[Night Hawk]

OK so this is where i'm at with my application to Barlcays. Im not a barlcays customer, im glad based on this experience.

1) Filled in the application, took it to a barlcays branch to have my documents certified. 'Yeah sure i'll do it' ... she signs the first page of each document, leaving about 7 unsigned. I said to her 'I dont mean to be a pain in the neck, but doesnt every document need to be signed. ....... her 'No it doesnt'.... Ok, so off i go.
2) About a week and half later the application comes back, says every page needs to be signed. Ok fair enough....
3) 2 days later i go back into the barclays branch, the manager is only person able to do it. She goes through it, tells me the letter says i need an extra address confirmation as well.... (Application contains every single piece of address and ID confirmation possible as this stage). She says, that all looks ok, i'll get the original girl who signed it to sign the rest or it'll look a bit 'dodgy' ...... then ill get her to send it off. I thought great, ill just wait for a decision now.
4) Today I called Barlcays, well India to be precise.... and spoke to a girl who simply wasnt capable of understanding English, or explain what was happening with it. After half an hour of talking to a break wall, her asking me every single piece of information on the application..... I discovered after interrogating her, that they last received an application on the 20th of Jan..... 4 days ago...... about 3 weeks after it was sent..... So either Barclays, Royal Mail are to blame for that. Anyhow...... then she goes on to say my address etc and course details were missing from the application........ Besides the fact why would i send it without a name on it ...... they already had these details from the first time it was sent, and they SHOULD have had it when Barlcays sent it off to their loans department.
5) Clenching my fist, and wanting to strangle her over the telephone at this point. So what do i need to do to sort this out. 'Give end date' ...... 'Hold on a minute, that information was all included, it was sorted by a barlcays branch manager then sent by a barlcays member of staff' .......... So try again........ 'Mr Night Hawk, 3 minute pause.... call back 3 to 5 days, shows pending'



So your guess is as good as ****ing mine as to how and when this will end up.

[violet_letters]

I was rejected by the Co-op. Does anyone know if it would make any difference, when I apply to Barclays, if I apply for £8000 or £10000? £10000 would be ideal but I could cope with eight if it would make it more likely to be successful...

[mojofrodo]

(Original post by Night Hawk)
OK so this is where i'm at with my application to Barlcays. Im not a barlcays customer, im glad based on this experience.

1) Filled in the application, took it to a barlcays branch to have my documents certified. 'Yeah sure i'll do it' ... she signs the first page of each document, leaving about 7 unsigned. I said to her 'I dont mean to be a pain in the neck, but doesnt every document need to be signed. ....... her 'No it doesnt'.... Ok, so off i go.
2) About a week and half later the application comes back, says every page needs to be signed. Ok fair enough....
3) 2 days later i go back into the barclays branch, the manager is only person able to do it. She goes through it, tells me the letter says i need an extra address confirmation as well.... (Application contains every single piece of address and ID confirmation possible as this stage). She says, that all looks ok, i'll get the original girl who signed it to sign the rest or it'll look a bit 'dodgy' ...... then ill get her to send it off. I thought great, ill just wait for a decision now.
4) Today I called Barlcays, well India to be precise.... and spoke to a girl who simply wasnt capable of understanding English, or explain what was happening with it. After half an hour of talking to a break wall, her asking me every single piece of information on the application..... I discovered after interrogating her, that they last received an application on the 20th of Jan..... 4 days ago...... about 3 weeks after it was sent..... So either Barclays, Royal Mail are to blame for that. Anyhow...... then she goes on to say my address etc and course details were missing from the application........ Besides the fact why would i send it without a name on it ...... they already had these details from the first time it was sent, and they SHOULD have had it when Barlcays sent it off to their loans department.
5) Clenching my fist, and wanting to strangle her over the telephone at this point. So what do i need to do to sort this out. 'Give end date' ...... 'Hold on a minute, that information was all included, it was sorted by a barlcays branch manager then sent by a barlcays member of staff' .......... So try again........ 'Mr Night Hawk, 3 minute pause.... call back 3 to 5 days, shows pending'



So your guess is as good as ****ing mine as to how and when this will end up.

I had this problem. Barclays have received multiple complaints from me about their lack of vaguely useful customer service. I wish I'd never taken this stupid loan out. Make sure your course is one guaranteed to give you a job in this climate and when the time comes to pay it back, move it to a lower rate.

[mojofrodo]

(Original post by evantej)
Postgraduate programmes in finance etc. are supposed to be taken after a few years in the industry when you can afford to pay the inflated fees; that is, of course the lie they will spin. In reality, with a career development you can borrow £10,000 which means those sorts of programmes are out of the reach for normal home students.

