Training Course:
CLASS
©
The Student Loans Company Ltd
CLASS
Learning & Development
Revision History
Revision Date
Author
Version
Details / Comments
No.
Existing Document
01 August 2005
1
13 September 2005
2
Amendment to Settlements
05 October 2005
3
Update to Maintain Personal Details
22 May 2006
4
Revised Pre Payment / Post Payment
12 September 2006
5
Update to PDDI section
11 October 2006
6
New Attendance Codes / Postal Applications
23 January 2007
7
Update to Suppression Screen
12 February 2007
8
Update to BFPO Addresses
Approval Register
Name
Position / Role
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Contents
PRE-PAYMENT ..........................................................................................................8
Accessing CLASS..............................................................................................................9
CLASS Structure .............................................................................................................10
Toolbar Button .................................................................................................................10
Pop List............................................................................................................................10
Keyboard Commands ......................................................................................................11
Using the Notepad ...........................................................................................................13
Logging out of CLASS .....................................................................................................14
VIEWING PRE-PAYMENT ........................................................................................15
Structure of a Student Support Number ...........................................................................15
Searching for an Account.................................................................................................15
Product Codes .................................................................................................................17
Current Status..................................................................................................................19
Notification Status............................................................................................................19
Finding Payment Details ..................................................................................................24
Scottish Monthly Payments....................................................................................25
Why has the Process Changed?......................................................................................25
Bank Details ....................................................................................................................25
Grants and Bursaries .......................................................................................................26
Payment Scheduling Examples .......................................................................................26
Example 1 – Monthly To Termly – Payments Made .........................................................27
Example 2 – Termly To Monthly – Payments Made .........................................................28
Example 3 - Increased Entitlement/Not Taken Full Entitlement – Payments Made.......29
Example 4 – Decreased Entitlement – Payments Made...................................................30
Example 5 – Change of Course – Earlier Course Start Date – Payments Made ..............31
Example 6 – Late Application...........................................................................................32
No NINO No Loan............................................................................................................33
Loan Adjustments ............................................................................................................33
Student Details Screen – Pre- Payment.................................................................34
Maintain Loan Requests ..................................................................................................35
Customer Account Transaction Enquiry – Post-Payment.................................................36
LOCATING DOCUMENTS FOR MICROFILMING....................................................37
To Locate a Document.....................................................................................................37
Document Types..............................................................................................................39
ACCESSING THE QUERY / CANCEL CHEQUE SCREEN .....................................40
THE UPDATE AND EVENT HISTORY SCREENS...................................................41
Updates ...........................................................................................................................41
Event History ...................................................................................................................42
Event History Statuses.....................................................................................................43
FURTHER INSTALMENTS .......................................................................................44
HEI DATABASE........................................................................................................45
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What is the HEI Database?..............................................................................................45
What Information is Held Within the Database? ...............................................................45
Accessing the HEI Database ...........................................................................................45
Familiarisation of Screens................................................................................................46
Locating Codes and Courses...........................................................................................50
TUITION FEES..........................................................................................................55
Background Information...................................................................................................55
Variable Tuition Fees .......................................................................................................56
Attendance Confirmation Report......................................................................................57
Locating the Payment of Tuition Fees..............................................................................58
HEI Payment Details........................................................................................................61
BACS FIRST .............................................................................................................63
Payment Schedule Letters ...............................................................................................64
Overpayment of Loans............................................................................................65
Tuition Fee Loans....................................................................................................68
Tuition Fee Loans – Scotland.................................................................................72
Oxbridge College Fee Loans ..................................................................................79
AUTOMATED RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY - ART ..................................................82
Honours Trust Limited Account Migration............................................................84
Introduction......................................................................................................................84
Identification of Loan Type ...............................................................................................84
Identification of Loan Type ...............................................................................................85
HSL Consent to Share .....................................................................................................86
Customer in Arrears at HSL .............................................................................................86
SEARCHING FOR A CUSTOMER ...........................................................................87
Loan Status Codes ..........................................................................................................91
Activity Codes ..................................................................................................................91
MAINTAIN PERSONAL DETAILS ............................................................................92
Updating a Title and Name ..............................................................................................93
Updating a Telephone Number ........................................................................................94
Suppression of Correspondence......................................................................................95
Viewing Birth Details ........................................................................................................97
Updating a Customer’s Address ......................................................................................98
Updating a Graduation Date ..........................................................................................101
Understanding the ICR tab.............................................................................................102
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS .................................................................................103
Aggregated Loans .........................................................................................................104
Amalgamated Loans ......................................................................................................105
HSL Loan.......................................................................................................................106
MAINTAIN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS...............................................................109
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Creating a New Management Account...........................................................................113
MAINTAIN REPAYMENT DATE .............................................................................114
REQUESTING A DIRECT DEBIT INSTRUCTION..................................................116
REQUESTING A PAY-IN BOOK ............................................................................120
REQUESTING AN AD HOC STATEMENT.............................................................123
REQUESTING A DEFERMENT APPLICATION FORM .........................................126
REQUESTING A REPRINT.....................................................................................128
Cancelling a Print Request.............................................................................................130
STANDING DATA ENQUIRY..................................................................................132
CUSTOMER ACTIVITY ENQUIRY .........................................................................134
CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSACTION ENQUIRY .............................................138
CUSTOMER BALANCE ENQUIRY ........................................................................142
Direct Debit....................................................................................................................146
Standing Order ..............................................................................................................146
Cheque ..........................................................................................................................146
Switch / Maestro or Visa ................................................................................................147
Pay In Book ...................................................................................................................147
International Repayments ..............................................................................................147
DEBIT AND CREDIT CARD REPAYMENTS..........................................................148
PROVIDING A SETTLEMENT QUOTATION..........................................................151
CREATING A DIRECT DEBIT OVERRIDE.............................................................155
MAKING SUNDRY ADJUSTMENTS ......................................................................161
Bank Details ...........................................................................................................164
Guidelines......................................................................................................................164
4 Day Rule..................................................................................................................................164
9 Day Rule..................................................................................................................................165
14 Day Rule................................................................................................................................166
Verifying Bank Details...........................................................................................167
Paperless Direct Debiting .....................................................................................172
Step by Step Guide to Paperless Direct Debiting ...............................................178
Issuing a Paper Direct Debit Instruction..............................................................179
THE DEFERMENT PROCESS................................................................................180
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What is Deferment? .......................................................................................................180
Who Can Apply?............................................................................................................180
The Process ..................................................................................................................181
Deferment Application Forms.........................................................................................181
Requesting a Reprint .....................................................................................................181
What Proof Does the Customer Need?..........................................................................182
In Receipt of Benefits.....................................................................................................182
Employed.......................................................................................................................182
Self Employed................................................................................................................182
Unearned Income ..........................................................................................................182
Deferment Forms Returned by a Third Party When the Borrower is Travelling ..............183
Other .............................................................................................................................183
Student ..........................................................................................................................183
Consent to Share...........................................................................................................183
Power of Attorney ..........................................................................................................184
Deferment Approved?....................................................................................................184
Deferment Approved and Circumstances Change .........................................................184
If Deferment has been Deemed Incomplete...................................................................185
If Deferment Has Been Rejected ...................................................................................185
If No Deferment Form Received ....................................................................................185
Faxed Deferment Forms ................................................................................................185
Disability ........................................................................................................................186
Identifying if DAF Sent out .............................................................................................187
DEFERMENT SHIFTS AND REFUNDS .................................................................190
What is a Deferment Shift and why is it Used?...............................................................190
PROCESSING AND INPUTTING A DEFERMENT SHIFT......................................191
Inputting a Deferment Shift on an Account in D Status...................................................191
Deferment Decision Input too Late for Current Month ....................................................192
Inputting a Deferment Shift When There is a Calculation Date.......................................193
Other Circumstances .....................................................................................................193
Frequently Asked Questions ..........................................................................................194
Processing and Inputting a Direct Debit Refund.............................................................196
CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD............................................................................201
Logging Out of CLASS...................................................................................................201
RTL OVERVIEW .....................................................................................................202
Eligibility.........................................................................................................................202
Application Process .......................................................................................................203
RTL Entitlement .............................................................................................................203
Change of Circumstance ...............................................................................................204
Annual Review...............................................................................................................204
SLC’s Administration of the Scheme Involves ................................................................204
HSL / RTL......................................................................................................................205
RECOVERY OF GRANT OVERPAYMENTS..........................................................206
Classifying the Overpayment .........................................................................................206
Viewing the Overpayment on CLASS ............................................................................207
Acknowledgement Letters..............................................................................................208
Notifying the Customer ..................................................................................................208
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Repaying the Overpayment ...........................................................................................209
Accepting a Credit / Debit Card Repayment...................................................................209
GRADUATE ENDOWMENT ...................................................................................211
INTRODUCTION TO ICR ........................................................................................213
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CLASS
Learning & Development
PRE-PAYMENT
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Learning & Development
All operational departments within SLC use the CLASS system. Student loans are held
within this system and each operational area utilises it in different ways. CLASS also
identifies accounts with arrears and transfers those accounts to the TALLYMAN system for
processing.
Accessing CLASS
When CLASS is selected you will be presented with the logon box below. Your
‘User Name’
will be entered by the system and CLASS will prompt you for a password:
Enter your password, which will initially be CLASS, click on the
button to
present you with the front screen.
Your password should be changed on your first login. Your new password must be at least 6
characters long and can contain either letters or numbers or both.
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CLASS Structure
Toolbar Button
Used to save any updates in CLASS
Used to exit current form
Used to add a new field
Used to remove a field no longer required
Used to move between all available records
Used to search for a new customer
Used to keep permanent notes on a customer’s account
Pop List
By clicking on the down arrow it will display a dropdown menu of acceptable entries.
