Student loan?

[Beaney192]

Right I have just been given my wage slip for this month and it has stated that the student loan company have taken £24.00 from me to start paying back the loan. The thing is I thought you had to be earning more then £15000 before they started paying back and looking at my slip i have only earnt 8,000 this year to date.

Is there a reason why they have started taking that i am missing? I have just started my SMP so really cant afford for them to do this every month?!

Thanks for any advice

 

[StarBound]

Give them a ring and see what they say

 

[MrsWag]

I may be wrong but your student loan repayments are pased on your gross income each year ie how much you are paid yearly. So if you earn £15,000 or more a year the will take a repyment from you each month. I recently got a job that was over this threshold and my repyments started on my 2nd paycheck. I found this on their website:

"What will I repay?

There will be an income level (a threshold) below which you will not have to make any repayments at all. The threshold is £15,000 each year before deductions. The SLC will expect you to repay 9% of your annual income over £15,000. This is roughly the same as an income (before deductions) of £1,250 a month or £288 a week. If your monthly income is more than £1,250, you will have to make repayments. A different limit may apply if you move to live in a country outside the UK."

So if your wage is £15,000 or more a year they will take a deduction and if it is less than £15,00 a year they shouldn't be taking one. I'm n ot sure how SMP works with it though.

Hope I have been of some help

 

[Beaney192]

Thanks for your help I am no where near earning enough for them to take the money so will give them a call and see what they say x

 

[nickibrum]

Its as MrsWag says, its based on your pre-taxable take home wage. If you are on smp though you should be able to call them and explan the situation

 

[xxembobxx]

I had to make a payment one week when I earned a lot due to overtime even though my annual income was under £15k. Not sure how they worked it out but I figure any little payment helps to pay it off!
Can't believe they took it when you are on SMP though - as if it's not difficult enough to manage on the low income!

 

[aimee-lou]

It's based on average earnings if you're paid using PAYE.

If over the course of 52 weeks, that week's wages would have worked out to £15,000 or more, then you will pay a contribution. I got a student loan replayment on my first batch of SMP as I got paid some backpay, holiday pay and my first month's SMP all in one go.

I was told that if you work out your annual wage based on that pay period only, that figure should be more than £15,000. It's the same way they work out how much tax you need to pay.