The Student Room Group

How do I deal with a "Legal Notice" from my old Uni?

In 2014 I was a student at the University of Bedfordshire, and like most I applied for Student Finance.

I assumed that SFE would cover my tuition but it turns out they didn't because I was on a course the year before at my college studying for a HND.

I quit the Uni in November 2014 and I received an email from them today:

"Dear Mr ------ URGENT NOTICE OF IMPENDING LEGAL ACTION DO NOT IGNORE Re TUITION FEES BALANCE OUTSTANDING £9000 I inform you that you have failed to discharge your debt owing to the University. The balance of £9000 is overdue. In the circumstances I must therefore request your payment of the full amount of £9000. Payment must reach the University of Bedfordshire within 7 days of receipt of this letter. Payments can be sent to:Account Name: University of BedfordshireBank Name: HSBCSort Code: --------Account No: -------- Please quote the student number with your payment reference. I urge you therefore to settle the amount to the University of Bedfordshire immediately, Should your payment not reach us by the date specified, your file which is now prepared will be passed to our debt collection agency to commence immediate legal recovery of all monies due. All costs of this action will be passed to you. Your account has also been prepared to be passed for recommendation to terminate your registration meaning you will no longer be considered a student of this University. I trust therefore that you will make immediate arrangement to remit the payment with us by the dead line set and that recovery through the courts will not become necessary. You may contact me directly on 01582 743310 should you wish to discuss this matter in any detail. Yours sincerely"Since I left Uni I went to the doctors because I was suffering from severe depression (I was very suicidal). I am still on anti-depressants to this day.I do not have the £9000 and do not believe I should be paying this.Do I have a leg to stand on???
Reply 1
Original post by needhelp1221
In 2014 I was a student at the University of Bedfordshire, and like most I applied for Student Finance.

I assumed that SFE would cover my tuition but it turns out they didn't because I was on a course the year before at my college studying for a HND.

I quit the Uni in November 2014 and I received an email from them today:

"Dear Mr ------ URGENT NOTICE OF IMPENDING LEGAL ACTION DO NOT IGNORE Re TUITION FEES BALANCE OUTSTANDING £9000 I inform you that you have failed to discharge your debt owing to the University. The balance of £9000 is overdue. In the circumstances I must therefore request your payment of the full amount of £9000. Payment must reach the University of Bedfordshire within 7 days of receipt of this letter. Payments can be sent to:Account Name: University of BedfordshireBank Name: HSBCSort Code: --------Account No: -------- Please quote the student number with your payment reference. I urge you therefore to settle the amount to the University of Bedfordshire immediately, Should your payment not reach us by the date specified, your file which is now prepared will be passed to our debt collection agency to commence immediate legal recovery of all monies due. All costs of this action will be passed to you. Your account has also been prepared to be passed for recommendation to terminate your registration meaning you will no longer be considered a student of this University. I trust therefore that you will make immediate arrangement to remit the payment with us by the dead line set and that recovery through the courts will not become necessary. You may contact me directly on 01582 743310 should you wish to discuss this matter in any detail. Yours sincerely"Since I left Uni I went to the doctors because I was suffering from severe depression (I was very suicidal). I am still on anti-depressants to this day.I do not have the £9000 and do not believe I should be paying this.Do I have a leg to stand on???


Did you not apply for student loan or did you assume automatically they would pay for it?
Reply 2
Original post by chikane
Did you not apply for student loan or did you assume automatically they would pay for it?


I applied for a student loan which I did get, however I did not get the tuition fee covered (I assumed SFE would cover it)

As soon as I found out that SFE weren't going to cover my tuition fee I left.

It's very distressing that they are trying to charge me £9000 for only attending a few weeks..
Reply 3
Original post by needhelp1221
I applied for a student loan which I did get, however I did not get the tuition fee covered (I assumed SFE would cover it)

As soon as I found out that SFE weren't going to cover my tuition fee I left.

It's very distressing that they are trying to charge me £9000 for only attending a few weeks..


Well i can suggest talking to the finance team at the university and explain to them that you attended until November. You should not be paying £9000 if you left then.
Did you get a letter from student finance telling you what you will be owed before starting university?
Original post by needhelp1221
I applied for a student loan which I did get, however I did not get the tuition fee covered (I assumed SFE would cover it)

As soon as I found out that SFE weren't going to cover my tuition fee I left.

It's very distressing that they are trying to charge me £9000 for only attending a few weeks..


Have you got any evidence that you withdrew in November?

http://www.beds.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/461181/TUITION-FEE-POLICY.pdf is their current policy - it seems that even if you followed procedure exactly they will hold you liable for 65% of the annual fee.
Reply 5
Original post by chikane
Well i can suggest talking to the finance team at the university and explain to them that you attended until November. You should not be paying £9000 if you left then.
Did you get a letter from student finance telling you what you will be owed before starting university?


No, I applied for student finance pretty late (about a week before my course started)
Reply 6
Original post by PQ
Have you got any evidence that you withdrew in November?

http://www.beds.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/461181/TUITION-FEE-POLICY.pdf is their current policy - it seems that even if you followed procedure exactly they will hold you liable for 65% of the annual fee.


I did send one of the tutors an email explaining my situation (That I was stopping my studies because of the SFE blunder), however the email got ignored..
Original post by needhelp1221
I did send one of the tutors an email explaining my situation (That I was stopping my studies because of the SFE blunder), however the email got ignored..


Have you got evidence?

Contact the university finance office ASAP (get on the phone this morning and ask for names and job titles for the people you speak to, write them down and at the end of every call ask if they can email you to confirm what they've said in writing) and explain the situation. It's very likely that they'll still hold you accountable for 65% of the £9k. If you explain your reasons for withdrawing they may be sympathetic and they might be willing to come to some sort of agreement for repayment or partial repayment. Worst case scenario they'll revise the debt down to just under £6k and still demand payment....best case they'll right it off altogether.

If you explain that you simply don't have the funds and that was why you withdrew then it's up to them to try to come up with what they want given that you can't pay this debt.
Original post by needhelp1221
I did send one of the tutors an email explaining my situation (That I was stopping my studies because of the SFE blunder), however the email got ignored..


Have you got any emails that were sent to/from the uni when you officially withdrew from the course?

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