Highlight the one that you wish to use:
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Learning & Development
Keyboard Commands
Function
Key
Function
Key
Accept
F10
Exit
CTRL+q
Cancel
ESC
Help
F1
Clear Field / Item
CTRL+u
Left
LEFT
Clear Form
SHIFT+F7
List of Values
F9
Clear Record
SHIFT+F4
New Record
F6
Count Matching
SHIFT+F2
Next Field / Item
CTRL+TAB
Records
Debug Mode
CTRL+?
Next Field / Item
TAB
Delete Backward
DELETE
Previous Field / Item
SHIFT+TAB
Delete Backward
BACKSPACE
Previous Field / Item
SHIFT+CTRL+TAB
Delete Record
SHIFT+F6
Previous Menu
CTRL+ENTER
Display Error
SHIFT+F1
Print
SHIFT+F8
Down
CTRL+I
Return
ENTER
Down
DOWN
Right
RIGHT
Duplicate Field / Item
F3
Scroll Down
PGDOWN
Duplicate Record
F4
Scroll Up
PGUP
Edit
CTRL+e
Show Keys
CTRL+F1
Enter Query
F7
Up
UP
Execute Query
F8
Up
CTRL+p
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The main keyboard commands used are:
F7
Is used to clear the current field
F8
Is used to search or populate a field
F10
Is used to save any changes
Ctrl C
Copies data from a field
Ctrl V
Pastes data to a field
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Using the Notepad
In the majority of screens in CLASS you will see the
icon which when clicked will
display a screen like the one shown below.
The section at the top will state your id and the date and time you input your entry:
Any dealings with the customer or their account should be recorded here.
To create an entry, click the
icon then enter the details. These records are permanent
and the customer can ask to view them at any time. In legal cases they may also be called
upon as evidence, so all entries should use appropriate language and terminology and
should be an accurate reflection of the action taken or advice and information given.
If an entry is longer than one line then clicking on the
icon will allow you to alternate
between the full message and the first line.
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Learning & Development
Logging out of CLASS
To log out of CLASS click on the
icon at the top left of the screen as many times as is
necessary until you return to the desktop.
The red door icon will take you back one step each time you want to leave a screen.
When you have finished updating a customer’s account, after saving your action click on the
red door and you will be returned to the main screen.
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VIEWING PRE-PAYMENT
To display the screens which will supply the details on the forms, click on
‘Pre-
Payment’ > ‘General Enquiry’ as shown below:
Structure of a Student Support Number
A Student Support Number (SSN) has a set format. The format consists of a 4 letter code
relating to the Award Authority, the first 2 digits relate to the 1st year of study, the remaining 6
digits are random and an alphabetical check character is at the end, e.g. SSN –
SAAS05394551M.
Searching for an Account
Any criteria can be used in the search however the quickest way to search is to use the
Student Support Number (SSN), Loan Pack Account (LPK) or the Automated Response ID
(ART). These are unique to the customer and will retrieve only that customer’s accounts in a
list. The next best alternative is to use their name and date of birth. Click
(or
F8) to display the customers accounts. Always use the wildcard (%) as you may be unaware
of a customer’s middle name.
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Select and accept the correct academic year by highlighting in yellow the account you
require. You can tell the academic year the account refers to by the first two digits of the
‘Loan Account’ field as shown.
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Product Codes
There are product codes for each type or style of loan.
SL
Student Loan Account
pre 1998
TL
Transitional Loan
1998 only
SS
Student Support Account
post 1999
PT
Part Time
post 2000
RTIC
RTL IC Loan
post 2002
RTMS
RTL MS Loan
post 2002
Security screening a customer in CLASS includes confirming their name, date of birth, first
line of their address, post code and their telephone number.
You should now be looking at the main enquiry screen – these screens are read only and no
updates can be actioned here.
The main
‘Student Details’ screen has five tabs:
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The
‘Student Details’ tab as shown below advises on the
‘Current Status’ of the loan and
whether the loan is pending or if payments have been set:
The areas most applicable at this stage of enquiry will be:
o What is the Current Status?
o What is the Notification Status?
o Are Loan / Grant payment instalments set?
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Current Status
Current Status
Explanation
Loan Request / Support Notification Received
The document has been received however not input
into CLASS. Will take a short time to be displayed on
CLASS
Loan Request / Support Notification Validated
The document has been received and the information
can be viewed on CLASS
Loan Request / Support Notification
The information supplied on the Support Notification
Pended / Rejected
or Loan Request indicates that there is an error
Pended – Mismatch
The information supplied on the Notification and Loan
Request do not match
Tuition Fee Authorised
Support Notification has been received and if
(Tuition Fees are paid direct to the HEI at appropriate
applicable any Tuition Fees will be paid in due course
points throughout the Academic Year)
Loan Request Matched
No errors on either the Support Notification or the
Loan Request. The account should change to
‘Authorised’ overnight with the BATSH process
Loan Pack Authorised
No errors – Payment Authorised
Notification Status
Notification Status
Explanation
Provisional Version of Support Notification
The Award Authority has not reached a final decision
on the amount of funding. Payment will be made but
may be re-assessed at a later date
Final Version of Support Notification
The final decision has been reached on the amount of
funding from the Award Authority from the information
supplied
Withdrawn from Course
The Award Authority has advised the customer has
withdrawn from their course. SLC may receive an
amended Support Notification form if the customer is
attending another HEI
Transferred from Course
The Award Authority has advised the customer has
transferred to another HEI
Note: All enquiries regarding the amount of funding should be directed to the appropriate
Award Authority.
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The next tab along
shows the following:
Entering the ‘
Application Details’ tab takes you to the
‘Personal’ tab and also lists 4 new
tabs.
The
‘Personal’ tab
shows personal details relating to the customer:
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The next tab
shows the following:
The next two tabs
are populated as follows:
You may find it helpful to look at these tabs when you require to track or monitor any
changes to an account.
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The next tab along, the
tab allows you to view any errors on the forms:
The
tab shows the history of events regarding receipt of forms, updates
and authorisation:
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The
tab shows all system generated letters issued:
The
tab allows us to view previous loans held by the customer and their
current status:
And finally the
tab is for customers who have applied for the Scottish
Graduate Endowment.
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Finding Payment Details
If the Grant radio button is enabled a Grant has also been authorised by the Award Authority.
The payment details can be viewed by clicking between the Loan and Grant radio buttons:
enable’s SLC to make all instalments of Student Support by BACS. The
customer must be confirmed as being in attendance on a designated course and valid bank
details must be held.
Those customers who will be paid by BACS will appear on a Student Support Attendance
Request (SSAR) report which will be produced for each HEI. The report will be uploaded to
a secure website for the HEI to pick up. SLC will begin producing these files 30 days before
the first day of the course. This is the method in which SLC will request a confirmation of
attendance.
The HEI will return a Student Support Attendance Confirmation (SSAC) report confirming
attendance. This report will be returned through a secure website. When this report is
successfully uploaded, payment will be released providing valid bank details are held.
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Scottish Monthly Payments
A change has been made to the way that Scottish students studying at Scottish institutions
will be paid. From AY 2007 / 08, all new and returning undergraduate (including Higher
National) students will get paid on a monthly basis rather than termly.
Note: Postgraduate (except PGDE) and students studying elsewhere in the UK will still get
paid on a termly basis.
Scottish monthly payment students will receive a leaflet with their SAAS Award letter
highlighting this change. They will also receive the same leaflet with their Payment Schedule
Letter (PSL) issued by SLC. The SAAS Award letter will demonstrate the monthly break
down of any students' bursary or grants the student is entitled to, plus the full loan they are
entitled to. The PSL, issued by the SLC, will show the monthly break down of any loan the
student is entitled to.
Why has the Process Changed?
The change has been brought in to help students manage their finances better. A review of
the payment method was carried out with student advisory groups and institutions, and it was
agreed that this change would apply to all Scottish domiciled students studying in Scotland.
This change is not optional. All Scottish students studying at Scottish institutions,
undertaking undergraduate (Higher National) or attending another loan bearing course, for
example Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), will receive their payments in monthly
instalments from now on.
Bank Details
If students need to change their bank account details during the course of their study, they
should inform us in the usual way. However we should make sure they are aware that if we
do not receive this change at least 4 working days before the next payment is due, their
details may not be changed in time for the next payment.
Note: They
must also inform SAAS if their bank details change.
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Grants and Bursaries
Since Scottish students studying in Scotland can only get Young Students' Bursary, this is
the only bursary that will be paid in monthly instalments. All non-repayable grants except for
Disabled Students' Allowance, Care Leavers Grant and Travel, will also be paid in monthly
instalments. These products are dealt with by SAAS and students can access information on
the SAAS website www.student-support-saas.gov.uk.
Payment Scheduling Examples
Payments will be made on the 7th of each month. If the 7th is not a working day, for example
a Saturday, Sunday or a bank holiday, the payment will be made on the previous working
day.
The overall amount of support will remain unchanged. To help students budget better, the
first instalment will be a double payment. The first instalment will be made on the first day of
their course (subject to SSAR and SSAC).
If the course begins on the 7th of the month, students will receive a double instalment + one
instalment on that date. This will be a total of 3 instalments on the first day of the course.
The next payment will be on the 7th of the following month.
If students apply after the course starts, or the application is processed after the course
starts, the instalments will be paid up to the next 7th of the month.
The support will be divided by the number of payment dates between the start of the course
and the end of the course. The payments will continue to be made during Easter and
Christmas holidays, if these fall on the 7th of the month, but students will not get paid during
the summer vacation.
