
In April 2009, the Student Loans Company announced that it will now be registering defaulting customers with the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax and Callcredit). Initially, this will only target customers who took out loans before 1998. Student loans taken out after 1998 are collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with payments taken directly from earnings. This makes it much harder for these customers to avoid paying their debt. The student loans Company believes that it has up to 60,000 customers who took out loans before 1998 who are failing to pay. Loans in default that will be registered with the credit agencies include those still owned by the student loans company itself and also Honours Student Loans which purchased a number of the loans over the past 10 years. The Student Loans Company believes that half of these (30,000 individuals) will end up being registered as defaulting with the credit reference agencies. Defaulting clients will be given 28 days to agree a repayment or deferral plan. After this, customers who have not deferred and are not meeting repayment obligations will be registered with the credit reference agencies. Once a default is registered, it will remain on the individual's ...
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