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motorbyclist
29th October 2008, 18:35
so, curious as to how/why i was caught short the other week trying to purchase some celebratory beers after acquiring a $20 note, i thought i'd check my bank balance...

the $150 per week on my loan, from studylink, intended to save me trying to squeeze in work around study (and riding) this past semester, has been coming through every monday. now i always told myself it was tuesday, to match up with my employment payday, and to save me getting caught short. i also have a $100 safety net in case of unexpected spending, and a bit of cash on a good week.

and sure enough, i was declined due to them not paying from the 6th until the 20th, at which point they must have realised they forgot a payment and sent it through this friday (24th)


how the fuck do they make this mistake? ignoring the inconvenience caused -was my situation different that $150 could have been food or rent for the week, rather than a purchase made as i like to keep cash for gas stations-, do i now have to check i have in fact received all the money they say i've borrowed? you'd think it was a computerised system that wouldn't make such errors!

Ms Piggy
29th October 2008, 18:46
You have my sympathies mate! Make sure you put something in writing to Studylink! Also, did they give you backpay?

Real_Wolf
29th October 2008, 19:31
lol, thats awesome.

Does that mean they have some clerk somewhere who sits there and MANUALLY transfers all that money?

bomma
29th October 2008, 19:35
eeni meeni miyni mo
i wonder where my glove will go :buggerd::lol:

Magua
29th October 2008, 19:37
I know how you feel.

Twice they've tried to stop my allowance payments, once successfully. I usually receive a letter saying they want some proof of income, the last one was dated at the beginning of September, yet I received it in the middle of the month, giving me a few days to get my info into them.

Phurrball
29th October 2008, 19:37
lol, thats awesome.

Does that mean they have some clerk somewhere who sits there and MANUALLY transfers all that money?

It's all run by ceiling cat I tells ya...

Be afraid...

But seriously - I hear ya MB - they're good like that.

They are better than they were in the 90's under National though. What used to scare the bejesus out of me was the 1 or 2 random, unexpected lump-sum payments I got - do you tell them, celebrate, spend it all? Or will the man be after you.

I won't miss the stress they cause.

All the RWDB's will be telling us how greatful we should be for 'free' money [yeah, right it's free]

*sigh*

Blakomen
29th October 2008, 20:25
Well, at least the Ministry of Social Development hasn't sent you a letter saying you owe them $2500 because you earnt too much money last year and weren't entitled to your student allowance...

:doh:

rie
29th October 2008, 20:26
ugh i get what you mean. the "wtf studylink?!" sentiment has hit us all hard, at one point or another.

klyong82
29th October 2008, 20:38
We need a change .....a big change to the Studylink system so party vote National. :dodge:

Blakomen
29th October 2008, 20:41
We need a change .....a big change to the Studylink system so party vote National. :dodge:

As long as by change you don't mean "lets make it even harder to get or bin it entirely" :(

Squiggles
29th October 2008, 21:23
I reckon bin it entirely. Then again, im voting bill and ben? Lets put the party back in... political party :lol:

Seriously though, its a pain in the arse but it happens, they've cocked up a couple of times with me (they administer my scholarship)

Gremlin
29th October 2008, 23:48
I could never make head or tail of the statements they sent me, they never added up :blink:

sadly I just accepted it, they were only paying uni fees, and I haven't had a single statement in 2.5 years since I left uni.

Useless... they would be out of jobs in the private sector.

TOTO
29th October 2008, 23:54
yea, and for some reason I get 3 copies of every 3 page statemebt I get ...something weirt with them studylink ppl :blink:

Gremlin
29th October 2008, 23:58
for some reason I get 3 copies of every 3 page statemebt I get ...something weirt with them studylink ppl :blink:
that might explain why I don't get any statements :wait:

motorbyclist
30th October 2008, 00:44
Useless... they would be out of jobs in the private sector.