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Example 1 – Monthly To Termly – Payments Made
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: Termly
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
Original Loan Entitlement: £3600
New Loan Entitlement: £3600
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: £3600
Date Processed: 10 January 2008
A student is advised as having a Monthly Payment profile, and has requested £3600.
They have been scheduled to receive Monthly Payment Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
7 February 2008
£ 300
7 March 2008
£ 300
7 April 2008
£ 300
7 May 2008
£ 300
7 June 2008
£ 300
The student subsequently transfers to a Termly Payment profile and is still entitled to, and has requested,
a loan amount of £3600.
The Support Notification and Loan Request are processed and re-scheduling takes place on 10 January
2008.
Assuming payments have been made as scheduled; the new Termly Payment Instalments schedule
(including payments already made) would be as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
* January 2008
£ 276 (Interim)
1 April 2008
£1224
* Where date in January is the first available BACS date after rescheduling.
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Example 2 – Termly To Monthly – Payments Made
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Termly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
Original Loan Entitlement: £3600
New Loan Entitlement: £3600
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: £3600
Date Processed: 10 January 2008
A student advised as having a Termly Payment profile and is entitled to, and has requested, a loan
amount of £3600.
They have been scheduled to receive Termly Payment Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£1188
3 January 2008
£1188
1 April 2008
£1224
The student subsequently transfers to a Monthly Payment profile, and still requests £3600. The Support
Notification and Loan Request are processed and re-scheduling takes place on 10 January 2008.
Assuming payments have been made as scheduled; the new Monthly Payment Instalments schedule
(including payments already made) would be as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£1188
3 January 2008
£1188
7 February 2008
£ 245
7 March 2008
£ 245
7 April 2008
£ 245
7 May 2008
£ 245
7 June 2008
£ 244
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Example 3 - Increased Entitlement/Not Taken Full Entitlement –
Payments Made
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
Original Loan Entitlement
: £3900
New Loan Entitlement: £3900
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: £3900
Date Processed
: 10 January 2008
A student is advised as having a Monthly Payment profile and is entitled to £3900 and has requested
£3600. They have been scheduled to receive Monthly Payment Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
7 February 2008
£ 300
7 March 2008
£ 300
7 April 2008
£ 300
7 May 2008
£ 300
7 June 2008
£ 300
The student subsequently submits a Loan Adjustment to SAAS on 10 January 2008 requesting an
increased loan amount of £3900. The Support Notification and Loan Request are processed and re-
scheduling takes place on 10 January 2008. Assuming payments have been made as scheduled; the
new Monthly Payment Instalments schedule (including payments already made) would be as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
* January 2008
£ 175 (Interim)
7 February 2008
£ 325
7 March 2008
£ 325
7 April 2008
£ 325
7 May 2008
£ 325
7 June 2008
£ 325
* Where date in January is the first available BACS date after rescheduling.
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Example 4 – Decreased Entitlement – Payments Made
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
Original Loan Entitlement: £3600
New Loan Entitlement: £2400
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: £2400
Date Processed: 10 January 2008
A student is advised as having a Monthly Payment profile, has been assessed as being entitled to £3600
and has requested a loan amount of £3600. They have been scheduled to receive Monthly Payment
Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
7 February 2008
£ 300
7 March 2008
£ 300
7 April 2008
£ 300
7 May 2008
£ 300
7 June 2008
£ 300
The student is subsequently reassessed as being entitled to £2400. The Support Notification and Loan
Request are processed and re-scheduling takes place on 10 January 2008. Assuming payments have
been made as scheduled the new Monthly Payment Instalments schedule (including payments already
made) would be as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
7 February 2008
£ 60
7 March 2008
£ 60
7 April 2008
£ 60
7 May 2008
£ 60
7 June 2008
£ 60
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Example 5 – Change of Course – Earlier Course Start Date –
Payments Made
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: 1 August 2007
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
Original Loan Entitlement: £3600
New Loan Entitlement: £3600
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: £3600
Date Processed: 10 September 2007
A student is advised as having a Monthly Payment profile and is studying on a course with a Term 1 start
date of 1 September 2007 and a Term 3 end date of 30 June 2008, has been assessed as being entitled
to £3600 and has requested a loan amount of £3600. They have been scheduled to receive Monthly
Payment Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
7 October 2007
£ 300
7 November 2007
£ 300
7 December 2007
£ 300
7 January 2008
£ 300
7 February 2008
£ 300
7 March 2008
£ 300
7 April 2008
£ 300
7 May 2008
£ 300
7 June 2008
£ 300
The student subsequently changes to another course with a Term 1 start date of 1 August 2007 and a
Term 3 end date of 30 June 2008. The Support Notification and Loan Request are processed and re-
scheduling takes place on 10 September 2007. Assuming payments have been made as scheduled; the
new Termly Payment Instalments schedule (including payments already made) would be as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
1 September 2007
£ 600
7 September 2007
£ 300
* September 2007
£ 207
7 October 2007
£ 277
7 November 2007
£ 277
7 December 2007
£ 277
7 January 2008
£ 277
7 February 2008
£ 277
7 March 2008
£ 277
7 April 2008
£ 277
7 May 2008
£ 277
7 June 2008
£ 277
* Where date in September is the first available BACS date after rescheduling.
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Example 6 – Late Application
Original Payment Scheduling Profile: Monthly
New Payment Scheduling Profile: N/A
Original Term 1 Start Date: 1 September 2007
New Term 1 Start Date: N/A
Original Term 3 End Date: 30 June 2008
New Term 3 End Date: N/A
Original Loan Entitlement: £3600
New Loan Entitlement: N/A
Original Loan Requested: £3600
New Loan Requested: N/A
Date Processed: 18 October 2007
A student is scheduled to receive Monthly Payment instalments, their Term 1 start date is 1 September
2007 and their Term 3 end date is 30 June 2008. They are entitled to £3600 and have requested £3600
on 18 October 2007. They will be scheduled to receive Monthly Payment Instalments as follows:
Payment Date
Scheduled Amount
* October 2007
£1200
7 November 2007
£300
7 December 2007
£300
7 January 2008
£300
7 February 2008
£300
7 March 2008
£300
7 April 2008
£300
7 May 2008
£300
7 June 2008
£300
* Where date in October is the first available BACS date after the Loan request is processed.
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No NINO No Loan
SAAS customers studying in Scotland will receive financial support in monthly instalments
instead of the traditional UK term payments. All loan instalments will be blocked if no NINO has
been verified for an AY 2007 / 08 SAAS customer. If they are a late 2006 / 07 applicant, their
first loan payment (termly) will still be released.
If an AY 2007 / 08 SAAS customer provides a letter from their Job Centre Plus to confirm that a
NINO interview has been arranged, then the equivalent of four instalments will be unblocked
(front loaded + two instalments or first is triple + one instalment if start date 7th of the month).
CLASS will automatically calculate the exact number of instalments due to the customer based
on their course start date. All other loan instalments will remain blocked until the customer has
updated SLC with a verified NINO.
Payments will not be released until the HEI confirms attendance.
Loan Adjustments
From AY 2007 / 08 students regardless of location of study will contact SAAS for a top-up form
(loan adjustment form). This form request will be removed from CLASS for AY 2007 / 08.
SAAS will compare the amount requested to the entitlement amount, process an adjustment
and send this to SLC as an adjustment on the existing interface.
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Student Details Screen – Pre- Payment
This screen has been updated with the functionality. These changes are highlighted below.
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Maintain Loan Requests
Access to Maintenance Loan Requested field will be restricted to supervisor only for loan
requests for AY 07/08 onwards
There will be an on-screen alert warning users that Loan Adjustments should be referred to
SAAS.
"Please advise student to contact SAAS on 0845 -------- to request Loan Adjustment".
Users should be able to OK this alert. If user is not a supervisor a second alert will tell them
that they cannot access the field.
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Customer Account Transaction Enquiry – Post-Payment
This screen will show the individual payments that will be issued in monthly payments.
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LOCATING DOCUMENTS FOR MICROFILMING
All documents received by post are microfilmed to allow a copy to be kept. This allows us, in
cases of dispute, to view the original document.
To Locate a Document
From the main pull down menu, select
‘Pre-Payment’ > ‘Processing’ > ‘Document
Processing’ > ‘Locate Document’:
You will then be presented with the screen below:
Input the document code in the
‘Document Type’ field and the Student Support Number in
the
‘Student Support Number’ field. If you do not enter the document code before the
Student Support Number, CLASS will list all of the documents microfilmed for that customer.
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Click the
button at the right of the screen.
By using the scroll buttons at the left side of the screen you can view all of the documents
which are on display. Once the roll / frame number has been noted click
to exit.
The imaging machines are located in the Mail Room, allowing you to view and print the
required document.
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Document Types
Document Code
Description
SN
Support Notification (Full and Part Time)
SB
Loan Request (Full Time from AY 2000 / 2001 onwards)
SA
Loan Request (Full Time AY 1999 / 2000 only)
SP
Loan Request (Part Time)
SE
Eligibility Notification
SU
Loan Adjustment
SH
Hardship Application
SC
Student Support Scheme Correspondence
SF
Tuition Fee Report
SX
Student Support Scheme Cancellation
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ACCESSING THE QUERY / CANCEL CHEQUE
SCREEN
To follow the progress of a cheque select
‘Pre-Payment’ > ‘Processing’ > ‘Payment
Processing’ > ‘Query / Cancel Cheques’ from the pull down menus:
Inserting the Student Support Number and pressing F8 populates the screen with data.
Use the blue arrows
to scroll up and down to the correct academic year.
Always look at the
‘Status’ box as this shows the most recent position in the Cheque
Processing.
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THE UPDATE AND EVENT HISTORY SCREENS
Updates
There are two tabs within the
‘Student Details’ screen that detail all the keying entries.
