Government will prosecute students who don't repay student loans

What you all make of this with the government punishing any student who fails to repay their student loan on time?
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/government-will-prosecute-those-who-fail-to-repay-their-student-loans-on-time-warns-jo-johnson-a6869221.html

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Reply 1

Gnomes&Knights

Original post by Rock Fan

What if your earning below the threshold your whole life though? I can't repay if I'm earning below £21,000 a year.

Reply 2

Charles III

Original post by Gnomes&Knights

What if your earning below the threshold your whole life though? I can't repay if I'm earning below £21,000 a year.

^^^ this...

Reply 3

Gnomes&Knights

Original post by iEthan

^^^ this...

I guess the Tories are just a bunch of senseless snobs who can't relate to any poor working class individual.

Reply 4

Lacesso

Original post by Gnomes&Knights

I guess the Tories are just a bunch of senseless snobs who can't relate to any poor working class individual.

A loan is a loan. Doesn't matter if it's from your neighbour, Wonga or for university; you should expect to have to pay it back eventually.

Reply 5

Kholmes1

Are they getting rid of the £21 thousand thing.

Im not sure what I think about this. I understand that its a loan it needs to be paid back. But its gonna be quite hard for someone with no job- although one of the main purposes of uni is to help you get a job.

Maybe this will stop some people from going to uni who might think that if they don't earn more than £21 thousand than they don't have to pay it back. Although I doubt anyone does this anyway and if they do its kinda pointless.

Reply 6

Jenx301

As far as I can tell from the article.... this is mainly about people who are actively trying to get around repaying the loan, by leaving the country for example. I don't think they are planning on going after any student who doesn't earn enough yet to repay.

I'd be more concerned about this

Reply 7

The Wavefunction

In my opinion you should go to to university to further career prospects. If you get a degree and aren't earning over £21,000 by 30 you've wasted your time and money.

We need to stop people going to university to party and study things like sports massage and football studies. No one benefits and the government loses money.

Reply 8

Jebedee

Original post by Jenx301

Good luck prosecuting someone who has left the country lol.

Reply 9

Jammy Duel

To anybody who has a problem with this? Does this mean you will also shut up about Google and the likes avoiding their taxes? Or those with big money? How about you go take out s loan from a high Street bank and avoid payment according to the terms and see if they will just let you walk away with the money?

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Reply 10

username2353215

Original post by Gnomes&Knights

I guess the Tories are just a bunch of senseless snobs who can't relate to any poor working class individual.

Original post by Gnomes&Knights

What if your earning below the threshold your whole life though? I can't repay if I'm earning below £21,000 a year.

Who asked you too go to university to then only get employment worth £21,000? You could have saved the tax payer their money by not going at all and going to work in retail (about the same wage). Its ridiculous how many people get bad A-levels but want too go into subjects such as economics, law and go too "crap" universities, graduate and realise no firm wants them and are stuck back in square one but only with a bank balance of -£60,000.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 11

Aph

Original post by The Wavefunction

I disagree about furthering career prospects. But mainly Because I think that education is about bettering ones self and not preparing for work because life isn't about what your salary is and we shouldn't be living to work.

However the answer is to re-introduce the caps on student numbers which the Tory's got rid of in an attempt to get more people going to university.

Reply 12

CCC75

I am intrigued to know how you evade repayment of a loan which the government automatically deduct from your wages once your earnings reach a minimum threshold. How big a problem is this really?

Reply 13

Jammy Duel

Original post by Aph

And then people cry about an attack on the poor because the thicker who go to university are more likely to be poor. Then you get your cries of elitism and being against social mobility and people cry even more because they always need something to cry about.

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Reply 14

Jammy Duel

Original post by CCC75

I am intrigued to know how you evade repayment of a loan which the government automatically deduct from your wages once your earnings reach a minimum threshold. How big a problem is this really?

The one most people know is leaving Europe. Take a read of the terms and conditions and you will seen it is your responsibility to get in contact with the relevant authorities to get everything set up when you go overseas, fail to do so, congratulations, you have just breaches your contract and avoided payment. You then have the question of whether it is financially viable to track you down etc, but I expect this is to be a symbolic thing rather than something widely acted on, do a few to set an example and hope people are good as a consequence.

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Reply 15

Aph

Original post by Jammy Duel

Well I'm sorry that everyone isn't as self center end as you profess to be. But I don't see you point.

Reply 16

Jammy Duel

Original post by Aph

Well I'm sorry that everyone isn't as self center end as you profess to be. But I don't see you point.

Why were higher fees protested and still are? It's not because student numbers have been uncapped, more "disadvantaged" students have gone to university, and social mobility increased, it's because people were told the opposite would happen and blindly followed. Cap the numbers again and the exact same happens, except this time they will actually be right for once. Further throw in that there would then actually be a stronger argument for fee reductions and it a politically stupid idea that will only get the support of the blind followers and the small portion of people that see the growth in the student population for what it is rather than what they want you to see it as.

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Reply 17

domonict

One way to ensure that the loan is repaid ( by those who can afford to) is to transfer the debt of unpaid loans to become the responsibility of the university who issue the degree.

People are generally unaware that a uk university can "at any time" withdraw your degree accreditation. This is generally only done in case of fraud or some heinous criminal act. But the uni can also refuse to let a debtor even graduate. I once watched a graduant and his dad have a massive flare up as the family had turned up to graduation, the student was gowned up, but he had ignored a warning letter for a relatively small amount. The university would not let him graduate, and woulould not issue his degree until the debt was paid. The dad went ballistic.

So it might be interesting to see somebody's reaction, after buggering off to leave the rest of us paying. his/Her debt, if his degree is removed. If that happened and they were in the states, they would possibly be deported as the immigration rules would be breached.

I have no sympathy with anybody who attempts to gain at the expense of the rest of the U.K. Population . The ultimate result might be that government funding ceased, and that is not a good thing.

You borrow - you pay back! What's wrong with that? It is theft from us all if you don't . Why should the university cleaner on minimum wage subsidise your selfishness ?

Reply 18

Aph

Original post by Jammy Duel

Higher fees are protested because people don't understand the system. As for a cap it depends how it's applied.

Reply 19

Klix88

Original post by Gnomes&Knights

What if your earning below the threshold your whole life though? I can't repay if I'm earning below £21,000 a year.

Unless the government changes the rules at some point in the future, you'll be fine. They're talking about students who breach the terms of the agreement, by not making repayments when they ought to according to the rules. People who don't tell their employer that they have a student loan outstanding, so that payments aren't taken when they reach the threshold. Students who move overseas and don't proactively declare earnings and make the due repayments. Although with the cross-border legal red tape involved, I suspect it would cost more to trace and prosecute those students overseas, than they'd end up clawing back in repayments/recouped costs.