UK student loan payments

[wildwildbill]

Hi all

 

Like many other UK graduates I am loaded up to the eye balls with student dept which I currently pay off (or at least pay the interest) whilst working. I am planning on moving to LOS for about a year next month, so was wondering whether its a good idea to inform them of my plans as I read recently that they can up your interest significantly if you don't. I have lived and working in Thailand twice before and did not inform them and as far as I know had no negative consequences. I will be doing some work, but at this stage I am unsure whether to do some freelance work for a UK company or get a teaching job (either casual work or a full time job with a WP etc). Anyone got some up to date information?

 

Many thanks

 

 

[oldgent]

In my opinion Student loans were a means not only for making money for the

government but also to put students into Debt before they started their working life

my advice to you is don,t tell them anything, if you want to keep paying do so

[transam]

7 minutes ago, oldgent said:

In my opinion Student loans were a means not only for making money for the

government but also to put students into Debt before they started their working life

my advice to you is don,t tell them anything, if you want to keep paying do so

So who has to pay for a student uni stuff, some folk who may flunk if it were free cos they don't care...Who pays uni salaries etc...?

[wildwildbill]

Wow, this could open up a big debate on who should pay for educating people. its a bit of a mad system where its business that need the skills, but the burden of training costs falls solely on the individuals. Anyway... any recent experience of Student Finance England whilst living abroad. If it makes any difference I think I will probably earn around half the annual £21K threshold whatever work route I take.

[Ace of Pop]

I can remember when School chums who wanted to be Teachers or Art Students were just Work Shy Rag Bags ,nufin much changed over the Years.?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[oldgent]

29 minutes ago, transam said:

So who has to pay for a student uni stuff, some folk who may flunk if it were free cos they don't care...Who pays uni salaries etc...?

the whole system is wrong in my opinion, would you like to have a Debt hanging over your head

i don,t think interest should be charged. as for people flunking it to get to Uni in the first place they had to have

the right qualifacations 

[sappersrest]

The threshold for income in Thailand before paying your UK student loan is 7100 pounds.

 

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,6678668&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

[johna]

You knew what you were getting into when you took out the loan, so why the bleeding heart question, " should I pay my debts" or "should I take a vacation and pretend its work"

[nontabury]

6 hours ago, transam said:

So who has to pay for a student uni stuff, some folk who may flunk if it were free cos they don't care...Who pays uni salaries etc...?

Why bother paying at all, a sizable % of EU students who go to UK universities, simple forget about the loan, on completion of their education.

Similarly EU students are exempt from having to pay if they attend a Scottish University, yet English students must pay.

[rickudon]

Looking at those foreign earning thresholds, they are a joke. Just broad bands, they are the same for Saudi Arabia and Qatar as Thailand. To expect any British person to make repayments on a monthly salary of 16,000 baht is laughable. Also, you are unlikely to even pay off the interest unless you earn a lot, lot, more than that. The reality is that if you are not working, or working on low pay, you will never pay it off - it will be written off after 30 years. I actually wonder how the government expects to track down all those foreign students and emigrants , and make them pay. Probably cost more than to write it off.

 

The 'graduate' job market in the UK is also over hyped. Apart from well defined specialists (e.g. Dentist, doctor)  many graduates are scrabbling for unpaid internships or low paid 'executive' positions, many based outside the UK to avoid legal work requirements. Maybe half of all graduates will end up with an above average salary eventually, the rest will be no better off than school leavers. The massive expansion of universities in the 90's is just a big con which will have saddled the next generation with huge debts - the knock on effects of this will be later marriage, an abysmal birth rate (because graduates can not afford kids) and never ending mortgages. I do not envy them at all.

[alien365]

Although the link by sappersrest says the minimum repayment is 98pounds I regularly receive letters from them saying this is the maximum. Maybe this rate depends on the year you graduated and the terms you signed up to, but if they plan to take 5k baht from you when earning 30k then they are deliberately putting you in poverty which I'd fight tooth and nail. If you don't declare it they will try and add the years maximum repayment on to your balance when they track you down again.

 

They demanded several thousand pounds from me for not declaring my income when i first moved here and were very aggressive. I told them they could go whistle as I had nothing to give. I will never be able to pay my student loan off. Even when I worked in London my repayments weren't even covering the ridiculous interest applied. That was not what I signed up for when taking out the loan, we were told that it was interest free. Thanks Tony Bliar

[wildwildbill]

Think I am going to get in touch with them after reading this:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/22/student-loans-company-punishing-graduates-additional-rate-rise

 

 

[Ricardo]

On 25/07/2017 at 10:26 AM, alien365 said:

Although the link by sappersrest says the minimum repayment is 98pounds I regularly receive letters from them saying this is the maximum. Maybe this rate depends on the year you graduated and the terms you signed up to, but if they plan to take 5k baht from you when earning 30k then they are deliberately putting you in poverty which I'd fight tooth and nail. If you don't declare it they will try and add the years maximum repayment on to your balance when they track you down again.