That is the maximum 'postgraduate loan'. Banks might offer others, but they are not accredited, so to speak, which means the interest rates are higher and the learning and skills council do not pay your interest while you study. The only students who banks would trust with more money than that are doctors for obvious reasons. I doubt anyone would lend you £25,000 to do a finance programme.

Oh my god. Don't borrow 25k! mine is 10k and it's already like a f****in morgage. If it's that much, get a job for a few years and save up a bit!

[melloj]

(Original post by violet_letters)
I was rejected by the Co-op. Does anyone know if it would make any difference, when I apply to Barclays, if I apply for £8000 or £10000? £10000 would be ideal but I could cope with eight if it would make it more likely to be successful...

I was turned down by Co Op, then accepted by Barclays. According to the women I spoke to when asked the same qustion they don't take it in to account as you are entitled to ask for up to £10,000.

Personally I think thats B******s as the bank will decide how much of a risk you are when it comes to paying it back. I decided to ask for 80% of the cost of the fees, even though I was entitled to 100% to secure the loan.

I would go with £8000 if your not confident you'll get it.

[Night Hawk]

Approaching the 7-8 week mark, 2 weeks after the start date of the course....Its still not been sorted out.

Phoned lasted week (To India and all the trouble it brings), said they posted the application to the young peoples learning agency on the 14th Feb, call back in 5 to 7 days. I called back today, the girl on the phone said it was posted on the 20th Feb, and repeatedly fired out the automatic response 'call back 3-5 working days'...... I said to her 'the 20th is today, and i was told it was sent on the 14th' .........' Oh yes Mr Hawk, call back 3-5 days' ...

At that point I thought **** it... I'll just leave it now, whatever will be will be. I'll just plan to get the cash together myself, these pathetic dickheads obviously cant be counted on.

I mean among all the other **** ive encountered with this, why does it take Barclays 7 working days to get a 'yes that course is certified with us' from the young peoples learning agency, why dont they just call them, get a yes, and process the ****ing loan....., if they want to see the course provider declaration why not scan and email/fax it, thats obviously too much trouble.

[lucysugden]

(Original post by Night Hawk)
Approaching the 7-8 week mark, 2 weeks after the start date of the course....Its still not been sorted out.

Phoned lasted week (To India and all the trouble it brings), said they posted the application to the young peoples learning agency on the 14th Feb, call back in 5 to 7 days. I called back today, the girl on the phone said it was posted on the 20th Feb, and repeatedly fired out the automatic response 'call back 3-5 working days'...... I said to her 'the 20th is today, and i was told it was sent on the 14th' .........' Oh yes Mr Hawk, call back 3-5 days' ...

At that point I thought **** it... I'll just leave it now, whatever will be will be. I'll just plan to get the cash together myself, these pathetic dickheads obviously cant be counted on.

I mean among all the other **** ive encountered with this, why does it take Barclays 7 working days to get a 'yes that course is certified with us' from the young peoples learning agency, why dont they just call them, get a yes, and process the ****ing loan....., if they want to see the course provider declaration why not scan and email/fax it, thats obviously too much trouble.

i understand your frustration, Barclays are completly useless mine took 16 weeks for my loan to finally come through. They kept saying they were waiting on the ypla and it was always phone back in 3-5 days. So yes i agreee they completely useless but it will eventually come through. I started my course on the 1st of october and i got the loan a few days before christmas. they also dont send you a print copy of the payment schedules so the university just have to believe you that they will get the rest of the money which caused more problems. Its a lot of money to organsise yourself so i would hang on if i was you. You will get they money at some point. Good Luck and try not to get too angry because it totally just makes you depressed. I thought it was never going to get they money and be kicked off my course.

[Syrupie]

Can anyone help?

My problem is the application form for the CDL, what's the best way to put my outgoings? I hope to be able to work part time. The course is part time. However, I don't work at present. Technically, I don't have to pay any bills as my partner will allow me to live rent and bill free save a few £50 every month now and again. I don't want to put my rent/bills down as £50 plus personal living expenses as this will look like I don't need the loan. Nor do I want to put what my share of the bills are in theory as this takes me over the 10k allowed amount when you include tuition fees.

I live off £250 a month. That's my own personal expenditure including travel costs

Any help gratefully received

[evantej]

(Original post by Syrupie)
Can anyone help?

