Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JD_Tiberius]

Ive just been informed by my parents that the Student Loans Company has been sending out letters demanding that I tell them where I am living and working or else they will levy fines upon my current student loan. I got told on the weekend that a letter arrived at my parents house on the 16th of February and my parents didnt actually tell me about this until the 6th of March. The letter states that I have 28 days to provide them with all the details they request or else they will whack me with a fine and charge me extra.

Because my parents didnt tell me about this, i have pretty much no chance of meeting their absurd deadline and they refuse to extend it. Nor do I like the idea of letting an agency of the thieving UK government know my income while Im here, at least not until the end of this tax year on April 1st, when I should no longer be considered a resident of the UK and therefore not subject to taking it up the backside via taxation. Is there anyway that I can make these bean pushers see sense? If they dare hit me with a fine, its gonna cause some serious bad blood and will likely result in me giving them the middle finger given i have no plans to return to the UK for anything other than a vacation to see family. If they delay, they will get their money in the end.

[oldtrafford]

You'll be fined, like they've already stated. Never say never, just maybe one day you would like to return to blighty or forced to return to blighty. I have the same opionion, I don't want to return but who knows.

[Geumchondave]

I had exactly the same situation - I just contacted them and explained that the paperwork hadn't got to me in time and that I wouldn't be able to post any documents to them until a long time after the deadline.

They where very, very reasonable about it - far more then a bank would if you started refusing to mark your repayments. They accepted that i wasn't over the threshold for repayments based on a fax of one of my pay slips and havent asked me for anything since - and you are entitled to pay tax here instead of the uk so don't worry about that. And the students loan company dont exchange info with HMr&c anyway.

At the end of the day you borrowed money and sign a contract with the loan company - why are you so angry that they are asking for it back? If this was a high street loan and you just started ignoring them you would already have hundreds of pounds in late fees - just contact them and explain the situation - in my experience they have always been very reasonable

[JD_Tiberius]

Err... The threshold for living in norea is a pathetic 9000 A year. As an english teacher you get paid around �14000 to �15000 a year so you would be over the threshold. The question is. How did you convince them that you where under this?

And what i am quite angry at is that so far they have been completely unreasonable in my dealings with them.

[drydell]

working in korea is your best opportunity to pay it off debts from back home - very easy to save money and life a comfortable lifestyle at the same time....

why not just pay off your debts? - feels really great to finally pay it all off - I cleared my student loans and 2 big credit cards second year here... you're just burning cash on the interest otherwise - as im sure you don't need reminding..

It's incredibly hard to save money in the UK unless you have a well above average salary... I used to really admire a friend back home who could continually save 3 thousand quid a year - but he was a stingy penny counter. That's peanuts compared to how much you can save here... get rid of that albatross.. that's my advice.

[frankhenry]

You borrowed the money, pay it back. You made the agreement.

[Setaro]

No point in paying a single penny of it off when they wipe the debt 25 years after graduation.

On the �14k ish we earn over here, it would still take you years of voluntarily paying way above the minimum requirement to pay circa �20,000 student loan debt, unless you live on instant ramen and never leave the house for a couple of years.

And imagine if you managed to pay 90% of your debt over the next 25 years, they wipe it the same regardless if you paid 90% or pay 0% of the loan off. Waste of money really.

EDIT: Read this page and decide whether to bother paying it off http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/student-loans-repay

[ZIFA]

[Gary-Korea]

I looked into paying this loan off a couple of years ago when I first came to Korea. I realised it wouldn't be worth it in the long run. Read the link posted for Money Saving Expert. I have friends who have wound this debt into a mortgage or other loan, which to me seems stupid! The money I would have used to pay it off I have saved so I have funds to work and travel around the world for the forseeable future.

I would say it's smart to get in touch with them when you leave the country. I sent them a copy of my school contract and I only pay around 35 quid a month. It comes out by direct debit so I can forget about it. The good thing aswell is if there is time between contracts or jobs you can tell them that you aren't earning so you won't have to make a payment.

I'm not suprised the SLC are panicking that they aren't receiving payments from a lot of graduates. I think the penny has dropped and they realise the country is going down the tubes so anyone with half a brain is jumping ship! The opportunities that existed for our folks just don't exist for the average graduate anymore.

[Geumchondave]

my bad i am actually paying back the minimum amount but i dont really care - its a negligible amount, just email them and explain - make them chase you for the loan you agreed to pay back and they are morally and legally entitled to slap you - why are you finding it so hard to stand by your agreement?
Maybe you are having a bad time with them but from my experience they are very very reasonable - however you do owe them money so if you keep trying to get out of it then i understand why they would be annoyed