 

They demanded several thousand pounds from me for not declaring my income when i first moved here and were very aggressive. I told them they could go whistle as I had nothing to give. I will never be able to pay my student loan off. Even when I worked in London my repayments weren't even covering the ridiculous interest applied. That was not what I signed up for when taking out the loan, we were told that it was interest free. Thanks Tony Bliar

 

The current-rate seems to be 6.1% ?   https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/11/student-loan-interest-rate-rise-uk-inflation-brexit

 

Yet a lot of pensioners get less-than 1% on their savings, held in building-societies.

 

In a rational world, it ought to be possible to issue bonds paying perhaps 3%, ie inflation plus-a-little, and charge the students say 3.5%, the difference to cover the administrative-costs of the scheme.  Which would benefit both groups of voters.

[blackcab]

On 24/07/2017 at 3:45 PM, wildwildbill said:

...its a bit of a mad system where its business that need the skills, but the burden of training costs falls solely on the individuals.

 

To be fair there are many degree courses where business does not need the skills that are taught.

 

In addition, even if the course title sounds impressive, the actual skills accrued by some students are lamentable.

 

I have lost count of the uninspiring graduates I have employed who have then been trained in business management and who have turned into very good employees.

 

It makes me wonder what some of them are actually taught. Certainly not the management skills my industry needs.

[rickudon]

On 7/25/2017 at 3:52 PM, wildwildbill said:

Think I am going to get in touch with them after reading this:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/22/student-loans-company-punishing-graduates-additional-rate-rise

 Strange, because just after my last post they tried to do a similar thing to my son! When he told them about his new job they claimed he had not told them about his return to the UK (he had) and were adding a 500GBP penalty to his loan as they assumed he must have been working. He has had to provide proof of JSA statements and was promised they would not be taking further action. Let's hope so.

[craftyhen]

i've just signed up 

On 7/25/2017 at 10:26 AM, alien365 said:

Although the link by sappersrest says the minimum repayment is 98pounds I regularly receive letters from them saying this is the maximum. Maybe this rate depends on the year you graduated and the terms you signed up to, but if they plan to take 5k baht from you when earning 30k then they are deliberately putting you in poverty which I'd fight tooth and nail. If you don't declare it they will try and add the years maximum repayment on to your balance when they track you down again.

 

They demanded several thousand pounds from me for not declaring my income when i first moved here and were very aggressive. I told them they could go whistle as I had nothing to give. I will never be able to pay my student loan off. Even when I worked in London my repayments weren't even covering the ridiculous interest applied. That was not what I signed up for when taking out the loan, we were told that it was interest free. Thanks Tony Bliar

the minimum repayment of £98 is very misleading and has probably put off a lot of people paying it back

 

the small print in bold just above it states this: 

 

The following table shows the repayment thresholds that apply for different countries. It also shows a minimum monthly repayment amount - this is how much you would be liable to repay each month if you did not inform us of your actual income while overseas.

 

so earning 30k baht a month would take your yearly salary to 360k, and given that the threshold is roughly 315k this would put you 45k over. they're asking for 9% of this across a year (just over 4k), so in total you're actually only paying back 337.50 baht a month on this salary.

 

it's a small price to pay to keep the c***'s quiet, though i wouldn't bother if you arn't planning to work here longer than 6 months, i've got away with this a few times in the past

[alien365]

1 hour ago, craftyhen said:

i've just signed up 

the minimum repayment of £98 is very misleading and has probably put off a lot of people paying it back

 

the small print in bold just above it states this: 

 

The following table shows the repayment thresholds that apply for different countries. It also shows a minimum monthly repayment amount - this is how much you would be liable to repay each month if you did not inform us of your actual income while overseas.

 

so earning 30k baht a month would take your yearly salary to 360k, and given that the threshold is roughly 315k this would put you 45k over. they're asking for 9% of this across a year (just over 4k), so in total you're actually only paying back 337.50 baht a month on this salary.

 

it's a small price to pay to keep the c***'s quiet, though i wouldn't bother if you arn't planning to work here longer than 6 months, i've got away with this a few times in the past

Thanks for the clarification. I sent off my annual declaration within the last month so I will await their reply. In previous years I have been below the threshold but I knew it was only a matter of time before I rose  above it. If they ask for about B350 per month then I don't mind paying it as I am in debt to them. If they demanded 5k per month then that's a completely different story.

[wildwildbill]

Rang them up yesterday. Said I have savings but may look for work to extend my trip. They advised that I fill out a form and declare that I am living off savings then contact them if I find a job. 

[alien365]

I have now received my confirmation from student loans. I now earn above the repayment threshold due to the weak pound and have been asked to contribute £3 per month.

[craftyhen]

12 hours ago, alien365 said:

I have now received my confirmation from student loans. I now earn above the repayment threshold due to the weak pound and have been asked to contribute £3 per month.