I reckon bin it entirely. Then again, im voting bill and ben? Lets put the party back in... political party :lol:


heck, i'm voting bill and ben!

it's the closest to a 'vote of no confidence' i can get!

Real_Wolf
30th October 2008, 01:19
yeah, its a question of who do you think will screw up the government less frmo what I usually see.

My favourite thing from studylink, well actually theres two
first, when I first applied for a student allowance, sent in all the forms, etc, I get a message back saying that I wasn't in enough courses to count as a full time student. I was doing 3, as I dropped out of one having found out it was absolutely useless.
Now I called them up, turns out they have this 'point' thing that each course is worth, and I didn't have enough 'points' (needed 4 i think) for "full time student".
I thought this was strange.
Not too much later, I signed up for next semesters courses, or at least some of them. This was less than halfway through the semester? and then suddenly I'm eligible for the student allowance. The second semester courses, which I wasn't even doing, counted towards my student allowance.

The other was this year, when I was told my student allowance was going to stop for the second semester, I re-applied, was told I had to verify income and parents income AGAIN, was lazy, didn't do it for a while, and tehy started paying me again anyway. Even got a letter at some point this semester saying the amount I was entitled to had changed. Then about a week or two later got one asking me to verify the income again.

motorbyclist
30th October 2008, 01:21
what i don't get is why they will only let me take out a loan for the duration of the financial year, and have to take out a new one for the next 12 months... it would appear by the time i've finished my four year degree i'm going to have six seperate loans

Gremlin
30th October 2008, 02:52
what i don't get is why they will only let me take out a loan for the duration of the financial year, and have to take out a new one for the next 12 months... it would appear by the time i've finished my four year degree i'm going to have six seperate loans
ah yes, that puzzled the hell out of me at first... was like, where's the logic in that?

What actually happens is that after the calendar, and around the end of the financial year, they pass the old loan to IRD, for collection. This happens each year, so eventually, it all sits with IRD.

The reason for this is that when you start earning, if you go over the re-payment threshold, you have a certain tax code, that means the employer deducts repayments from your pay, and this is all done with IRD.

Issue here... you never get statements, stating how much has been paid off via this method, interest is being written off (don't even get me started on how its charged, then deducted with Studylink), and how much is left to pay.

motorbyclist
30th October 2008, 09:48
(don't even get me started on how its charged, then deducted with Studylink)

yeah, i've always assumed that is so that they can repeal the interest free loan policy and leave us all paying interest on $20000 loans when we only went with the loan option because they told us interest was not to be charged

would i be correct in this assumption?

Cajun
30th October 2008, 09:52
Issue here... you never get statements, stating how much has been paid off via this method, interest is being written off (don't even get me started on how its charged, then deducted with Studylink), and how much is left to pay.

i usual get a at minium of 1 statment, with our much my loan is, how much i have paided off from IRD

i normally get another letter with the interest being paided off since

Gremlin
30th October 2008, 11:45
yeah, i've always assumed that is so that they can repeal the interest free loan policy and leave us all paying interest on $20000 loans when we only went with the loan option because they told us interest was not to be charged

would i be correct in this assumption?
The interest free policy I imagine is because only some people are entitled to it. If you meet the requirements, you get it. So hell, just charge it to all, if you meet the requirements, they deduct it again. However, since you can't make head or tail of the statement, you don't have a clue if they are actually doing it accurately (and who trusts them aye?). Sense from their end I guess, PITA for us.

Cajun, minimum of 1 statement how frequently? I had them regularly while at uni, none in the last 2.5 years when I have been out.

Cajun
30th October 2008, 12:07
[QUOTE=Gremlin;1789732
Cajun, minimum of 1 statement how frequently? I had them regularly while at uni, none in the last 2.5 years when I have been out.[/QUOTE]

1 statement a year at least, for past 4 years while working full time, from IRD

might pay to check IRD, details maybe have wrong postal address of you or simlar.

Magua
30th October 2008, 12:18
How timely is this thread. I just received another letter from studying for more proof of income.