These are the
‘Support Notification Update’ tab and the
‘Loan Request Updates’ tab.
You may find it helpful to look in these tabs when you wish to track or monitor the changes to
an account.
An example is shown - tracking all the data keyed in by BATSH or updates conducted by
users.
Note: BATSH updates are done by the system.
Click on the
‘Support Notification Update’ tab. In this example the first data input from the
Support Notification was on the 5th October 2005. This may have been received by SLC a
day or two prior to this date.
Information input is contained within the <> symbols. As you can see from the above entry,
the information input was SSN, Personal Details, Notification Status which will be either Final
or Provisional and Birth Details. Use the scroll buttons to view further information which has
been input. The Issue Date is the date the Award Authority produced the Notification and the
Date Received is the date of input. Also contained here are the Course Details and
Entitlement information.
The
‘Loan Request Updates’ tab is used in exactly the same way. We would recommend
that they be utilised for tracking changes to the student’s account.
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Event History
The
‘Event History’ tab shows the history of events regarding receipt of forms, updates and
authorisation. The earliest entry starts from the bottom and it runs through to the most recent
status at the top of the list:
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Event History Statuses
Status
Meaning
Notification Received
Form received
Notification Validated
Form run through validation checks
Tuition Fee Authorised
Applicable Tuition Fees have been authorised
Notification Pended
An error has been found on the Support Notification (Check
Turnarounds tab to find out the reasons)
Loan Request Validated
Loan Request received and run through validation checks
Loan Request Pended
An error has been found on the Loan Request (Check
Turnarounds tab to find out the reasons)
Loan Request Matched
The Notification and Loan Request have successfully matched
Loan Pack Authorised
The Notification and Loan Request have successfully matched
and the account has been authorised. Payments will be set in
due course
Validated with Warnings
The Loan Request has all the necessary information for a
cheque to be produced. However, the bank details / Nino
were either missed out or are invalid. To allow further
instalments to be credited the student must advise their
correct bank details and / or NINO
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FURTHER INSTALMENTS
If valid bank details are not held then payments cannot be credited and the status will show
as ‘Blocked’:
SLC currently withhold payment of the second and third maintenance loan instalments for
any students that do not supply a Nino or valid reason for not being able to supply a Nino.
For tuition fee loans where the customer does not supply a Nino or a valid reason for not
being able to provide one, no payments are made to the institution.
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HEI DATABASE
What is the HEI Database?
This is a detailed record of all the information on the HEI and the courses that they offer to
full time students.
What Information is Held Within the Database?
o The Institution’s name
o The Institution’s 3 character UCAS code or its 4 character Student Loan Company
generated code
o Locations – where the support payment cheque should be sent
o Contacts – who within the HEI is responsible for receiving cheque or Tuition Fee
information
o Course data – the information that is specific to each course the HEI offers:
o The course name
o The course code
o The course dates
Accessing the HEI Database
To access the HEI database:
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This will take you to the following screen:
Familiarisation of Screens
Click on HEI’s which will then take you to scroll down menu:
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Scroll down to
‘Maintain HEI and UCAS Courses’ then click, which will allow access to the
below screen:
This brings you to the main screen and all details relating to course codes, HEI addresses,
student numbers, contact details and franchise Colleges are all located here.
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Should we wish to identify courses held at Strathclyde University, we would enter STHC
(College code) in the HEI code field then F8, this would supply the following details:
Highlighting the relevant course code and using the arrows along the bottom of the screen
will allow us to scroll and gain more information, such as name, description, method of
attendance, course type, duration, qualification and status. The status allows you to
establish whether this is a ‘C’ (closed) or ‘O’ (open) course.
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Scroll back to beginning, once again highlight relevant details then click
‘course years’. This then allows access to the following:
This screen shows course code, academic year, year of course, the number of terms the
course is scheduled over, start date and end date and also where the course is being held.
It also specifies the name and address of cheque contact, telephone number and fax
number.
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Locating Codes and Courses
Insert the College code i.e.
‘MANU’ as shown:
Place the cursor in the first line then press F7, which then clears the screen of the course
details.
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Using the ‘
Short Name’ field allows you to search for a course using the %wildcard%. Insert
%science% and F8, this will bring up all the courses associated with science and we can
then scroll to the appropriate course and obtain the necessary details.
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If the customer advises the course code i.e. 48161, we can enter these details alone, under
course code, click on F8 and these course details only will show as shown overleaf:
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Once again, if we had the UCAS code only i.e. B140, we can enter these details under
‘Course
Code’, F8 and these course details will show.
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OBTAINING AWARD AUTHORITY DETAILS
The only other screen we will be using will allow us to retrieve the most up to date
information held on all of the Award Authorities.
Click on
‘HEI’s’ > ‘Maintain Award Authority Details’ as shown:
Enter the Award Authorities 4 letter code i.e. BART then key F8, this will then show the LA’s
details such as name, address, telephone number and contact etc:
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TUITION FEES
Background Information
The introduction of Tuition Fees, payable by SLC, came as a result of the 1997 Dearing
Report, which meant that Student Loans would now be subject to 25% means testing. The
Maintenance Grant was abolished and Tuition Fees were introduced.
The Award Authorities (LA’s / ELB’s) notify SLC of the Tuition Fees payable via a Support
Notification. It may be that SLC are paying the whole amount, the customer is paying the
whole amount or a combination between the two parties. SAAS do not submit claims to SLC
for Tuition Fees; these fees are dealt with by SAAS themselves.
In the first year (1998 / 1999), Tuition Fees were paid to the customer who then made
payment to their HEI. From 1999 / 2000 SLC now make Tuition Fee payments direct to the
HEI.
Academic Year
Maximum Tuition Fees
Paid to
1998 – 1999
£1000
Student
1999 – 2000
£1025
HEI
2000 – 2001
£1050
HEI
2001 - 2002
£1075
HEI
2002 - 2003
£1100
HEI
2003 – 2004
£1125
HEI
2004 - 2005
£1150
HEI
2005 - 2006
£1175
HEI
2006 – 2007
£1200 – Old System Students
HEI
2006 – 2007
Up to £3000 – New System Students
HEI
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Variable Tuition Fees
From September 2006 Universities and Colleges offering HE courses in England and
Northern Ireland will be allowed to vary the fees they charge new students. The project is
known as Variable Tuition Fees (VTF) and is interlinked with another project known as the
Higher Education Bursary & Scholarship Scheme (HEBSS).
Institutions will now be able to charge between £0 and £3000 per year. Variable Fees will
only affect students who start their course in September 2006 or later and have not taken a
gap year. These students can apply for support in the form of a Tuition Fee Loan to cover
the cost of the amount of the fees they are being charged by their HEI.
Existing students will not be subject to Variable Fees, unless taking a PGCE course. Instead
they will continue to receive the financially assessed tuition fee grant. However, if attending
a public institution they will also be entitled to a loan covering their own contributions up to a
total of £1200 and therefore will not have to pay any fees to their HEI in advance.
Institutions will only be allowed to charge more than the ‘standard fee’ of around £1200 if
they have signed up to an access agreement with the new Office for Fair Access (OFFA).
This access agreement will set out each institutions proposals for improving access and the
action they will take to promote fair access, including providing financial help so that students
from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. There are roughly 160 institutions signed up
to an access agreement as of January 2006.
The main form of financial support to assist students with Variable Tuition Fees is know as
the Tuition Fee Loan, which is provided via the normal channel of student finance i.e. the
student applies for their loan via the application form and the form is processed by their LA.
Payment however is made to their HEI in two instalments one in February and one May once
attendance has been confirmed.
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Attendance Confirmation Report
Before Tuition Fees can be released, an Attendance Report is sent by SLC to every HEI for
them to confirm their students’ attendance status. On the Attendance Report the HEI are
asked to enter a code beside each student’s name.
Code
Meaning
A
In attendance, for the attendance date, course and course year shown on the report
C
In attendance, but course or course year different to that on report (Customer / HEI to
contact Award Authority to provide correct details and new SN will be issued)
S
Studies suspended
X
Not in attendance
F
Student is in attendance however HEI disagrees with course fee
L
Student is in attendance at the HEI, on the course and course year indicated, however the
HEI disagrees with the liability but undertakes to make reparations to the student such that
liability will be correctly discharged and no overpayment of tuition fee support to that
institution will exist
N
Student is in attendance at the HEI, on the course and course year indicated, however the
HEI disagrees with the liability but does not undertake to make reparations to the student
such that liability will be correctly discharged and no overpayment of tuition fee support to
that institution would exist
If the field is left blank, the student will re-appear on the next monthly report.
The main Attendance Report goes out in October / November each academic year and then
issued monthly thereafter.
Tuition Fees will only be paid if the student is stated to be in attendance i.e. marked with an
‘A’ and ‘L’. For the other codes fees will be withheld.
Tuition Fees will not be paid if the Award Authority has advised on their latest Support
Notification that the student is on a ‘Temporary’ course. We require an updated Support
Notification with the correct course details and course code before the student will have fees
released. This record will appear on a later Attendance Report for the HEI to complete. If it
is then marked as ‘In Attendance’ payment of fees will then be paid.
No fees will be payable if:
o The student has arrears on their account
o The account is marked as ‘suspect’
o The course spelling on the Support Notification differs to that on the HEI Database
(To rectify this error, look up the course on the HEI Database, copy the SLC code into the
Support Notification and tab along to the course name field. The course name will now be
populated as per the Database. Once attendance has been confirmed, Tuition Fees will be
released).
