UK Student Loans

[Guest ReadyPenny]

HI Guys

 

Our eldest daughter is coming to Adelaide to live with us later this month, she has just finished her first year of Uni in the UK. She has a student debt for tuition fees and accommodation of around 6000 GBP. Does anyone know what we do about paying this off? Do we have to start paying installments straight away or does it not have to be re-paid until she is earning above a certain amount? She will be going to Uni here and starting her degree again, so will be 4 years before she earns any real money.

 

I have made enquiries to the relevant parties in the UK but I am getting impatient waiting for a response! Any help greatly appreciated

 

thanks

Mandy

[RockDr]

She will need to contact the student loans company and inform them that she is going abroad. She needs to keep them informed of her salary, and they will calculate how much her repayments will be. She is then responsible for making sure those repayments make it into the student loans company's bank account.

 

If she is still a student, then she'll probably not need to make any repayments yet, since she won't be earning over the threshold.

[Guest ReadyPenny]

many thanks for this info

[Guest Peachie]

The threashhold is lower than the uk even with crap exchange rate and the repayments are higher too all info is on student loans company web site it takes tham ages to contact you about repayments and they have tried to charge me interest on money I had repaid!!!!!!

[Guest RobJ1978]

My husband has a loan, but when we move over there he won't be working...ummm...wonder what will happen.

 

Must contact them, hadn't thought of this so thanks for the post!!

nic

[Guest MarK Jowett]

Lets flip this thread around - what would happen if you didn't contact the student loans company?! I'm interested as i'll still have about 10k outstanding next year (when I'm hopefully going to be leaving).

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

My husband has a loan, but when we move over there he won't be working...ummm...wonder what will happen.

 

Must contact them, hadn't thought of this so thanks for the post!!

nic

 

Technically he won't be paying them anything back then - there is an earning threashold before you have to pay anything back, like here, I think for Australia it is £18,000 (equivilant), and then you pay a % of your salary after that. If you aren't earning that much you just fill in a form every year and send it to them to let them know you aren't earning enough.

 

I say technically because they are the most useless company (possibly after CSA) who lie and defraud people of money when they aren't meant to, and who will never sort anything out in your favour - as you can tell they are not my favourite people really. However they don't currently have any jurisdiction in Australia (or outside the UK) so they shouldn't be able to do attachment of earnings or anything (at the moment anyway, there has been debate about this) - although if someone isn't earning anything at all, obviously its kinda hard to do that anyway lol.

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Lets flip this thread around - what would happen if you didn't contact the student loans company?! I'm interested as i'll still have about 10k outstanding next year (when I'm hopefully going to be leaving).

 

You technically would be eligible for the increased payment amount (there is a grid on their website saying how much the threshold is for each country, how much you pay back (%) and how much you payback if you don't let them know ) - the issuette for them being, they can't actually get the money if you don't give it to them as they don't have any jurisdiction outside of the UK (at this time anyway).

 

The exception for this is if you have old style loans, in that case you can quite easily tell them you are going overseas and are travelling so won't be earning anything, then after 5 years I think it is they wipe it off (this is ONLY for the old style loans), there are some loop holes for the old style loans, which they closed for the newer style loans.

[Guest MarK Jowett]

thats quite an interesting loophole you've pointed out there! What is classed as an old style loan - i imagine i'm on a reasonably old loan as mine was the first year that paid tuition fees (1998-2002). Anyway i can find out?

[Guest natmark]

My student loan was from 1999 to 2002. Is that an old style loan?

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

Sorry guys think they are both the new style - they take the earnings directly from your wages? I believe 1997 was the last year of the old style (the year I went to uni).

[Guest MarK Jowett]

Damn it! Why couldn't I be one year older!!!!

 

Yep, mine are taken from my wage.

[Guest cbeeb]

hex me never paid a penny as linked to NI number you need to have to be pretty persistant though my parents swore they never knew where I was living.Got my degree and left the uk never paid NI.