Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone has had an experience like mine with SFE after dropping out?
I dropped out of uni after my first term. At this point I had already received my maintenance loan for term 2 but not started it. I repaid this second maintenance payment immediately as I was not studying, with the option to pay the rest of the loan off as a graduate would.
So I have a loan remaining for 1 term's tuition and maintenance (so around 6k). Now, here is where the trouble starts. When I attempted to clear this debt, the SFE man on the phone gave me a much higher figure than what was on my account. When I attempted to explain this, the person was completely unwilling to listen. He insisted there was a grant on top of the rest of the loan. I never received a SFE grant. I did get a scholarship from my uni, but this had nothing to do with SFE and I was told by the uni I wouldn't have to pay it back after leaving. As this conversation with SFE was over the phone I had no way of showing the details to him of my correct loan amount.
This situation was so distressing to me that I have now left the debt to continue to accumulate for several months. I have high anxiety, and am now incredibly worried I am going to be forced to pay more than I owe (around £3k more).
I did receive DSA equipment, but everything I have read on here and elsewhere says people who drop out don't have to pay it back, but may be required to hand back equipment. I was never asked to do this.
I'm now completely terrified of ringing up again, as someone who is already nervous on the phone and dealing with such a large amount of money.
Any advice would be much appreciated to help get me out of this horrible situation.