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Locating the Payment of Tuition Fees
If a student calls and wishes to know if Tuition Fees have been paid, we would access
‘Pre-Payment’ > ‘Tuition Fees’ > ‘Display Payment Details’ as shown:
Click on
‘Student Query’. Insert the Student Support Number which takes you to the
screen overleaf:
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The above screen shows:
o The student’s Student Support Number
o The academic year
o The student’s name
o Internal reference number
o HEI code
o Fees SLC will be paying on behalf of student
o Fees student will have to pay
o Current status
o Attendance indicator
o Attendance updated by
o Scheduled payment date
o Actual payment date
o HEI fees paid to
o Course code
o Course name
o Payment amount
In the above example, SLC paid Tuition Fees of £1175. The College confirmed the student
is in attendance and we paid the fees to their HEI on 1st February 2006.
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The below example shows
‘study suspended’ and no Tuition Fees are to be paid:
The below example shows
‘course details mismatch’ and no Tuition Fees are to be paid:
The below example shows that the student has to pay their full Tuition Fees and no payment
is due to be made by SLC:
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HEI Payment Details
If the HEI contact us because they are unsure if they have received a student’s Tuition Fees,
we can check if the payment has been made. First of all confirm who is responsible for
paying the fees:
From the above example we can see that SLC are paying the Tuition Fees of £1175.
Access
‘Pre-Payment’ > ‘Tuition Fees’ > ‘Display Payment Details’ as previously shown.
Click on
‘Student Query’ and insert Student Support Number:
From here, we can establish that the
‘Actual Payment Date’ was 1st February 2006.
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To confirm how and when the HEI received these funds, take note of the HEI code, in this
case RSMC, click on
‘HEI Query’ which takes you to the following:
Insert the HEI Code in the relevant field and press F8:
From here we can identify that the individual payment is held within these details. The total
sum paid was £1,511,862.67 and our individual payment of £1175.00 is held within this
amount. A report is sent to the HEI confirming whose payment is contained within this lump
sum.
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BACS FIRST
BACS First will enable SLC to make all instalments of Student Support by BACS. The
customer must be confirmed as being in attendance on a designated course and valid bank
details must be held.
When a Support Notification arrives at SLC and is validated, a flag
will be
applied to the Student Details screen.
Customers will appear on a Student Support Attendance Request (SSAR) report which will
be produced for each HEI. The report will be uploaded to a secure website for the HEI to
pick up. SLC will begin producing these files 30 days before first day of the course. This is
the method in which SLC will request a confirmation of attendance. SSAR's are issued 60
days before the start of the course for those who have an authorised assessment.
The HEI will return a Student Support Attendance Confirmation (SSAC) report confirming
attendance. This report will be returned through a secure website.
When this report is successfully uploaded, payment will be released providing valid bank
details are held:
The BACS First flag is displayed on the ‘
Student Details Enquiry’ screen when a Financial
Support Notification is validated. When a customer has their payment scheduled, the status
will sit at ‘Awaiting Confirmation’ until the SSAC has been returned.
Note: It has been agreed that in certain circumstances institutions do not need to see
students in person before confirming their attendance for payment purposes. Where
institutions already operate postal enrolment, the requirement for a face to face attendance
check may be dispensed with if the students concerned meet all of the following criteria:
o They are continuing students
o They are in good standing
o They give an undertaking of their intention to return to study
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When a SSAC file has been processed a message is automatically written to the Notepad:
This message will advise the details of the Academic Year, BACS First HEI Code, the
attendance date and whether the SSAC was uploaded as a result of the BATSH process or
was created by an advisor:
The ‘
Support Notification Update’ tab also displays the HEI code from which the SSAR
was issued and the SSAC was returned from.
Payment Schedule Letters
Payment Schedule letters now quote the following:
“First payment is paid by either BACS or cheque, depending on which University or College
you attend. If paid by cheque, this will be available at the payment office of your University
or College. You must take this letter and proof of identity with you, including your Financial
Assessment Notice when you register. Your University or College will normally only retain
the cheque for 30 days.
If paid by BACS, you must take this letter along with you when you register. Payment will be
scheduled only after registration has been confirmed to the Student Loans Company, by your
University or College, and will generally clear within 3 working days.”
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Overpayment of Loans
CSSD have commenced writing to customers who have dropped out of their course and
after reassessment by their LA, they have been paid more than they are entitled to in
the current academic year.
Customers will receive an initial letter and if there is no response after 3 weeks, a
follow-up letter will be issued. The telephone number on the letter will be answered by
Advisors in CSSD, however there will be a note on CLASS to advise how much the
customer is due to repay. If the customer comes through on a CSO line, repayments
can be taken or arrangements for repaying the overdue amount accepted and marked
up on CLASS history. The customer will be due to come into repayment the next April
and they can also be made aware of this.
The below customer has withdrawn from her course and the 3rd instalment is no longer
visible:
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When you click in the ‘Show Cancelled’ button you can see all 3 original instalments
and confirmation that the 3rd instalment has now been cancelled:
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In the ‘Course Details’ tab you can view the withdrawal date and the re-assessed
amount. The entitlement amount is now £843.00 however we can see from the
instalments paid that the customer has received 2 x £844.80 = £1689.60 but with the re-
assessed amount of £843.00, the customer has been overpaid by £846.60:
Confirmation of the withdrawal and the re-assessed amount can also be viewed in the
‘Support Notification Updates’ tab:
From the below Note you can see that the customer has called in and repaid the
overpayment by debit card:
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Tuition Fee Loans
Tuition Fee Loans can be viewed in CLASS Pre-Payment.
The below customer has a Maintenance Loan, Grant and a Tuition Fee Loan.
Maintenance Loan:
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Grant:
Tuition Fee Loan:
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Within the ‘Course Details’ tab you can view the loan / grant amounts:
Tuition Fee’s are paid to HEI’s twice yearly as shown:
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Tuition Fee loan instalments have now been paid and appear in the Balance Enquiry
screen. TFL’s show as 'Payment of Student Loan' (see transaction on 02/05/07 below)
but have been paid to the HEI, not the student and should not be confused with
Maintenance Loan payments:
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Tuition Fee Loans – Scotland
With the introduction of Variable Tuition Fees in 2006 / 07 in England and Northern Ireland,
the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) offer Tuition Fee Loans (TFL) to Scottish
domiciled students studying at a HEI outwith Scotland, to assist with their fees. The TFL is
paid by SAAS direct to the relevant HEI in the February or May of the Academic Year
(September starts are paid February 2008 and other start dates will be paid in May 2008). If
the student does not take out a TFL, then the student must make their own arrangements to
pay their HEI the amount due.
Students apply for a TFL on a Fee Loan form, obtained from SAAS once the main support
has been applied for. SAAS impose closing dates for TFL applications and for autumn 2007
/ 08 starts the closing date will be 31st December 2007. Upon receipt SAAS will re-assess
the applicants support and will issue a revised Award Notice to confirm the fees payable.
SAAS will also advise the students’ HEI the value of TFL payable to them.
Once attendance has been confirmed by the HEI to SAAS, SAAS will release payment to the
HEI. Thereafter a file, containing TFL information will be passed from SAAS to SLC,
enabling SLC to add the TFL value to the student’s account as the repayment of the TFL will
be collected by SLC under the ICR scheme. Since the student could withdraw after Tuition
Fees have been paid, the first Tuition Fee amounts could enter repayment in April 2008.
The SAAS Fee Loans tab has been added to the Student Details screen, also a new SAAS
Fee Loan flag and a radio button to highlight SAAS Fee Loan payments. The payments will
show as SAAS Fee Loan and payments will show as Externally Paid:
The following shows the Personal tab within the SAAS Fee Loans tab:
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Course Details tab:
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The Fee Loan History tab will be populated with information on the history of the application:
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Within the Maintain Support Notifications screen the SAAS Fee Loan flag has been added
and a SAAS Fee Loan Notification status has been created:
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There is a separate Tuition Fee Loan amount box and the Support Details Loan Entitlement
box. In the below example the customer has been authorised a Tuition Fee Loan of £3000
but no loan entitlement:
In the below example a Maintenance Loan and Tuition Fee Loan have been authorised:
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Within the Maintain Loan Requests screen the SAAS Fee Loan flag has been added and you
can also view if a Maintenance Loan or Tuition Fee Loan has been requested:
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In Post Payment a new flag has been added to reflect that a SAAS Fee Loan has been
requested:
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Oxbridge College Fee Loans
Graduate entrants to undergraduate courses at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are
entitled to fee loans in order to cover the cost of their college fees (which, for these students,
are charged over and above the general tuition fee).
The cost of the college fee varies from one college to another. Whatever is charged, the
student can borrow any amount up to the maximum fee charged. This is then paid to the
college and ledgered to the student’s account as though it were a Tuition Fee Loan.
There are expected to be no more than 100 students eligible for this product, and they will
almost all be following courses in medicine, veterinary science, architecture, landscape
architecture, landscape design, landscape management, town planning, town and country
planning, social work and / or are eligible to receive a health bursary and can only be
attending an Oxbridge college. A student could be attending a clinical training location as
part of a medicine course. This loan is available to eligible students commencing their
second degree in AY 2006 / 07 or later.
SLC will issue a spreadsheet to HEIs to capture all courses / colleges where college fee loan
applies. The HEIs will distribute the College Fee Loan application forms (CFL1) to the
appropriate students (to be eligible the student must be starting in AY 2006 / 07 or later,
being charged the College Fee, hold a UK honours degree and be an EU, English / Northern
Irish or Welsh Student) and on a relevant course
.
HEIs will advise students who have no ART ID, that if they intend to apply for a Maintenance
Loan, they should complete the PN1 form first and send it to their LA. On receipt of their
ART ID they should then complete the College Fee Loan form. This will reduce the risk of
two forms being processed simultaneously, which could generate duplicate ART IDs and
prevent either application progressing.