Die in a fire :@

Phurrball
30th October 2008, 13:47
Daft innit?

Try adding in a few health dramas and dealing with WINZ too...Happy fun times!!

The repayment threshold is stupidly low too. I pay back my loan in dribs and drabs now, yet I'm still borrowing so I don't have to work too much :sherlock:

The way the system is now, a student load is just deferred tax anyway.

motorbyclist
1st November 2008, 18:46
do they continue the loan money until exams are over? cause i'm still at uni studying for exams, and they havn't sent any money through all week...

this is making a rather important purchase somewhat difficult

glad i waited til after the weekend!

Magua
1st November 2008, 19:59
It depends on when you told them you finish. my last payment comes through on the 23rd I think.

Ragingrob
1st November 2008, 20:26
Yeah wtf is up with the separate loans... So here I am, sitting with a form that says, I, Rob, owe Studylink a "total" of $xxxxx... Who am I to think I owe them more then that? Isn't it pretty fucken ambiguous and sitting on the edge of the law to have "total owing" when it's apparently only for each year, even though it's the same person and same company?

Each time I get a form I think "Sweet only 9 grand or whatever, that wont be hard to pay back", and that says total owing to studylink by me... Although in the end they'll be like "Please give us 40 grand"... And I'll be like "No, my last letter confirms that the TOTAL owing to studylink by Rob is 9 grand".

Ross : Can companies (esp the govt.) be this misleading? I vote we raise this to court and get all loans written off apart from our latest letters, then from then on they can tell us our real TOTAL loan.

motorbyclist
1st November 2008, 22:10
can we please do this in 2010 or whenever is my last year at uni plz? :bleh:

Gremlin
1st November 2008, 23:37
Each time I get a form I think "Sweet only 9 grand or whatever, that wont be hard to pay back", and that says total owing to studylink by me...
A previous post by me would explain what happens. The loan (ie, debt) is passed to IRD for collection from any earnings you make. As such, Studylink don't have the whole loan. You should receive statements from IRD listing out the loan etc.

Ragingrob
1st November 2008, 23:41
A previous post by me would explain what happens. The loan (ie, debt) is passed to IRD for collection from any earnings you make. As such, Studylink don't have the whole loan. You should receive statements from IRD listing out the loan etc.

How often should we receive statements? In my 3 years I can't recall one :Oi:

But that may just be me.

Gremlin
1st November 2008, 23:48
I rang IRD late last week (use the key phrase student loans)... Provide your IRD number, answer some more questions confirming your identity, and ask about loan balance, could they send a statement out please, etc.

They say they should send them out twice to sometimes three times per year, but could see I hadn't been sent one in over a year.

I actually found the guy I spoke really helpful, onto it, and answered all my questions easily, with a great phone manner. Surprising as hell, but fantastic!! :blink:

xwhatsit
2nd November 2008, 01:08
I could never make head or tail of the statements they sent me, they never added up :blink:

sadly I just accepted it, they were only paying uni fees, and I haven't had a single statement in 2.5 years since I left uni.

Useless... they would be out of jobs in the private sector.
That's the safest way methinks, that's how I'm doing it, they're just paying the uni fees. The flip side of that is I have to work quite a few hours every week to earn enough money to get by, and my marks have almost certainly suffered as a result. But still better than borrowing living costs and having to pay absurd amounts of money back later when a right-wing government gets in power and puts interest back on the student loans.

But they even manage to screw up `only' paying uni fees. Just about got booted out of my courses a few semesters ago because (despite applying well ahead of time) somehow they hadn't got around to actually handing that money to the University.

Phurrball
2nd November 2008, 14:27
What Gremlin said is correct Rob -

Studylink administer the current year's loan (ie this year's fees, living costs and course related costs - you talk to them to make changes to the active load) and at the end of the year, they pass the total balance for that year onto the IRD who administer repayments through the PAYE taxation system.

It is all in the contract - you did read it didn't ya?! ;)