theonionhasspoken

Hi All,

Looking for some advice. I am a British citizen now living in the US. I have a student loan with the SLC that I want to pay off. I submitted my overseas income assessment form to the SLC as required and they sent me the required monthly payment schedule where the payment they want per month is a little higher than I am able to afford.

I called them up to discuss this but they said there was nothing they could do to change the assessed amount. The person I spoke to said they have a set percentage for the entire US (not relative to where you live so doesn't really take into account the varying costs of living) for calculating what amount you are to pay of your salary.

Has anyone had any experience in trying to reduce the per monthly payment amount and if so, how should I go about it?

fatbrit

Send them what you want. It's not like they can do anything about it.

ian-mstm

I agree... they'll get what you give them.

Ian

Bob

And they certainly won't return it for being to small

Bink

It is quite high isn't it?! I paid mine off in a lump sum and depleted some reserves in doing so as the monthly payment was quite large.

I'd go with the above and just send them what you can afford and when they get in contact to complain just be polite but say that you are paying back at a rate that you can afford which surely has to be better than not paying it at all?

Beaverstate

Can't he be turned into a collection agency? That would really mess up any possibility of a decent credit rating.

fatbrit

They could try. If they did, I don't think it would be particularly difficult to get it off. They could also try to sue him in the US, but I've never heard of anyone being successful with this. Indeed, most suits don't last past the first motion to dismiss.

I'd also tell them that if they hassle me, they get nothing should they try any of these tricks.

ian-mstm

They're not likely to as long as the loan is being paid off, albeit not as quickly as they would like. If they do nothing, they'll get their money.

Ian

Manc

Here is what I would do, send them a certified mail letter explaining your situation clearly defining the amount per month you're willing to pay now, and why, once they've cashed a cheque for a lower amount, they have defacto accepted new terms of agreement. no?

RICH

I do not understand. I thought that student loans were deferred until you earned enough to start to pay them back. Are you saying you do not earn enough?

Bob

The salary level is set for the US at a much lower level than most other countries and doesn't take into account the vast difference in cost of living across the country.

Duncan Roberts

Having said that, the % of your income you pay is tiny compared to what the US folk I know pay for their US student loans. Oh, and you can't have them change the payment since you are paying what you signed up to pay. It does suck but once thy have your address you basically have to pay what they want or don't and hope for the best.

Bob

Well the figures they look at don't take in to account your gross salary, so it's deceptive, all that tax and medical insurance taken out can and does make a bigger difference for some people here than in the UK.

Rose tea

They might say they have a set percentage for the whole US, but my income hasn't changed in the past 3 years and yet they've cut the amount I have to repay by almost half since my last assessment in Nov 2011. No reason given, just "here's your monthly repayment amount". Also, unbeknownst to me, they didn't receive any of my payments for about 3 months (my US bank stopped making the account transfer, apparently this is common) and when I called them they just said "Oh, don't worry about it." I've found them to be very laid back about the whole thing.

I now have my payments coming out of my UK bank account. If I go a little overdrawn, it costs me less to fix that than it does in the US. Also, no exchange fees. My parents put a little money into my UK account every now and then, and I transfer the rest in a big lump sum a couple of times a year. Not ideal, but that's how I'm doing it.