The student then completes the College Fee application form (CFL1) and gives back to the
college / HEI for checking (e.g. make sure all information is provided and any supporting
evidence is validated and photocopied and copies attached to form). The college / HEI
validates the information, then stamps and completes the college section of the application
form and sends it to Darlington for processing to: Gill Walden, EU Customer Services Team,
Mowden Hall, Staindrop Road, Darlington, Co Durham DL3 9BG.
The SLC Darlington team will process the CFL1 form and issue any letters to the student as
necessary. However please note that Business Services are the contact point for HEIs -
telephone 0845 7023 316 or eMail [email address].
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The SLC Business Services team will then issue a spreadsheet to HEIs showing students
eligible for the scheme (displaying students and the college fee payable) at the end of
November. The HEIs will update the spreadsheet on or immediately after 1 December, to
confirm attendance of each student listed and eMail the spreadsheet back to SLC (eMail to
[email address]). This will then be issued on a regular basis so that HEIs know which
students do not need to be invoiced for fee payment.
Payments will be made, in one lump sum for all students payments, (using 'Oxbridge College
Fee Loans' as the reference), to the HEIs nominated bank account in early February.
Finance will confirm to SLC Business Services, how much and when the payment will be in
the HEIs’ account. SLC Business Services will then eMail Oxbridge College contacts
confirming payment is on its way and when it will be in the HEIs account. Business Services
will in due course issue a manual letter to the student confirming the college fee payment has
been made to the college on their behalf.
When you first enter this screen it shows the customer’s whole balance and the transactions
for all of the customer’s Loan Accounts and Management Accounts. The Sundry Adjustment
created by the Finance Dept will show on this screen as ‘Balance Adjustment - College Fee
Payment Adjustment’:
The Customer Account Transaction Enquiry screen also shows the Sundry Adjustment
created by the Finance Dept as ‘Balance Adjustment - College Fee Payment Adjustment’:
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AUTOMATED RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY - ART
0800 40 50 10
0870 24 22 211
0870 60 60 704
Customer’s can key into their telephone their ID and PIN number when prompted to access
details about their loan for the current academic year.
On telephone number 0800 40 50 10 the information available is:
o Total loan / grant for this year
o Loan / grant instalment amount
o Will be paid / has been paid – date and method of payment
On telephone number 0870 24 22 211 the information available is:
o Balance of loan from date of telephone calls made
o The current interest rate
o The current repayment status of loan i.e. deferred and dates of deferment
On telephone number 0870 60 60 704 the information available is:
o Your application for deferment was received on
and is awaiting approval
o Your application for deferment has been accepted. Your repayments will be deferred
from the
until the
o Your application for deferment has been rejected as your monthly income exceeds the
deferment threshold of £
Having heard the message the customer can request to listen to the message again or opt to
be transferred to a customer advisor.
If the borrower does not enter their ID or PIN or the details are invalid the customer will be
transferred to a customer advisor.
When an account is successfully transferred from ART a full security screening is not
necessary, only verification of address and telephone number is needed.
When the transfer reason is ‘invalid ID or PIN’ then a full security screening is required.
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POST-PAYMENT
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Honours Trust Limited Account Migration
Introduction
In 1999 the Government sold 506,000 loans for £1 billion to Honours Trustees Ltd (HTL), a
company formed with the specific purpose of buying these loans. HTL is a joint venture
between Nationwide Building Society and Deutsche Bank. Customers were informed of this
sale by letter in 1999. At the time of the sale HTL agreed to allow SLC to continue to
administer their loans for a period of five years. That period of five years expired in October
2004 and HTL decided to choose another company to take on the role of administering their
loans.
The company they chose was Ventura, a company based in Leeds and their business
expertise lies in administering and looking after financial products. Some of their larger
customers include Next and O2. They are Honour’s new administrators and from the
migration date they will have the administration responsibilities for all HTL loan accounts and
will be known as
Honours Student Loans (HSL).
Only Mortgage Style Loans were sold to HTL and therefore no ICR loans were included in
the migration. All current processes relating to ICR were not affected in anyway and all ICR
customers will continue to be dealt with as they are currently.
Following migration there are three categories of customers;
SOLE (HTL) Customers: Only have HTL loans.
SHARED Customers: Have both HTL and SLC loans.
SLC ONLY Customers: Only have loans administered by SLC and will not be affected by the
migration.
As of the date of migration Sole customers will no longer to be dealt with by SLC and
measures are put in place to block as many of the calls from Sole customers as possible and
to give them the correct information to contact HSL.
On entering an HTL account in CLASS a pop up message appears as follows:
Sole
Shared
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Identification of Loan Type
In order for us to easily identify if a customer is a sole or shared customer, customer flags
have been added to CLASS.
Sole Flag
Shared Flag
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HSL Consent to Share
In the case of a Shared customer, we need to be sure that the customer is happy for us to
share information relating to name and address updates with HSL.
At the time of Migration all customers were sent a letter to advise of the situation and they
were given the option to deny consent. The CLASS default is to provide consent so if no
preference was communicated then the tick will be in the OK to Share box in the External
Administration field will be populated.
Customer in Arrears at HSL
If a customer is in arrears at HSL we will be unaware of the amount which the customer is in
arrears for, on CLASS. We can only view the number of months the customer is in arrears at
HSL. We will see this in the external arrears field on the Customer Balance Enquiry screen:
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SEARCHING FOR A CUSTOMER
Choose the
‘Post Payment’ > ‘Maintain Account’ > ‘Customer Selection’ option:
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When searching for a customer using their name, CLASS may display more than one entry
for that name and date of birth. This could be because there is more than one customer on
the system who shares the same name and date of birth. The below entries however are all
for the same customer. Something on the customer’s subsequent application differed from
the original information provided, making the system believe that these are totally new
customers each time creating these ‘Stand Alone’ accounts:
If however there is only one customer who bears that name and date of birth then when those
details are input into CLASS, the system will take you directly to that account where your
customer can be security screened.
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DETERMINING THE STATUS OF A LOAN
To determine the loan status we must view the customer's loan in the
‘Loan Details’ tab of
the
‘Customer Selection’ screen as displayed. This should always be the first port of call
when entering a customer’s account. How we deal with an account depends on the status of
the loan(s):
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Loan Status Codes
CLASS attributes status codes to each account, depending on what stage the account is at.
Each loan must have one of these codes:
A
AUTHORISED The account has not been paid to the customer, further instalments are scheduled
PP
PART PAYMENT The loan has been partially paid to the customer
P
PAYMENT The full amount of the loan has been paid but is not due to be repaid yet
R
REPAYMENT Repayments are expected to be made each month
D
DEFERMENT The account has been deferred. No repayments are expected at the moment
O
OVERDUE The repayments are overdue and the loan is with Collections
F
REPAID IN FULL The account has been repaid in full
* with the exception of HSL accounts
W
WRITTEN OFF The account has been written off
Note: * Due to the fact there is a nil balance on all NDB1 accounts the status is ‘F’ – this
does not mean the loan is paid in full, it shows that the loan has been migrated.
Activity Codes
Unlike a status code an account does not need to have an activity code. An activity code is
allotted to accounts only if they fall into one of the below categories and will appear as an
appendage to a status code (D – A) for example is Deferred with Arrears:
A
ARREARS
The account has outstanding repayments to be collected – refer to the appropriate department
T
TRACE The account requires an address update – refer to the Trace Dept
G
AGENCY The account is with an outside agency – refer to the correct Collections Agency
D
DECEASED
U
UNKNOWN The account has not yet been routed to a state within Tallyman
F
FRAUD
The customer has possibly committed a fraud – pass to an Ineligibles advisor
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MAINTAIN PERSONAL DETAILS
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose ‘
Maintain Personal Details’.
This screen is used to update and view a customer’s personal details. The updates that can
be carried out are:
o A title could be changed from Mr or Mrs to Dr or Sir for example
o A customer’s name may change should they marry or it may just be that they wish to be
known as something else
o It is also in this form that we update customer’s addresses, telephone numbers and
e-mail addresses
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Updating a Title and Name
To update a customer’s title, click the down arrow next to the pop list and then choose an
acceptable entry from the drop down list. Once a new title has been selected click on the
save icon on the tool bar to save the change.
We do not require documentary evidence to update a customer’s name. If the customer has
passed the security screening and then wishes to change their name, the change can be
actioned there and then.
To update the customer’s forename, highlight the current name by dragging the mouse over
the text then overtype with the new name.
Repeat the same process for the surname.
Always remember to save the changes made.
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Updating a Telephone Number
Note: Do not leave any spaces between the numbers and if no telephone number is
available, type 7 ones then the month and year e.g. 11111110704 i.e. July 2004.
If Directory Enquiries advise the telephone number is ex directory, type 4 ones and then 3
eights followed by the month and the year e.g. 11118880704.
Please ensure that the fields are populated with the correct numbers. A mobile number if
placed within the ‘Home / Term’ or ‘Work’ fields causes problems for the Power Dialler in
Collections.
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Suppression of Correspondence
To prevent any further correspondence being issued to the customer we sometimes need to
suppress the account.
Click on the
‘Suppressed’ box that is at the bottom left of the
‘Personal Details’ tab within
the
‘Maintain Personal Details’ screen:
Place a tick in the
‘Suppressed?’ box. Click on the scroll arrow, highlight and select the
reason for suppressing the account, dependent on the reason this then brings up a pop up
box confirming that this action has to be authorised by a supervisor:
When you click on OK a red flag will appear on the account showing the account as
, the Advisor will then have to approach their Team Leader who will then
authorise the suppression to be applied to the account, once authorised the red flag will
automatically change to a
flag.
