Ah, student loans! If you’ve ever entered higher education in the UK, you probably know what it’s like to have the ghost of a student loan you took out when you were far too young to know what a loan is looming over you.
Well, as it turns out, it’s not something you should just put to the back of your mind and completely forget about it (who knew!).
According to Vice, you could very well be owed a refund for overpaying by hundreds or thousands of pounds.
That’s right, a Freedom of Information request sent by Save the Students has revealed that the Student Loans Company is currently holding onto over £100 million worth of overpayments from graduates — erm, WTAF?
Am I owed money from Student Loans?
There are lots of ways you could be overpaying on your loan repayments. You might have started paying before you legally need to like 40,000 other grads, you might be paying despite earning below your applicable salary threshold, or you might be one of 200,000 who are simply on the wrong plan.
The biggest number of refunds affect former students on Plan 2 in England, according to Daily Record, which has a salary threshold of £27,295 a year.
Students in Scotland may also be due an overpayment for the 2021/22 tax year, when everyone who got their loan through the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) was moved from Plan 1 to Plan 4.
How do I claim my money back?
Save the Student’s money expert Tom Allingham says you should study your payslips to see how they compare to the official repayment rules. If your total earnings at the end of the financial year are below your applicable salary threshold, you’re probably entitled to a full refund of any repayments you made.
However, just give them a call – you can contact the Student Loans Company here.
Keep in mind that they might ask you if you want your refund to be taken off of your remaining loan repayment (they asked me). You should then bear in mind that most people will never pay off their student loan anyway.
Apparently, only two percent have so far claimed their fair share back, so I say we bump that number up some!