I believe that they do their best under the circumstances! (Student Loans Co.)

Member Name: dcmbarton

Product:	Student Loans Co.
Date:	04/04/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Straightforward system for making voluntary repayments

Disadvantages: Constantly having to adapt to governmental changes

I have had dealings with the Student Loans Company now for around eight years. The small loan with which I was issued when I went to university in 2002 has sat gathering dust for most of that time until the past three months during which I decided to pay it back.

I initially enquired why no deductions had been made; neither SLC nor the Inland Revenue could answer that question, though as one would expect, both said it was the other one's fault. In sheer despair at the matter, I decided that I would ignore both and simply make voluntary repayments myself.

After quite a number of telephone calls and e-mails, the SLC issued with the information required to log into their repayment system; apparently, this was complicated because the loan was so old (was 2002 that long ago?) and so the numbers and codes I had, had been 'redesigned' in recent years.

Once logged into the repayment system, I was able to track the value of my loan and make repayments of any amount using my debit card. The process was straightforward and the website easy to use. I originally agreed with myself that I would aim to pay it off in instalments over two years. In reality, I found I was able to make larger payments than originally expected, and in fact I have now paid off the remaining amount in full.

The trouble with the SLC is that it is constantly having to adapt to governmental changes; as I found, records of a certain age, seemed problematic to investigate and this did initially cause problems. After this, the repayments were easy, and three months on, my dealings with them are (hopefully) now over.

Summary: No significant problems experienced, and always found them easy to deal with.