Further Erudio Woes!

[lili23]

Hi all,
My situation is keeping me up at night...I wonder if any of you have any suggestions as to my next course of action?!
I moved house in July 2014, after securing a deferement from Erudio Student Loans Co Ltd, at my old address.
I wrote to Erudio within a week of moving (a letter I have no proof of sending) to tell them of my address change.
After this I put Erudio out of my mind and waited to hear from them. It didn't register with me that I hadn't heard from them about a deferement for 2015..stupidly it didn't occur to me and I didn't even think about Erudio.
In October 2015 I got a letter from them saying that my loan account had been terminated and Capquest (a debt collection agency) were now dealing with my account.
I assumed that they had sold my loan to Capquest (as the government did to erudio) and contacted Capquest to tell them I was on a deferement from Erudio. They said they had no record of this and so I contacted Erudio by phone.
It was clear immediately that Erudio did not have my new address. They said they had been writing to me at my old address, that my account had been in arrears and so they would not reinstate my account and I had to repay the loan to Capquest.
I am well under the earnings threshold for repayment but they refuse to accept my account reinstatement, even though I have informed them that I sent them a letter with my address change (just as I had done 2 years earlier when I moved then) and that to repay would cause financial distress to my family ( I have a 5 year old).
I have taken this matter to the Financial Ombudsman, who found in favour of Erudio, and a CAB solicitor has told me that I have no winnable case (as I was willing to represent myself in court proceedings).
My arguments are:
That I DID write to Erudio to inform them of my address change.
That I did not receive any of their letters to my old address, informing me of arrears.
That they had an email address and phone number for me but failed to use these in 'trying' to communicate with me.
That to have to repay would cause crippling financial stress on my family - and I took out the loan in agreement that I would not be made to repay if I earned under a certain amount.
That this is a high price to pay for not realising that I should have had letters from them in March 2015.

Please anyone, is there any shred of hope of taking this case to court? I need some advice if any of you have it...I'm so stressed about how my son and I will live if forced to repay.

Thanks!!

[Nibbler]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

My arguments are:
That I DID write to Erudio to inform them of my address change.

This is something you cannot prove? Something you did not check had been received or acknowledged by Erudio? If you did not follow up to check, then that argument doesn't fly.

That I did not receive any of their letters to my old address, informing me of arrears.

So they sent it to the address they had? If so, then again, not going to fly unless they failed to send them at all.

That they had an email address and phone number for me but failed to use these in 'trying' to communicate with me.

Maybe a small argument, but would be one for the FOS to consider in fairness, and not a legal obligation on the lender to do anything but write. If your FOS complaint has been rejected by the adjudicator and then the ombudsman, then again, not really going to do any good.

That to have to repay would cause crippling financial stress on my family - and I took out the loan in agreement that I would not be made to repay if I earned under a certain amount.

Not repaying if you earn under a certain amount is fully contingent on you applying for deferment each year, which you failed to do. The onus was on YOU to do that, so you didn't keep to the loan terms that allow you to defer.

That this is a high price to pay for not realising that I should have had letters from them in March 2015.

Perhaps it is, but again the legal onus was on you and you agreed to the loan terms, so should have taken care not to break them.

The above is in no way trying to be judgemental, I have full sympathy, but instead is being realistic in what your arguments might be and their prospect of success.

[Nibbler]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Saying the above, in collecting the loans now due and payable in full, Erudio/Arrow/Crapquest should show the full and appropriate forbearance to anyone with limited finances that they are required to show when collecting any other sort of debt.

There is plenty of advice on here and sites like National Debtine to make fair offers of what you can afford, and deal with any unreasonable demands a collector may make.

[lili23]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Cheers Nibbler...appreciate your honesty!

[PAWS]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

What makes me boilis that ever since that Dip s**t Willetts sold off the student loansErudio aka Arrow have tried fair means and foul to change the termsor bully /frighten people into paying. As soon as they saw you couldnot prove you told them you had moved they flogged it to CapQ. Surelythe original terms must have some standing i.e you do not have torepay until you earn enough?
The fact that theFOS sided with them is a stinker. Sorry I have no constructive advicebut I am so mad about this!

[Nibbler]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

The original terms set down in legislation say that, or boil down to:

- you can only be deferred if you apply for it.
- if you do not defer, you are liable to make payments, no matter your income.
- if you fail to make due payments under the agreement, they have the right to demand you pay the loan in full immediately.
- once they have demanded the above, you no longer have a right to defer payments.

