Former students being aggressively chased for debts are being advised to turn to the Financial Ombudsman Service if they are unhappy with the way they've been treated.
The Ombudsman said: "If you feel you've not been treated fairly by a debt collector, or that they are not taking your circumstances into account, get in touch – we are here to get things sorted."
Students from the 1990s are being targeted by Erudio Student Loans, which bought the debts from the Government last autumn. Those concerned have repayments deferred because their wages have stayed below an earnings threshold. Yet many have had money wrongly snatched from their accounts by Erudio, owned by Arrow Global.
When the wrong payments have been pointed out to the firm, Erudio has apologised and repaid the money, or the fed-up former students have reclaimed it under the direct debit scheme after confirming money was taken in error.
But if they don't get satisfaction they can turn to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Details at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
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