Student Loan Repayments

[Josh111]

Hello everyone. Like most other students, I had to get a student loan for my time in Uni. Immediately after leaving Uni, I left the UK to live in another EU country teaching English. I never informed any UK authorities about this, I just left. (I honestly do not know if you are meant to declare if you leave the UK, if so, to whom?). I pay taxes/national insurance in the country I now live in. To be honest, until a couple of months ago, I completely forgot about my student loan but now it's playing on my mind a little. I earn marginally (very marginally!) over the threshold for repayment. But given what they take back, this is disproportionate to my income and considering other loans from banks I have to repay, I will be left with very little to live on if the SLC take from me too. My questions are these: if you were in my position, would you just leave it and stay quiet (I have never been asked for repayment (nothing has ever been sent to my UK home address where my parents live) and i live abroad). Does anybody know if I would face a huge interest amount in addition to the loan for the time I haven't paid back the student loan? Is it at all possible to negotiate the amount you pay back- i.e. is the slc flexible on repayment? I look forward to hearing from you (please dont judge me too much! :-) ).

[buildersmate]

Most of the information you required can be found here.
http://www.direct.gov...gFrom1998/DG_10034867
..... but in short
The threshold for repayment is an annual salary of £15k. Above that you pay 9% over that figure back.
Interest accrues on the loan all the time since you had it but at relatively modest rates, tied notionally to the inflation rate at the time. Currently no interest is accruing (because inflation rates are low).
You seem to have slipped through the net; application for the original loan and hence repayment is tied to your NI number. I'm surprised you have managed to 'get away with it' this far. Can't comment on whether that will continue.
There is an obscure rule somewhere in the 'rules' that says if one hasn't paid it all off after 20 (I think - someone will correct me if not), the outstanding balance is written off. This rule applies, I think if one of the following applies: -
a) you are outside the jurisdiction of the UK tax system - i.e. you emigrate
b) you never earn enough beyond the threshold to pay the loan off.
Whilst the former may have applied to you in the recent past, it doesn't apply now. So I doubt that your loan would be written off after the requisite number of years if you are evading payment. That last bit is just my opinion.