Martin Lewis names 4 ways to know you're owed money from Student Finance with one woman getting £3,773

A woman has claimed back £3,773 from student finance after Martin Lewis named four ways to check if you might be repaying your student loan. Many of these loans have been automatically deducted from people’s wages, leaving some able to claim £100s, or even £1000s back.

Last year alone one million university leavers overpaid on their student loans, according to the Student Loans Company. Now Mr Lewis is suggesting that people use his four methods to check if they could also be owed back money.

One woman told Mr Lewis she had claimed £3,773 back through following his tips. She said: "Thank you so much. I knew something wasn’t right when I lodged my tax returns and reading Martin’s article was the catalyst for a sustained attempt to work out what had happened. I received £3,773 back."

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Why might I have overpaid my student loan?

There are several reasons why people might not have been paying back the right amount of student loan.

Graduates aren’t meant to pay back their loans until they earn above a specific annual threshold, but repayments are normally taken monthly via payroll. Therefore, if your earnings have varied throughout the year, you could have overpaid and be owed back money, says Mr Lewis.

Another reason you may have overpaid on your student loan is through being on the wrong plan. For those who started university after 1998, there are four different plans which determine how much you should be paying each year.

Many people also don’t know that they shouldn’t begin repaying their student loans until the April after they graduate if they’re a full-time student who began their course after 1998. Some may have begun paying their loan before this, due to an error by themselves or their employer, making them eligible for a rebate.

And finally, Mr Lewis says that some people who had paid off their student loans may have still been having deductions made for it from their payslips. While this should get paid back automatically, it can take time, so it may be easier to reclaim manually, says Mr Lewis.

How can I claim back my overpaid student loan?

If you have overpaid your student loan due to not meeting the annual threshold, you can reclaim online through the Student Loan Company, says Mr Lewis. For tax years up to 2022/2023, you can do this via their website. However for the tax year 2023/2024, you will need to wait for the SLC to get in contact with you.

Those who have been put onto the wrong payment plan should speak to their employer, and then the SLC to make a claim. You can check your plan through the ‘active plan type letter’ downloadable through your online account.

If you have started paying your loan too early, you’ll need to call SLC to have a refund processed, says Mr Lewis. And for those who have continued having deductions made from their pay after their loan was paid off, you can either wait for an automatic refund, or call SLC to chase this.

Got a story? Please get in touch at katherine.gray@reachplc.com

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