SOTR

Quick question about repayment of UK Student Loans...

I left the UK about 5 years ago, to start a job over here, immediately after graduating from a UK university... anyway, in my haste to get things sorted I lost touch with the student loan company and out of the blue, just a couple of days ago, they somehow obtained my email address (I recently used it to place an order for a Birth certificate reprint which I required for Australian citizenship) and sent me a request for information.

A couple of questions:

Should I provide them with my address, employment status, etc...?

Am I under any obligation to make payments towards the outstanding loan? ... and have I therefore been knowingly defaulting on payments for the previous 5 years? Am I about to be hit with a massive fine?

Years ago, I heard plenty of 'old wives tales' regarding British expats who simply moved abroad and left their student load behind them... various people told me stories including; the debt having an expiry date, and that if you don't return to the UK to work, you'll never have to repay it.

I'm about to become an Australian citizen and I have no immediate plans to work in the UK... however, I would like to continue to visit, from time to time, without fear of being chased by police/debt collectors!

Could anyone 'in the know' shed some light?

Pollyana

If you earn over the threshold, then yes of course you are under an obligation to make repayments. Migrating does not write off the debt, and I think you'll find many expats on here have been paying off their student loans from abroad.

GarryP

They will try and hunt you down, and can cause trouble in overseas countries. If you have the money to get them off your back its probably worth doing so. If not you'll probably have problems whenever you pop onto their radar, and they might even sell the debt to an Australian bailiff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/exp...ink-again.html

Student loans are a bad idea....

spouse of scouse

Happiest day of my life when I made my final payment on my (Oz) student loan - what a flippin' millstone around my neck that was!

Cubiscus

Definately worth paying, in practice it may not be enforceable or they may not be able to trace but it's not worth the potential hassle. If you plan on returning to the UK at some point or have assets there you may run into problems.

kimilseung

I think seven years is the time frame for loans to go away. Contact or acknowledging the debt resets the clock. But I think student loans are outside of the traditional system, and so no seven year get out of jail card anyway.

Cubiscus

I think it's 6 years for being statute barred for most loans, and even then some of them aren't enforceable abroad so all they can do is threaten you.

Student loans are definately different though, you can easily make payments online to stop them bothering you.

kimilseung

Yes, thanks, Cubiscus, six years under the Limitation Act 1980 (for England and Wales).

OP should find out if the student loan can be statute barred under that act, (I am seeing conflicting info) and if so, not reply to the email.

Edit: Here we go, advice from "national debtline" a reply to an email. It is from 2008 so things might have changed.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...8-student-loan post#13
and https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/.../Page-04.aspx# student loans section

One year to go, I'd say ignore and hope they get no further than an email in tracking you. PAYE will not bother you in Oz.

msmyrtle

I will probably get flamed, but I think the OP has a moral obligation to do his best to pay back the loan. He incurred the debt to get an education that allowed him to immigrate to Australia as a skilled worker, he has a job, I'm not going to condone not paying back a loan.

kimilseung

A valid point of view, and I doubt you will be flamed, I think many will agree with you, one to which I hold a different point of view. As I benefited from six years of higher education at no cost to me, I do like to see others get that too. I am all for education being paid via general taxation rather than from the individual, and if there are legal ways to achieve this , I encourage people to do so. Though I do respect your point of view, we just differ over it.

SanDiegogirl

+ 1....... you took out a loan to get an education..... what makes you think you are not liable to paying it back?

"I lost touch with the student loan company" - baloney......

Just read that you are a PHd .......... must be earning enough to repay your debts

Cubiscus

I agree with you and did pay mine back after leaving as a point of principle, but I know many who didn't bother and weren't traced.

SOTR

Thanks for the information all!

Settle down. I signed for the loan when I was 17 y/o - It wasn't something I put much thought into at the time. For me it was just part and parcel of leaving school and moving onto university. I had just assumed that the loan was only deducted/payable from UK PAYE. Off the cuff, over the years I'd encountered other expats, who cited the millstone of the student loan debt as a major reason they elected to work abroad. I obviously put 2 and 2 together and made 5!

When I was finishing my study, and very excitedly looking forward to a new life abroad, I hope you can excuse me for forgetting about the student loan company!! After: handing in my thesis, booking flights, fare-welling friends/family, packing up my life, etc.. it was very far down my list of priorities - so much so that it didn't even register!

Personally, I would like to retain the option to work in the UK in the future, so non-payment isn't really an option for me. As others have mentioned, there is also a moral obligation. However, I do agree with a point above, that it's currently a very unfair system. Thus if it was a debt I could avoid paying, it would sit better with me if I could sort out a program whereby I made equivalent payments towards a charitable organisation, who support children from under-privileged backgrounds that are looking to enroll in higher education.

msmyrtle

Suppose for a minute instead of going overseas you got yourself a job in the UK. To celebrate you bought yourself a new car and a hefty car loan. After a year working you get asked to move to Sydney to set up an office and as part of the package they relocate you plus 2 containers worth so you take your beloved car.

After the excitement of moving and setting up the office you realise it's been 3 years since you made payments on that car you are driving around Sydney. Do you think car is yours to keep?

To further hammer the point, you get in contact with the car loan company. Instead of making payments, you offer to buy second hand cars to give to women fleeing domestic violence so they can get jobs to start a new life. Is that something the car company should accept?

I'm glad you realise there's a moral obligation and have indicated that non-payment is not an option, but you can't unilaterally alter the terms of the contract once you've accepted them because you don't like them any more.

Cubiscus

Theoretically in that example the finance company can stop you exporting the car while there's still an outstanding amount on it.

I agree non-payment isn't a moral option but it unfortunately won't stop significant numbers of people from doing it, especially with student loans.