Student Loan Company

Is there a shortcut to sorting this out?

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Individual has been making repayments to the SLC through payroll for a number of years. She is sure (and can prove with payslips etc) that the loan has been fully repaid. However, the SLC says it hasn't received anything from HMRC for the two years to 5 April 2015. 10 months after the individual first contacted the SLC about this, the SLC says the issue is still under investigation with HMRC. The individual is still having repayments taken from her pay each month and the overpayment is now in excess of £2,500. 

1. Can the employer stop deducting repayments? (I don't think so unless they are sent a stop notice by HMRC.)

2. Other than constantly chasing the SLC, is there anything the individual or the employer can do to sort this out? 

I suspect the answer to both questions is no and that the whole student loan repayment system is shambolic!

Replies (8)

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By stratty
23rd Nov 2017 17:49

Providing the student loan has actually been deducted from the employees salary and you have payslips to prove that I would ask HMRC to issue a stop notice and for the case to be reviewed pending the outcome of the investigation.

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Replying to stratty:
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By MJShone
24th Nov 2017 10:15

Thanks Stratty. I don't know the detail of how the loan repayment works. Do HMRC know the size of the debt and therefore when it's been repaid, or are they reliant on the SLC telling them when to issue a stop notice?
Whatever the answer to that, I think it's probably worth the individual sending the same letter to HMRC and the SLC setting out the details of the loan repayment with copies of payslips to back it up.

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Replying to MJShone:
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By ms998
24th Nov 2017 15:35

HMRC do not know size of debt and deductions from pay continue until SLC says loan has been repaid.

If student knows they have repaid loan they can phone SLC and ask them to put a stop flag on deductions mid-year.

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Replying to ms998:
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By MJShone
24th Nov 2017 15:48

Thanks ms998. The student does know they've repaid the loan. They've spoken to HMRC who said they needed to speak to the SLC. They've spoken to the SLC several times over the last 10 months and SLC are still "investigating with HMRC". Meanwhile, poor student is still having repayments taken from her pay and the amount she's owed by the SLC is mounting up!

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Replying to MJShone:
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By ms998
24th Nov 2017 15:36

HMRC do not know size of debt and deductions from pay continue until SLC says loan has been repaid.

If student knows they have repaid loan they can phone SLC and ask them to put a stop flag on deductions mid-year.

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Replying to MJShone:
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By ms998
24th Nov 2017 15:36

HMRC do not know size of debt and deductions from pay continue until SLC says loan has been repaid.

If student knows they have repaid loan they can phone SLC and ask them to put a stop flag on deductions mid-year.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
23rd Nov 2017 17:59

The repayments should be shown on the P60 too.

Student Loan Repayments are something else the HMRC deal with very badly in the expansive portfolio of Not Really Knowing What We're Doing.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
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By MJShone
24th Nov 2017 10:17

Thanks Lion.

I don't know if it's still the case, but at one point there was nowhere on a P45 to show loan repayments deducted, so a new employer wouldn't know and the P60 would show only the payments made via the new employer, so I think it's safest to rely on payslips.

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