oliver1982

This info is based on my recent experience:

Student Loans Co will send you a form and then they tell you what the repayments will be based on your earnings.

You will be making repayments if you are earning the equivalent of £15,000 or over. If you don't earn this much then they simply defer it on a year by year basis. You will need to fill out the form each time.

IF you were to ignore the loan then they are obliged to charge a HUGE amount of interest to punish you. I can't remember how much but it's somewhere in the 20% range.

Basically you need to phone them - they have a dedicated team for overseas people and are very helpful.

rrhysevans

Cheers I will give them a call today

irishjoe80

I wouldn't count on them being nice to you... All I got was stick and we are going to screw you for 246 quid a month. And all I was trying to do was pay it back quarterly instead of monthly to reduce the costs in converting from aussie dollars to British pounds.

I am sorely trying to resist just stopping paying them and never going back to the UK!

esperanza

I remember speaking to a very dense lady, who was not very helpful. They did send me a form, but as I had no job or salary I couldn't put anything on it. When I declared myself to have no income, they asked for proof! So I shoved the letter in a drawer!
Now I do have a job, so will have to dig it out again and send it back.
I remember thinking it was really unfair that they calculate the exchange rate an an arbitary time, then you are tied to that for however long until they recalculate it. Given currency fluctuations, that seems crazy to me! Couldn't they use a monthly/annual average? No, that would be far too sensible.

irishjoe80

Has anyone had a any luck with not paying it back? Loads of people I talk to say just don't pay it back, what can they do to you half way round the world and also heard the rumour of if you don't pay it back after 5 years they wipe it.

I am currently paying back less than the loan is going up because of how much I earn. Something like wage - 15,000 pounds then pay 9% of that a year.

Also, has anyones loan been bought by these people?
http://www.honoursstudentloans.co.uk
They seem a lot more flexible than the Student loans co...

esperanza

Never heard of that company - I'd be very careful transfering the loan to anyone else, read every last bit of fine print first!
I remember the old rumour about just stay away long enough and they wipe it - I asked them about that and they said no, it will always be there - getting bigger from all the interest! Nice! Also if you try to run away from it and they catch you, they can ask for the whole lot at once and demand it immediately. Which is a bit scary when your loan is as huge as mine!

AndyR1976

The debt continues to accrue interest whist your out of the country - it will always remain as a dept unless you either die or are declared mentally incapacitated.

You can make payments from outside of the UK - best idea is to try and make regular payments every few months.

A

irishjoe80

I've been looking into what other people have said about not paying theirs back and some guys had their loans transferred to that company automatically.

I'm wondering how they can ask for it all at once if u dont live in the country any more. I'm not planning on going back any time, Perth is too nice a place to live!!!

I reckon mine is still bigger than urs! ha ha ha

esperanza

I don't know how they would logistically go about getting it back from you if you never set foot in the country again - extradite you?! Probably unlikely. I would like to keep my options open though & not become a criminal anywhere!
As for whose is bigger... I took the maximum loan for four years in a row, it would be difficult to get much bigger than that! And I worked as well! University was bloody expensive, it's a good job I had fun!

irishjoe80

I had the full amount for 3 years but only half the amount on the last year cause my dad retired and seeing as it was means tested from N.Ireland, I got half the amount as a loan and half as a bursary.
(Wish he'd retired earlier!!!)
Plus mine has been going up since I graduated in 2004 at about 4 or 5%...

I worked in KFC for a bit then a bingo hall during uni. Absolutely hated the guys whos rent was being paid by their parents!

I don't think anyone wins, we are both screwed!

I think I will keep paying it for a bit then look into it later when I know more about what the laws are...

Scuba Steve

I've got a grad loan as well to pay off! I think its really a case of budgetting. I considered defaulting deliberately but its really not worth it.

LauraC

I have never made enough money to be able to pay any of mine back. I dread to think how big it is now. I'm just going to stick my head in the sand.

irishjoe80

The amount you have to pay back will depend on how mean they are. The way I think it goes is while your studying, you pay inflation rate interest, think it was about 2.4% or something. Now when u graduate, they bump it up to 4.5% or something like that. Still the cheapest loan that your ever going to get!

So if they are mean, and put you up to the higher rate, ur going to have a much larger bill even tho you couldn't pay any of it off.

What are graduate loans? I remember being told when I graduated and it was something like a short term loan at a low interest rate but it didn't sound right so never looked at it.

TheSubMainMan

I'm a UK tax payer and have being paying loads of tax for god knows how many years. I don't know where it all goes, but it goes! Anyway, when I was younger not only was I entitled to free University; they also gave me money while I went. So I figure, if I had the opportunity of a free education, then so did, Gordon and Tony... So why not you?

If you’re sure you’re not coming back to the UK then I suggest you don't bother paying them back. Put the money to something more productive, like bringing a new family in to the world, or starting some new business up that will benefit the economy. There is even a small chance, that with the pressure off, you might invent something that will benefit the whole world... I trust you with my UK tax money, more so then the Government. So run and be free, knowing that the UK government guarantees all student loans.

On another note, it is not and never has been a criminal offence for non repayment of loans. So please don't ever think you’re a criminal for not paying off the debt.

There is no right and wrong only redistribution of wealth.

Hic’, by the way, for other people reading this thread; don’t post when you’re pissed!


love you all... .... Hic'

irishjoe80

Well said! Sick of people calling me a criminal for thinking of not repaying the loan back! Theres a lot worse things to do in the world!