My problem is the application form for the CDL, what's the best way to put my outgoings? I hope to be able to work part time. The course is part time. However, I don't work at present. Technically, I don't have to pay any bills as my partner will allow me to live rent and bill free save a few £50 every month now and again. I don't want to put my rent/bills down as £50 plus personal living expenses as this will look like I don't need the loan. Nor do I want to put what my share of the bills are in theory as this takes me over the 10k allowed amount when you include tuition fees.

I live off £250 a month. That's my own personal expenditure including travel costs

Any help gratefully received

Put whatever your income and outgoings is now. Do not complicate things by attempting to include potential future earnings. I asked for £10,000: £4450 for tuition fees and the rest for living costs. I had no clue had much my actual living costs were going to be, save the fact that I could clearly not afford to go over £5500!

If the bank want more details they will contact you.

[Syrupie]

did you get accepted eventej?

[evantej]

(Original post by Syrupie)
did you get accepted eventej?

Yes. When I applied I had no income whatsoever and was living at home with my mam.

[swilsh]

I am planning to apply for the Co-op loan but on the application it says to apply 8 weeks before the course starts, should I just ignore that as I gather others have applied prior to that?

[MGS]

(Original post by swilsh)
I am planning to apply for the Co-op loan but on the application it says to apply 8 weeks before the course starts, should I just ignore that as I gather others have applied prior to that?

No you need to wait, my friend applied last year around this time and the Co-Op rejected it and told him to apply nearer the time. Some people may have been lucky if they've got their application in and accepted for studies in sept/oct.

[Syrupie]

Anybody else really worried about being able to pay their loan back when they finish? I'm applying in June and don't as yet have a job although I am looking and hoping that something will come up. I do know that they expect you to start paying the money back a month after the course finishes.

[KSC]

So, here's a question...

Terms and conditions explicitly state that you must be intending to work in the European Economic Area. They also state that the loan cannot be used for the intention of further study (e.g. an apprenticeship.)

That said, surely if you happened to receive a fully-funded PhD in an institute outside of the EEA, let's say the USA, then there's nothing they can do to stop you? So long as you're making the repayments.

[(Bored)]

Well I just ordered my CDL application pack and requested 3 months of paper statements from my bank. After reading some of the stories on here about Barclay's returning the forms 3 or 4 times and generally messing people around I figure it would be best to get it submitted as soon as I hit the 3 month mark.

[GuyUK]

The Barclay website states "9.9% per annum, equivalent to a typical APR of 5-6% over the lifetime of the loan" for career development loan. Can you pay back the whole loan amount if you have the money after graduation? or do you have to commit to your monthly repayment plan?

If I finish my MSc and don't manage to get a job after graduation, and can't afford to pay back the monthly repayment, what happens? Do the interest build up?

9.9% per year sounds really high. I believe a undergraduate student loans, allows you to pay back the loan depended on how much you earn, and if you don't earn anything, you don't pay anything back. Also, interest is around 2-3% a year.

[(Bored)]

(Original post by GuyUK)
The Barclay website states "9.9% per annum, equivalent to a typical APR of 5-6% over the lifetime of the loan" for career development loan. Can you pay back the whole loan amount if you have the money after graduation? or do you have to commit to your monthly repayment plan?

If I finish my MSc and don't manage to get a job after graduation, and can't afford to pay back the monthly repayment, what happens? Do the interest build up?

9.9% per year sounds really high. I believe a undergraduate student loans, allows you to pay back the loan depended on how much you earn, and if you don't earn anything, you don't pay anything back. Also, interest is around 2-3% a year.

You can pay back the full amount on graduation if you can afford to. I know Barclays state no early repayment fee (I haven't checked co-op yet though).

If you can't afford to repay you can apply to take a payment holiday for a few months, but it is a real bank loan so it operates completely differently to student finance. Excluding the payment holidays, you have to pay the monthly amount you agreed to even if you are unemployed or only working part-time.

[humming]

I'm hoping to apply for this in the near future - am I safe to assume that they look at savings?

Not that I have a lot but what I do have I will be using it for my living costs but they would not be enough - would that mean I am less likely to get the 10k should I apply for that much?

I'll also be working so I will use that to for living costs and use the savings as a back up but was just wondering if it would change how much I could apply for.

[ClaireyG]

I have a question about working when applying for the CDL:

When I spoke to the lady on the phone to apply for a pack, I was told that if I was working I could only claim up to 80% of my tuition fees, but if I was unemployed for the three months prior to the start of my course I could claim 100%

Right now I work as a waitress to save a few extra pennies. Do I need to be claiming unemployment benefit for three months to qualify as "employed", and does that mean I can't work at all, or that I can still work one or two shifts during the week?

Anyone with any ideas? I plan on calling tomorrow after work, but if any of you can enlighten me in the meantime that'd be great.