To remove a suppression click back on the
‘Suppressed?’ tick box and remove the tick.
Any documentation not produced due to the suppression will be displayed automatically:
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Only issue current documents i.e. this year’s deferment form or annual statement and avoid
sending old and out of date correspondence.
To issue the document highlight the documentation to be produced and tick the box on the
right of the screen. Click the save icon and then click on the
‘Return’ button to return to the
‘Personal Details’ tab of the
‘Maintain Personal Details’ form.
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Viewing Birth Details
Click on the
‘Birth Details’ tab on display at the top of the
‘Maintain Personal Details’
screen:
This screen displays the details from the customer’s Birth Certificate. This is a reference
point allowing us to check the customer's name at birth, place of birth and their birth date.
The details on the
‘Birth Details’ screen are greyed out as no updates are allowed (except
by Team Leaders).
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Updating a Customer’s Address
Click the
Addresses tab from the top of the
‘Maintain Personal Details’ screen:
Select the next available line or click on the
icon to create a new line.
Once the blank line is highlighted in yellow click on the
icon to display a fresh address
form as shown overleaf:
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Now enter as much criteria as you have for the customer to retrieve the address. The
quickest search is to fill in the
‘Building Number’ and
‘Post Code’ fields, then use the PAF
(Post Office Address Files) search facility.
To do this click on the
icon to start a PAF search. The Post Office Address File is for
UK addresses only.
If the details entered brings up more than one record as below, then the correct address
should be highlighted and then the
icon clicked to return to the
‘Maintain / Select’
address form where the now selected details will be in place. Clicking on the
will reject
the search and return you to the
‘Maintain / Select’ address form to search again:
Check the address information and input any additional information e.g. flat number or
building name and then click on
‘Validate’ and
‘Accept Address’ buttons.
It is vital that we click on the
‘Validate’ button. The
‘Validate’ button matches the address
with the PAF which creates a barcode for that address. All system generated mail for that
customer can then be mechanically processed and the Post Office charges a reduced rate
for handling barcoded mail.
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The next step is to determine when that address is to be effective from and to input the date.
The address type will default to
Home but can be altered to
Other should the customer
indicate that the address given is a temporary or term address. We can hold both a
permanent and term address and can alternate between them:
To enter a foreign address, ask the customer how they would wish the address to appear on
the envelope and enter it in sequence as shown:
If we are updating BFPO (British Forces Post Office) addresses, these should be updated as
follows:
Service No, Rank Name
Unit / Regiment
Operation Name
BFPO No.
The town and country must not be included within the address.
Note: Remember, we can only update SLC administered accounts.
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Updating a Graduation Date
Click the
‘Courses’ tab from the top of the
‘Maintain Personal Details’ screen.
Although this tab can be used to view both Mortgage Style and SSS loan’s graduation date’s,
its prime function is to service Mortgage Style accounts. The rules and information detailed
below are only pertinent to Mortgage Style accounts and the principles contained therein
cannot be applied to loans certified under the Student Support Scheme.
Under the regulations for Mortgage Style loans, if a student goes on to undertake further
study then the graduation dates of their previous loans can be updated to match the
graduation date of the latest loan. This can be actioned by an advisor at any level upon
receipt of evidence and while all of the loans are in
‘P’ status. If any of the loans have
reached
‘R’ status, then the update can only be done by a supervisor as this will move the
loans from Repayment back into Payment status, this action is called
‘R’ to
‘P’:
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Understanding the ICR tab
There are two types of Student Loan. Income Contingent Repayments (ICR) and Mortgage
Style (MS). The majority of customers who have ICR loans will have repayments deducted
from their salary. Mortgage Style customers will make repayments direct to SLC.
The
'General' sub tab as shown will display the current status of the loan repayments, i.e.
whether we have sent notification of the customer’s National Insurance Number (NINO) to
the HMRC and if so, have they been able to match our customer:
Customers who have a Mortgage Style loan and take out an ICR loan for the purpose of
obtaining a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE), are given the choice of whether
they want to repay their Mortgage Style loan first, their ICR loan first, or both loans
concurrently. The choice the customer makes is recorded on the
‘PGCE’ tab.
The NINO sub tab is where information on the issue of ICR documentation can be viewed.
Updates for the customer’s National Insurance Number (NINO) are recorded on the
‘NINO’
tab.
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MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS
A Management Account is created when a customer makes an application for a student loan.
Loan Account Numbers are contained within a Management Account.
Each Management Account has its own set of bank details or its own repayment method,
therefore all the loans in one Management Account must repay by the same bank details or
the same repayment method, with the exception of NDB1 accounts which will have their own
Management Accounts to enable HSL to administer the loan(s). These accounts will all
show a status of ‘F’ indicating a nil balance.
We find customers’ Management Accounts on the
‘Loan Details’ tab of the
‘Customer
Selection’ screen. By clicking on the
‘
Loan Details’ tab, all Management Accounts are
displayed.
If a Mortgage Style customer stays on their original course and does not change bank
details, each loan applied for will fall under the same Management Account. Any changes in
bank details or institution will cause a new Management Account to be created.
New customers however will be certified under the Student Support Scheme. All subsequent
loans will have a repayment method of ICR so only one Management Account is necessary.
Two Management Accounts will appear if the customer was in receipt of a grant.
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Aggregated Loans
The following loans are known as ‘aggregated’ loans:
Aggregated loans are independent from each other and as such can maintain their own
transactions. For example: an individual repayment can be accepted for a single loan or you
can advise the customer of separate balances for each loan.
All the loans in this example are independent of each other and are therefore aggregated.
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Amalgamated Loans
The following loans are known as amalgamated loans:
Amalgamated loans are those that have been joined together and as such can never be
separated. Only one balance for each amalgamated set can be quoted and any repayments
made will be applied to all loans in that set. These are often referred to as Parent and Child
loans.
An amalgamated loan can only belong to one Management Account.
If you see a
button on any screen, clicking this button will show you any
loans that are part of an amalgamated set:
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HSL Loan
The following is an example of an HSL loan in its own individual Management Account:
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Management Account Structure
Customer
MAC Account
MAC Account
MAC Account
251723895
49396235
49396327
Bank of Scotland
Clydesdale Bank
ICR Repayment
S / C 80 08 41
S / C 82 61 16
SAAS99096450H
95ABRG01620
96ABEU05440
o This fictional customer applied for a loan for the first time in 1995
o They finished their course and embarked on another in 1996
o Loan 96ABEU05440 did not fall under the original Management Account because they
supplied a different set of bank details
o When the customer started a new course in 1999 they had to apply under Student
Support Scheme Regulations and will therefore repay through the Income Contingent
Repayment method. For this reason the SSS number did not fall under either of the
other two Management Accounts
Note: Once again, all NDB1 accounts will fall within their own Management Accounts due to
the migration.
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As you can see these loans are in three Management Accounts because they either have
different bank details or repayment methods.
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MAINTAIN MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS
Merging loans into one Management Account would be appropriate when a customer
advises a new set of bank details which have to be used for all loans in all Management
Accounts or if you notice that two Direct Debits are being paid from the same bank account.
Where one Management Account has a repayment method of Direct Debit and one of
Manual with the permission of the customer you may move the Manual account into the
Direct Debit account without the need for a new Direct Debit Instruction or Paperless Direct
Debit.
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Maintain Management Accounts’:
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Click on the scroll arrow next to
‘Account Number’ on the left of the screen. Select the
Management Account you wish the loans to be moved to.
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Repeat the process at the right of the screen only this time choose the Management Account
from where the loans have to be moved from.
Place a tick in the
‘Move’ box of the loan you wish to move and using the blue arrows select
the direction you wish to move in
If the BACS tape has already been produced this month, this message is then displayed:
The loan will move - although not immediately - if the BACS tape has already been
produced. Instead an end date will appear on the line of the
‘moving’ loan and the same
loan account number will appear in the correct Management Account with a start date of the
next available month as shown overleaf:
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If the movement of a Management Account should not take place until a date further in the
future, after clicking the
icon, use the
on the Management Account
side that you have moved the loan to:
Overtype the date and click the
‘OK’ button. Again an end date will be applied to the loan in
its present Management Account and a future date on the new Management Account.
Note: NEVER try to merge an ICR loan with a Mortgage Style loan and also NEVER merge
NDB1 accounts with any other type of account
.
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Creating a New Management Account
When customers change bank details, you need only update the existing Management
Account.
If however the customer wants to repay via two sets of bank details or two repayment
methods and only one Management Account already exists, click the
‘Create a
Management Account’ button to create a new account.
The following message will appear:
Click the
‘Yes’ button to confirm the new Management Account number:
The new Management Account can now be selected and new bank details can be linked to
it.
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MAINTAIN REPAYMENT DATE
A BACS tape is an electronic file so named because it is sent to the Bankers Automated
Clearing Service. This file is produced 4 working days prior to the customers repayment due
date each month and contains all the account numbers for which a Direct Debit repayment is
to be collected. This is sent electronically to BACS and they submit each claim to the
individual Banks or Building Societies.
If a customer wishes to alter the date that their repayment is sent to us, we can action this
change right away as long as the BACS tape has not already been produced for that
repayment date. If the BACS tape has been produced, we can still action the change but it
will not take effect until the next month.
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose ‘
Maintain Repayment Day’:
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If the
‘Repayment Due Day’ field is highlighted in blue as in the above example, the BACS
tape for this repayment day has not yet been sent and we are in time to action the change of
repayment date for this month. If however the cursor is flashing in the
‘Repayment Due Day
Next Month’ field when you access the screen it is too late to update the due date for this
month and next month is the earliest you can implement a change. It may be the case that
the customer does not want to change their repayment date until next month even if there is
still time for the change this month. In these cases just move your cursor from this months
box to next months.
