SLC demanding payment

I am currently living abroad, unemployed, supported by and living with a partner, so I do not earn over the threshold amount for repayment. Student Loans Company has been made aware of this numerous times, both by post and by phone, but have still put my account into arrears and have now sold my debt to debt collectors. There has never even been any explanation for how or why the arrears calculations have been made. What should I do?

Last time I was in the UK I called to inform them that I was unemployed and should not be in arrears at all - the person on the phone was extremely rude, yawning down the phone and sounded hungover and/or high on illegal drugs. Completely unacceptable. And upon hearing that my father was acting proxy for my account while I am overseas, their reply was "get your dad to pay it then". "It" being arrears that I am not liable to pay at all.

Now my debt has been sold to a debt collector - a simple google search of the company name shows countless scams by this company! What is going on? Am I going to get scammed too? Am I already being scammed? I have also never signed any documentation agreeing to repay any company other than SLC, and am wary that the debt collection agency is known for scams - do I have any legal obligation to pay them?

Also, despite the SLC website very clearly stating that a third party may deal with an account while overseas (
http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/RPIPG001/RPIPS001/RPIPS010/RPIPS048/RPIPS051/EVIDENCE_INFORMATION_%20SHEET_D_EN.PDF) neither SLC nor the debt collector will provide any information or speak to my father about any aspect of my account. I am unable to contact them by phone myself while abroad and refuse to do so again after last time, hence my making my father proxy to begin with.

Countless incompetencies one after another by SLC and I am at a loss what to do. I cannot find an email address to contact them and cannot contact them by phone either. I should not have to resort to a public forum like this to make contact. The worst part about this whole thing - I should not even be in arrears at all.

Please advise!

Reply 1

Charlotte's Web

21

Original post by Godiva01

I am currently living abroad, unemployed, supported by and living with a partner, so I do not earn over the threshold amount for repayment. Student Loans Company has been made aware of this numerous times, both by post and by phone, but have still put my account into arrears and have now sold my debt to debt collectors. There has never even been any explanation for how or why the arrears calculations have been made. What should I do?

Last time I was in the UK I called to inform them that I was unemployed and should not be in arrears at all - the person on the phone was extremely rude, yawning down the phone and sounded hungover and/or high on illegal drugs. Completely unacceptable. And upon hearing that my father was acting proxy for my account while I am overseas, their reply was "get your dad to pay it then". "It" being arrears that I am not liable to pay at all.

Now my debt has been sold to a debt collector - a simple google search of the company name shows countless scams by this company! What is going on? Am I going to get scammed too? Am I already being scammed? I have also never signed any documentation agreeing to repay any company other than SLC, and am wary that the debt collection agency is known for scams - do I have any legal obligation to pay them?

Also, despite the SLC website very clearly stating that a third party may deal with an account while overseas (
http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/RPIPG001/RPIPS001/RPIPS010/RPIPS048/RPIPS051/EVIDENCE_INFORMATION_%20SHEET_D_EN.PDF) neither SLC nor the debt collector will provide any information or speak to my father about any aspect of my account. I am unable to contact them by phone myself while abroad and refuse to do so again after last time, hence my making my father proxy to begin with.

Countless incompetencies one after another by SLC and I am at a loss what to do. I cannot find an email address to contact them and cannot contact them by phone either. I should not have to resort to a public forum like this to make contact. The worst part about this whole thing - I should not even be in arrears at all.

Please advise!

You need to contact them yourself. I realise it is annoying and that the people are unhelpful, but this is the only way to resolve the situation. You say that you can't call them, unfortunately you need to. The debt is yours and in your name so it is very unlikely that the collection company would speak to anyone other than you about the issue.

Debt collectors are notoriously difficult to deal with however at this stage you just need to speak to them. Once your debt has been sold, it is unlikely that SLC will be able to assist much further, however it would still be advisable to contact them to see if a reversal is possible in the first instance.

Original post by Godiva01

I am currently living abroad, unemployed, supported by and living with a partner, so I do not earn over the threshold amount for repayment. Student Loans Company has been made aware of this numerous times, both by post and by phone, but have still put my account into arrears and have now sold my debt to debt collectors. There has never even been any explanation for how or why the arrears calculations have been made. What should I do?

Last time I was in the UK I called to inform them that I was unemployed and should not be in arrears at all - the person on the phone was extremely rude, yawning down the phone and sounded hungover and/or high on illegal drugs. Completely unacceptable. And upon hearing that my father was acting proxy for my account while I am overseas, their reply was "get your dad to pay it then". "It" being arrears that I am not liable to pay at all.

Now my debt has been sold to a debt collector - a simple google search of the company name shows countless scams by this company! What is going on? Am I going to get scammed too? Am I already being scammed? I have also never signed any documentation agreeing to repay any company other than SLC, and am wary that the debt collection agency is known for scams - do I have any legal obligation to pay them?

Also, despite the SLC website very clearly stating that a third party may deal with an account while overseas (
http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/RPIPG001/RPIPS001/RPIPS010/RPIPS048/RPIPS051/EVIDENCE_INFORMATION_%20SHEET_D_EN.PDF) neither SLC nor the debt collector will provide any information or speak to my father about any aspect of my account. I am unable to contact them by phone myself while abroad and refuse to do so again after last time, hence my making my father proxy to begin with.

Countless incompetencies one after another by SLC and I am at a loss what to do. I cannot find an email address to contact them and cannot contact them by phone either. I should not have to resort to a public forum like this to make contact. The worst part about this whole thing - I should not even be in arrears at all.

Please advise!

Hi Godvia01,

You are required to complete an Overseas Assessment Form every 12 months until you return to the UK.

To bring your account up to date, we recommend you complete and return an Overseas Assessment Form along with documentary evidence of your income/current means of support for the last three months. Please see the below link to the student loan repayment website for information on supporting evidence.

https://bit.ly/2gYnQNM

If you have access to a scanner/smart phone, you may return the form and supporting evidence as PDF attachment to this email address - [email protected], or by fax to 00441413062083. Alternatively, you can post your documentation to us.
You can bring your account up to date sooner by contacting our Repayment Contact Department on 00441412433970 and making a payment. If you are unable to make this payment in full, we recommend you make a part payment towards it to stop any further arrears letters being issued while your paperwork is returned.

Thanks

Louise

SLC demanding payment

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