Millions more graduates across the United Kingdom are rising up against the incompetence of the Student Loans Company (SLC). They criticize its overly punitive and failingly counterproductive administrative practices around loan repayment. More than a few of those graduates expressed their own experiences with the SLC as riddled with blunders and delays. This absence of support has landed them deep in the fiscal weeds.
During the initial few years upon exiting school, thousands of these people said that the SLC showed a compassionate attitude. This perception soon turned when they started getting notices saying that their loans had entered default. As a result, these notifications prompted immediate calls to pay to bring accounts current. They even included requiring the imposition of arrears fees. At one point, the SLC even threatened locally elected officials with legal action if they didn’t comply.
Gary Ashworth, a recent graduate who ran into problems with the SLC. He reported the problems to the company, but they repeatedly failed to correct his records. This negligence ultimately resulted in a demand for £930 as a result of an SLC error. More significantly, as his testimony explained, the SLC frequently takes an excruciatingly long time to reply. In reality, it can take 14-28 days to receive a response to emails.
“The whole experience was very unpleasant and I felt I wasn’t receiving any support or clarity from SLC. It essentially washed its hands of me. There’s no quick way to contact it when overseas. You can email but it can take 28 days to reply – assuming it bothers to do so.” – Gary Ashworth
The problem took a turn for the worse for many graduates when subcontracted debt collectors from Transcom were used to collection overdue debts. There are many people who have long standing concerns about the SLC’s practices. That might surprise some who think that other upstart personal loan companies are subject to tougher regulations. For one, critics say the SLC is free to change the rules of repayment at any time. This means changing repayment times and rates of interest without any sort of penalty.
One graduate, who wished to remain anonymous, shared their troubling experience:
“In my experience they have awful record-keeping practices. I phoned recently to find out how much I had paid and what my total loan was (so I could make an early repayment). The person on the end of the phone had to go away for 15 minutes and add up my contributions. When I rang again a day or two later I got a different answer to my questions. Scary when we’re talking 10s of thousands of pounds for most people.” – D1255358
Parents and advocates have shared stories about the effects of the SLC on working or studying abroad. You provided all of the required paperwork and established a direct debit for your payments. Now, all of a sudden, the SLC increased the percentage taken from your account once you secured an overseas position. This sudden change caused significant financial strain.
“My daughter worked abroad for a year and sent them all the documentation. She set up a direct debit to pay her student loan each month while she was away. At the end of the year she obtained a three-month job in the US. The SLC immediately started taking £250 a month out of her account as they had access to this through her direct debit (originally for a much smaller amount). This put her in financial difficulties. It was sorted out on her return to the UK, but they treat people extremely harshly.” – ID5279121
The complaints just keep coming. Graduates continue to report a matter of months’ lag time in having their newly-resolved difficulties with the SLC empowered with spirit. Since then, the company has rolled out more progressive policies. Currently, the process is even more complicated, as graduates living abroad are required to fill in an overseas assessment form as well, further complicating the process of controlling their repayments.
Alexandra Greenway was here to shed light on an ugly surprise she experienced. She explained that the federal government changed the terms of repayment on her, retroactively. This runaround, she said, seems to have no legal recourse for the graduates who are experiencing them.
“The government froze the threshold for repayment and hiked the interest rate retroactively, and, despite there being talk of a legal challenge, none has materialised. It appears that in this country, contract law means nothing if your contract is with a government-owned company.” – Alexandra Greenway
In response to these issues, thousands of people have petitioned for stricter regulations to govern the SLC’s activities. Mrvincent, another graduate who faced similar issues, emphasized the need for oversight comparable to that imposed on other financial institutions.
“The problem is the SLC isn’t regulated like any other company providing personal loans. They are able to fundamentally change the rules: payback thresholds, interest rates, going abroad – whatever they fancy.” – Mrvincent
One spokesperson for SLC came to the company’s rescue. It highlights the authority’s strong focus on collecting every dollar of taxpayer money that is owed. Inferring from what the company spokesperson said, pulling in those customers who move overseas for extended stints is critical. This allows them to see who is eligible for repayment and who is just avoiding their student loan responsibilities.
“SLC is committed to protecting the public purse and has a duty to collect all taxpayer monies owed. We endeavour to contact all customers who move overseas for a period of three months or more to ensure that those who should be making repayments are doing so.” – SLC spokesperson