Can you ask the Student Loans Company to stop ringing my son every day asking him to repay his loan? He is a full-time university student about to embark on his final, fourth, year. However, the SLC has it on file that he abandoned the course in his third year – despite us telling its staff he didn’t.
He suffered ill health early in his third year and was hospitalised for seven weeks. The university agreed to suspend his course for one year while he made a recovery. He did so, and completed the interrupted third year.
This has been carefully explained each time the SLC calls but the approach seems to be “not our problem – we just need to recover the money”.
This is the last thing a student needs, particularly as it might lead to a poor credit rating.
RT, Norwich
We get relatively few complaints about the SLC given the huge number of students who apply for loans, but the ones we do get often feature this kind of treatment.
This case appears to have been complicated by the fact that your son had not applied for funding for the fourth year, which triggered the demands for payment.
The SLC says its action was correct, although it conceded it can defer payment demands where there are “extenuating circumstances”. It has now done so, and your son will face the same repayment terms as he previously had, which should put an end to the calls.
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