thread after so long away to find SLC are still doing the same old tricks to people.

 

In my own case I am still trying to get my new 3 year deferment sorted. They didn't send me a deferment form until I had requested one three times. It was returned to them (recorded delivery) in June 2010. They tell me they processed it in August and yet I am still getting hassle from Smith Lawson because it hasn't been input correctly.

 

I have successfully taken them to the small claims court before, and I'll do it again if they don't pull their fingers out.

 

Makes me laugh if I have to argue with them about the correct loan numbers again. Last time their solicitor was not too impressed with her clients.

[bureaucrazy]

as.

Edited November 9, 2010 by bureaucrazy