I changed my name....

[speedbird187]

I went to prison, did 2.5 years inside for Threats to Kill and ruined my whole life. Got out, put my life together moved away and changed my name. However in the mail today I got a letter from the Student Loans Company with my old name !! Now they never got my NI Number and my bank cards and credit record have no link to my old life. I have seen my Experian report and it only lists post prison with no link to my old life. How the Hell did they find me? I am scared as of course there are a few people looking for me with a grudge. I thought I had put this all behind me .

[Ethel]

They would have traced you through your national insurance number, for sure.

The SLC is a public body - that means it is government owned, and these departments do share information.

[buildersmate]

The NI number is the centre of the mechanism by which the SLC tracks its 'clients'. This is so that the employer can deduct appropriate amounts of SL repayment - it is all done as part of the PAYE system.

What I don't know is what one has to do when one changes one's name wrt HMRC, who maintain the National Insurance number records - you would know that presumably? How did you have to deal with your local tax office regarding your name change? I would have throught that the 2 records should remain in step with one another.

[wolf63]

I have a feeling that there will only be one record held for your NI with the one NI number and 'previously known as' and your previous name recorded.

You only have one NI number issued to you throughout your life.

[speedbird187]

I NEVER gave them my NI number in the first place. I wonder how on Earth they got it???

[buildersmate]

That's the way the SLC works - it uses the NI number to make sure it gets repayment when one is earning enough.

[TCL-MUMPING]

This is what it says on the Student Awards Agency for Scotland website,

The Student Loans Company (SLC) regulations require a student to provide a National Insurance Number (NINO) before they can receive any Student Loans. In partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the SLC has put in place processes to help those students who have either misplaced their NINO or do not have one.

Where students do not provide a NINO, the DWP will try to find it and make it available to the SLC. If the student provides the wrong number, then the DWP will correct the number and return it to the SLC.