Rljacobs

Hi,
Next year I will have finished my uni course and hope to be in oz by September 2013. I will owe some money to the govt (student loans) but how do I pay it back from oz?? I can't believe that it just gets written off or everyone would be going abroad! Any advice from those in the know? Thanks

campervanfan

I would imagine you could come to some arrangement with them about your repayments- maybe ring them and ask for some advice?

nic75

They will write to your last know address asking for details of employment or reason for deferring, they will also confirm that if they don't receive a reply the will add a fine to your student loan account. (I think it was £200). I think that the fines will continue until they receive a suitable reply although I am not 100% sure on this. This is what happpened to my son who now works in Oz.

goldchoccycoin

I paid mine from my UK bank account which I kept open. I periodically transferred money back to the UK using tranzfers.com.au. It only costs $15 per transfer and the exchange rates are great. Have a look at the student loans page on direct.gov.uk

http://m.direct.gov.uk/syndicationCo...bd201204081431

Rljacobs

Thanks both! Thought I could have just slipped through the net lol still, better to know before we shoot off, never knew they slapped fines on people. Thanks for the info!

campervanfan

then why didn't you just ask " is there any way I can get out of repaying my student loan" ?

Pollyana

Cos its Sunday afternoon and there's not enough to go around?

nicolac34

We've been through this process - although we didn't tell them we were moving! They found us after a couple of months though )

They send you an overseas assessment form which you complete and attach evidence of your earnings (so employment contact or payslips) and they then send you through a calculation on how much you need to pay by DD monthly.

We thought that this would be done up until the end of the UK tax year, but it's actually done for the 12 months from when you complete your assessment form. If you aren't working then you have to show them proof of how you are going to support yourself over the next 12 months (so either someone else's employment contract if husband/wife is supporting you or a bank balance with enough savings in it).

We made the decision to pay the whole lot in one lump sum rather than set up a DD, we do have an English bank account still but didn't want to be transferring money on a monthly basis. As it turned out they came back with a figure of £41 per month (which we found crazy, I was paying £200 a month out of my salary before I left the UK and I'm earning more here!) which was easy enough to manage in a lump sum.

I've just received another letter from them through the post actually letting me know that they are recalculating what I pay them due to a change in RPI (must be an overseas thing) so my payments rise to £58. Just means I need to pay a further £136 to cover me until my 'reassessment' in November this year.

Although it's getting to the point now that I'll probably just clear it in November. One less thing to be bothered about!

Prudi

I pay mine online with a credit card when I remember... :-/

Details of what you need to do and the form are here.

Rljacobs

Hehehe I know, I almost did lol but thought better of it. I know someone that left the UK two years ago with uni debts but the loans company don't seem to have made any contact with her. This is how I thought maybe I could 'forget all about it' too. Thanks for the links and extra info guys

isgraham

I'd be inclined to do a runner in fact I'd recommend it to all students if they had the option. I for one wouldn't mind paying a couple of thousand more in tax to get back to free education in the uk in my opinion it's the cornerstone of a fair society rather than one ruled by selfishness and greed.

Rljacobs

Well I'm neither selfish nor greedy, what bothers me is the fact that there are more and more people getting degrees and fewer job opportunities once qualified. I wouldn't mind repaying it if I had a decent job but the way it's looking, I'm going to be stacking shelves in tesco, which I'm sure before long will require a degree of some sort.

BritAus

If you don't earn over a certain amount you don't start paying it back do you ?
Think this is the same for both the UK Uni finance AND the Aus Uni finance systems.

And maybe this bit only applies to students having to pay the higher UK fees now (£9k a year) but if you don't earn anything in the UK surely you don't hit the threshold to start paying back - as your UK taxable income us zero ?

Same could be argued the other way too....Aus Uni debt (HECS-Help or something its called) must be paid back when start to earn over a certain amount....but surely thats a certain amount in the Australian tax system ? So if earn in ghe UK, Dubai. France, Iran, wherever....you are earning zero in Australia so you don't hit the payback threshold & don't have to start paying back ??

I am not claiming this is what happens of course, but might this be wangled with a bit of thought ?
Doesn't the money get tajen back through the relevant lending nation's income tax system ? So if zero income in that country, they can't get your money ?!

goldchoccycoin

There are different country thresholds depending on where you live - you don't need to be earning in the UK - you have a worldwide threshold. In Aus the threshold is 18000 GBP

Please read http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.u..._schema=PORTAL

and http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.u..._schema=PORTAL

You have to pay - or risk getting defaults and/or CCJ's in the UK.

Rljacobs

There is a UK threshold, and I won't have to pay it back for a while, I'm just bitter about the job situation haha, it will be a debt hanging round my neck for a while and no one likes to have debts. Thanks for the links