[PAWS]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

I know nibbler -youare quite right. Technically the debtor broke the terms but it isirritating that the debtor always has to prove they got a defermentand notified them of change of address -they do not have to proveanything. All the errors seem to work in their favour. Once more itproves the rule – Always get written confirmation, always userecorded delivery and never trust them!

[Nibbler]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

That sort of issue was not a whole lot better under the SLC to be honest. They were/are terrible.

They used to lose post or deny having received it on a regular basis, unless you sent signed for and kept a record of what was sent. I personally have had several issue with them on that over the years.

Erudio clearly will be quicker to take advantage, but it's not all that new.

[lili23]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Thanks you both for your input - I'm comforted that it makes other people bloody angry too..

I realise I have a very slim chance of winning this case, but I will most likely attempt to defend this in court. I did send them a letter (in exactly the same way as I did just two years earlier with my previous address move) and so feel extremely aggrieved that I must begin to pay this loan back. This will have a devastating financial effect on my family, so It's worth a try, even if a few extra grand of legal fees are whacked on top if I lose. It's more than I can afford to pay anyway...so what's the difference? Then at least I know I did everything I could.

[charitynjw]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Thanks you both for your input - I'm comforted that it makes other people bloody angry too..


I realise I have a very slim chance of winning this case, but I will most likely attempt to defend this in court. I did send them a letter (in exactly the same way as I did just two years earlier with my previous address move) and so feel extremely aggrieved that I must begin to pay this loan back. This will have a devastating financial effect on my family, so It's worth a try, even if a few extra grand of legal fees are whacked on top if I lose. It's more than I can afford to pay anyway...so what's the difference? Then at least I know I did everything I could.

Hi lil23

IMHO

If there are no other options
I would make them an offer of (£affordable amount/wk or /month), let them take me to court, where I would submit a I&E form, show evidence of an offer to pay which was refused, & see what the court will do.
If the court awards too high an amount, you can apply for a variation of the judgment.
As you are on low income, you should be eligible for fee remission (Court form EX160)

[wales01man]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Try and negotiate with them offer what you can afford and prove it with I and E details if it goes to court the time to repay will just increase for them and you with added costs

[charitynjw]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

I know nibbler -youare quite right. Technically the debtor broke the terms but it isirritating that the debtor always has to prove they got a defermentand notified them of change of address -they do not have to proveanything. All the errors seem to work in their favour. Once more itproves the rule – Always get written confirmation, always userecorded delivery and never trust them!

Thanks you both for your input - I'm comforted that it makes other people bloody angry too..

I realise I have a very slim chance of winning this case, but I will most likely attempt to defend this in court. I did send them a letter (in exactly the same way as I did just two years earlier with my previous address move) and so feel extremely aggrieved that I must begin to pay this loan back. This will have a devastating financial effect on my family, so It's worth a try, even if a few extra grand of legal fees are whacked on top if I lose. It's more than I can afford to pay anyway...so what's the difference? Then at least I know I did everything I could.

Try and negotiate with them offer what you can afford and prove it with I and E details if it goes to court the time to repay will just increase for them and you with added costs

The good thing about going to court is that the repayments can be via a Tomlin Order.

The other party will not find it so easy to renege on a Tomlin, whereas they could do so on a privately negotiated deal.

[wales01man]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Court would no doubt cost money the point being the OP cannot afford to pay back the Original so why add to it .

Have to wonder how n=much is owed here makes a difference to court costs does it not?

[charitynjw]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Court would no doubt cost money the point being the OP cannot afford to pay back the Original so why add to it .

Have to wonder how n=much is owed here makes a difference to court costs does it not?

Court costs etc will only add a few pence onto the repayments.
Imho well worth it to stop the (potential) claimant from backing out of the deal in the future.
& it could be seen that, should they have refused a 'reasonable' offer from someone in financial hardship, they are abusing the court process, & have costs awarded against them!

[FuriousFeline]

Re: Further Erudio Woes!

Erudio are incompetent. If I were you, I wouldn't pay them. They may threaten court etc, but usually those sorts of threats are just bluffs that they probably wouldn't go through with. I urge anyone who is currently having problems with Erudio to join the Money Saving Expert forums, as there is currently a big discussion about them on there, due to lots of people this year not having been sent Deferment Application Forms (DAF), yet having been sent reminder letters. Here is a link to the discussion on MSE http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...=273#topofpage