Student Loan problem

[Hammer]

My missus was a bit naughty in her student days and didn't pay off her student loan. To cut a long story short, they caught up with her last year (about 10 years later!), she started paying a small amount monthly by standing order, then asked for a final settlement figure (just over �1000) and paid it off in full just before Christmas and cancelled the SO.

(Cont...)

[Hammer]

Since then, they have contacted her each month insisting she has paid them �20 by SO and have refunded her bank account despite her telling them she hasn't paid it.

Now they realise that it was actually someone else paying using the wrong reference and want it all back. They are also saying that the final settlement figure quoted was wrong and she still owes a bit more. She has it in writing that the debt was fully settled, so can they now change their mind? Can she keep the refunds on the basis that they wouldn�t take no for an answer?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

[Loosehead]

2 points:

- She cannot keep the refunds, they where an error and they have every right to ask for them back.

- Now regarding the settlement figure, do all the reference numbers on the settlement letter match the account numbers on the loan account? If so you have it in writing that the loan is fully settled, they would have a hard time progressing further, that won't stop them asking though. Technically they have a right to be paid in full however the letter if all the t's are crossed and the I's dotted would prove a very difficult legal obstacle to overcome so if she dig's her heels in they would probably not persue further (unless it's a large amount of course)

[Hammer]

Thanks for the reply. I thought that might be the case for the refunds, but have a vague memory that if you had reasonable cause to suspect that an error was genuine (which we have because we questioned it and they insisted it came from our account, not just with our reference) and modified your spending accordingly, then you were not obliged to pay it back. Clutching at straws I suppose, and it's probably not worth the aggro.

I'll check the settlement letter for references etc and tell her to stand her ground if it all ties up.

[PFA]

HI Hammer,

A point to note is that - the loan company DOES* have the right to input info on your missus's credit rating - a small outstanding credit entry might affect the rating....thats what a bank will do anyways!! My my tuppence worth!!!

* depending on circumstances