Just got mine this week too, have to pay £7 a month DD for 6 months of my 10 month contract 

[Rc2702]

The worst thing about SLC (student loans company) is even if you have the cash to clear the debt they advised me it would be better not to pay it off like this as it would likely not clear. They factored the interest from the outset I think and want the lot in small sums.  Makes sense I guess just seems like they could have at least had such am option at point of taking it up. 

[Ricardo]

Agree with that, someone might want to use an inheritance to clear their outstanding-debt, and why ever not ?

[SS1]

I am also in the situation of having to start paying back the student loan and not entirely sure yet what to do. The income treshold for Thailand is indeed ridiculously low and it seems they have mostly pulled these numbers out of a hat. Take Hong Kong for example, they have a £14,225.00 treshold compared to UK £17,775.00. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in - think it was actually ranked 1st for 2016. 

 

Of course debts should be paid back as it's what we signed up for, but with residency in Thailand I would have to start paying +5k THB per month, that is not really motivating. I was also quite disappointed of the UK University system overall, which seems just an entirely commercial, money-making scheme.

 

One thing to note is that the treshold is based on "Country of residence". It could be argued that whilst living in Thailand and working, most of us are not resident here as we are on non-immigrant visas. Therefore if you still have permanent residency in another country, say in Europe, wouldn't the treshold be based on this country? 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2017 by SS1

[blackcab]

2 hours ago, SS1 said:

One thing to note is that the treshold is based on "Country of residence". It could be argued that whilst living in Thailand and working, most of us are not resident here as we are on non-immigrant visas. Therefore if you still have permanent residency in another country, say in Europe, wouldn't the treshold be based on this country? 

 

It's not how you define residency, it's how SLC defines it that matters. Logically, SLC will always go after the money - that's why they exist, so I think you will find their interpretation centres around where you earn money.

[OJAS]

On 9/10/2017 at 0:17 PM, blackcab said:

 

It's not how you define residency, it's how SLC defines it that matters. Logically, SLC will always go after the money - that's why they exist, so I think you will find their interpretation centres around where you earn money.

I would urge caution in taking this comment as gospel, SS1

[SS1]

On 9/10/2017 at 0:17 PM, blackcab said:

 

It's not how you define residency, it's how SLC defines it that matters. Logically, SLC will always go after the money - that's why they exist, so I think you will find their interpretation centres around where you earn money.

 

13 hours ago, OJAS said:

I would urge caution in taking this comment as gospel, SS1

Yes, it's probably right that they will try their best to get as much money from you as possible. However, since they rely on evindence provided by yourself, there is not much to argue if you illustrate your residency with appropriate proof. On top of this, they don't really have much leverage on someone staying outside of the UK with no plans to return. 

 

In any case I think I will just submit them the appropriate evidence and claim Thailand as my residency, as I'm actually doing so for tax purposes. What just annoys me is the low income treshold for Thailand, it will be quite a big chunk of income lost every month. 

Edited September 12, 2017 by SS1

[roamer]

On 7/24/2017 at 9:30 AM, transam said:

So who has to pay for a student uni stuff, some folk who may flunk if it were free cos they don't care...Who pays uni salaries etc...?

Some might say that is part of the problem when those salaries are up to 4 times as much as the PM. Not only LOS where the pigs are at the trough.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/08/26/highest-paid-vice-chancellor-country-accused-ofpresiding-cover/

[rickudon]

Forty years ago the UK had a free university system and there were few complaints then about the cost of it. Of course, only about 10-15% of school leavers went on to university. Then some idiot decided that all school leavers should go - and they should pay for it. Now we have hundreds of thousands of graduates who end up doing the same jobs school leavers did 40 years ago (except where the jobs no longer exist!) And, competition for jobs is much greater. Hardly an improvement. The current system will not last.

[autanic]

On 24/07/2017 at 9:30 AM, transam said:

So who has to pay for a student uni stuff, some folk who may flunk if it were free cos they don't care...Who pays uni salaries etc...?

The University Fees system in the UK is a non sustainable model.

 

Take a 18 year m/f put them on a 3 year degree course. 

When they graduate, they have to repay back tens of thousands of pounds if they earn over a certain amount.

So they go for a job, but at the interview there are lots of graduates with no experience all going for the same job, that requires experience. 

The Graduate then ends up doing a job he could have done 3 years ago but now he/she has ££,££££ worth of debt and no experience.

 

When you didn't have to pay you did your course and took any job because you had no debt, you even interned for free to get experience. 

 

A degree these days is not worth the ££,£££ paper it is written on.  Experience and industry contacts is what get you well paid jobs, not a piece of paper from a University.

 

The University fees are just a form in Indentured Slavery for the poor Graduates, many of which will never work in the field they did their courses in.

 

The Government get their fig, the Universities get their fig and the Graduate ends up living with Mum and Dad until he is 45 years old.