The average graduate in England now leaves university with a debt of £44,940 – and while that’s no small sum, Martin Lewisdescribes it as ‘one of the cheapest loans you’re ever going to be able to get’.
Because UK student loans are income contingent, you only repay a percentage of your earnings over a set threshold (currently 9% of anything above £24,990 annually for those on plan 1).
If you’re an employee, your repayments will automatically be taken from the payroll in the same way as tax, which means no faffing around with paperwork or setting up direct debits.
However, since deductions are estimated on a month-to-month basis, if your salary has fluctuated over the year, you may have accidentally overpaid. Admin errors or incorrect information about your payment plan can also lead todiscrepancies, potentially making you eligible for a refund worth hundreds – or even thousands – of pounds.
Over a million graduates overpaid on their student loans in the last tax year alone, so it’s not a rare occurrence.
And thanks to a new online system, it’s easier than ever to see what you owe or get back what you’re owed.
If you believe you’ve paid despite not earning enough during tax years up to 2022/2023, you can request a refund via the government website. Simply log in with your customer reference number or email address, password and secret answer to get the ball rolling.
From there, the Student Loans Company (SLC) will check for any refunds you’re eligible for as far back as the early 2000s, and the money should be in your account within 28 days.
If you’re concerned you’ve overpaid because you’re on the wrong payment plan or you started repaying the loan too early, you’ll need to contact SLC to get the refund processed.
Explain your situation, referencing your payroll number or PAYE number if you have them – you should be able to find these on payslips or P60 documents.
There are no restrictions on how far back you can claim – the only thing you can’t reclaim is extra money you voluntarily paid towards your student loan above the required amount – so it’s worth a shot even if you graduated years ago.
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According to MSE, some graduates have received as much as £3,773 back, while the typical refund amount is in the £100s. Not bad for a few minutes’ work.
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