The Student Loans Company does not allow repayment dates of 1st – 9th and 29th to 31st of
the month because all accounts are rescheduled on 31st August each year to take into
account the new annual interest rate. Under the terms of the Direct Debit Guarantee, we
must always advise in advance any changes to the amount, date or frequency of the Direct
Debit. Therefore if SLC allowed repayment dates of 1st – 9th we would not be able to meet
these terms. The 29th – 31st ruling is to encapsulate February.
THE MOST COMMON REPAYMENT DUE DATES ARE:
Surname
A - F
G - L
M - R
S – Z
Due Date
10TH
15TH
20TH
25TH
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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REQUESTING A DIRECT DEBIT INSTRUCTION
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Request DD Instruction’:
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Each Management Account that the customer has will be represented here. If the customer
wishes to set up new bank details on their Direct Debit / Manual account you should first
determine if all loans are to be paid through the new details. If this is the case there is no
need to have more than one Management Account and therefore all Direct Debit / Manual
Management Accounts should be merged. The Management Account that now holds all of
the loans should be highlighted and variation selected from the list below:
Collections:
Indicates to customer that they are in arrears and we have no
method of repayment set up with them, encloses DD and
advises it may be necessary to make manual repayments.
Generic:
A blank DD i.e. has no customer details printed on to it. This is
useful for 3rd parties.
Local:
Prints to a local printer.
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Once a variation has been selected you should click on the
‘Request DD Instruction’
button.
If the customer already has a live Direct Debit then you will be presented with the message
below:
Always say no to this message. The customer may change their mind about changing the
account that they repay their loan from and not return the new Instruction to us. If the
customer does return the Instruction then the old Instruction will automatically be cancelled in
favour of the new one.
In circumstances where the Direct Debit Instruction should be sent directly to a Third Party,
click the
shown at the right of the Third Party box which will reveal the
screen below:
Place the cursor in the Third Party name then click the ‘add’ icon this time from the main
toolbar at the top of the screen.
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The Third Party’s name & address must be complete as well as the type of the Third Party.
This must always be entered as a ‘Repayer’.
The ‘torch’ will access the address update screen if a change of address is required.
Exit the
‘Maintain Third Party Details’ screen via the red door.
The updated third parties details will then be on display back on the DD screen. Put a tick in
the
‘Mail to Third Party’ tick box
and then click on the
‘Request DD
Instruction’ button
.
Note: Remember that Direct Debit Instructions are used for ICR customers if they are
outside the UK tax system i.e. overseas and need to make scheduled repayments after being
assessed by SLC. However, these Instructions are included as part of the Overseas Income
Assessment form. ICR customers within the UK tax system who wish to make voluntary
repayments can also set up a direct debit for ad hoc repayments. The above can only be
taken on SLC administered accounts.
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REQUESTING A PAY-IN BOOK
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Request Pay-In Book’:
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Each Management Account that the customer has will be represented here. If the customer
wishes a
‘Pay-In Book’ (PIB) to pay their accounts you should first determine if all loans are
to be repaid this way. If this is the case there is no need to have more than one
Management Account and therefore all Management Accounts should be merged. The
Management Account that now holds all of the loans should be highlighted and the
‘Request
Pay-In Book’ button
clicked.
If a Third Party requests the Pay-In Book to be sent directly to them, follow the instructions
for requesting a Direct Debit Instruction to a Third Party.
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Pay-In Books only have a customer’s core reference number printed on them. Therefore if a
customer has received two or more Pay-In Books due to having more than one Management
Account, you can find out which Management Account refers to which Pay-In Book by
viewing the details of the DDPB print job seen in
‘Customer Activity Enquiry’.
Remember that a Pay-In Book is only requested for ICR customers if they wish to make
repayments by this method over and above the minimum that will be collected via their
income.
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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REQUESTING AN AD HOC STATEMENT
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Request Ad Hoc Statement’:
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Use this screen for Ad Hoc statements on all Mortgage Style loans and only on ICR loans in
‘P’ status.
If a customer requires a statement for an ICR loan in
‘R’ status, then use the reprint
statement screen and issue a copy of the interim statement covering transactions to the end
of March.
Ad Hoc statements are unavailable on ICR loans in
‘R’ status because the interest will not be
applied monthly in the same way as Mortgage Style.
All loans will automatically be included. However, by clicking on each box you can include or
exclude loans.
CLASS will automatically default to the box
‘From Last Annual Statement’ however if you
want the statement to take effect from a
‘Specific Date Range’ click on that selection. It is
then necessary to type the dates you require the statement from and to:
By highlighting the start and end date, you can overtype the dates you require:
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Click the
‘Request Statement’ button when you are satisfied that you have selected the
statement criteria you require.
If the customer requests statements that go back over 2 years from the current date then
they should be ordered as annual statements i.e. Sept 00 to Aug 01, Sept 01 to Aug 02 etc.
If a customer requests copies of system generated statement prior to 1998 an e-mail to
CSSD would be required supplying all relevant information i.e. customers name, loan
account number, address and information required. CSSD will then access an archive
system which will allow historical data to be issued.
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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REQUESTING A DEFERMENT APPLICATION FORM
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Request Deferment Application Form’:
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Click the
‘Deferment Appl’ tab at the top of the screen:
This screen should only be used to order Deferment forms for customers who are in
repayment but find that their circumstances have changed. It is also on this screen that we
can see how many times in the past a customer has deferred.
Click the
‘Defer Application Print’ button and the system will issue a deferment application
form.
Note: Where the customer has more than one Management Account and their deferment
start dates are different, you must request one application form for the appropriate loan by
highlighting the correct account number line and individually requesting a print.
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REQUESTING A REPRINT
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose ‘
Request Reprint’:
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This screen can only be used to order a reprint of system generated documents. To list all
the documents produced via the system, select the Academic Year that the document was
sent out in.
Click on the scroll arrow to the right of
‘Year of Document’ to list the Academic Years
available:
After you have selected the Academic Year of the document, a list of system produced
documents will be displayed. Tick the
‘Reprint’ box to the right of the document that needs
to be re-issued to the customer.
If a customer requests copies of system generated correspondence prior to 1998 an e-mail
to CSSD would be required supplying all relevant information i.e. customers name, loan
account number, address and information required. CSSD will then access an archive
system which will allow historical data to be issued.
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Cancelling a Print Request
The printing you have requested is not available to view via the
‘Customer Selection’
screen therefore to access the screen use the pull down menus ‘
Post Payment’ > ‘Maintain
Account’ > ‘Printing and Mailing’ > ‘Update Print Request’.
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A list of all printing requested by your ID will be listed as shown above. Select the letter that
you wish to be cancelled by clicking in the
‘Cancel’ box at the right side of the screen.
The
‘Customer Details’ button will take you into the
‘Maintain Personal Details’ screen of
the customer whose line is highlighted.
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STANDING DATA ENQUIRY
From the main pull down menus choose
‘Post Payment’ > ‘Data Management’ > ‘Standing
Data Enquiry’:
Upon entering this screen it will be blank. To populate the screen with data you should press
the F8 function key. This will fill the necessary fields with relevant information:
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Double click on the start date of the field you wish to look at or highlight the line and click the
‘Rule History’ button to display all rules past and present connected to this subject:
.
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CUSTOMER ACTIVITY ENQUIRY
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Customer Activity Enquiry’:
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To view further details on a specific entry highlight the line yellow then click the
‘Details’ tab
at the top of the screen. Alternatively double click on the required line to reveal further
information:
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A record of all activities on the customer’s account is displayed here. It can be very
confusing to try and identify the information you wish to see amongst all of the entries and
therefore it is necessary to narrow down the field a little. We do this by selecting the
‘View
Options’ tab:
All of the different kinds of system activities are represented here and all are initially selected.
To begin with click on the
‘Clear All’ button, this will remove all of the ticks. The field is now
clear for you to make your selection. Put a tick in any box you require information on. All
entries connected with your selection will be displayed on the
‘Activity’ tab:
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One of the most popular reasons for using the
‘Activity’ screen is to advise the customer
that their deferment documentation has been issued, returned or has been marked
incomplete, accepted or rejected:
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CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSACTION ENQUIRY
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen, choose
‘Customer Account Transaction
Enquiry’:
.
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To view further details on a specific entry highlight the line yellow then click the
‘Details’ tab
at the top of the screen. Alternatively double click on the required line to reveal further
information.
The
‘Loan Details’ tab contains important information on the customer’s loan. Customers
frequently ask these questions in respect of their loan:
o When will my loan be paid in full?
o How many instalments do I have left to pay?
o When did I take out my loans?
o How much did I take out?
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The balances tab displays further information as shown:
Click on the
‘Dates’ tab to reveal the dates connected with each loan account:
The
‘Statutory Repayment Due Date’ field indicates the April that the customer will begin
repaying their student loan. A Mortgage Style customer with less than 5 loans is given 60
months to repay their loans. If they have 5 or more loans the repayment term is over 84
months.
Consider the loan above. The customer became eligible to repay this loan in April 1999. If
they began to repay at this time then the expected
‘Maturity Date’ would be March 2004,
however as they chose to defer their loan then the customers
‘Maturity Date’ will be pushed
out by one year for every deferment period.
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Click on the
‘Payments’ tab to reveal the payments connected with each loan account. By
highlighting each individual loan you can view the dates that we paid the instalments to the
customer and the loan amounts:
In the above example the 02 loan is highlighted revealing that the loan was paid in 3
instalments.
o 23 / 08 / 02
£1,300.86
o 06 / 01 / 03
£1,300.86
o 28 / 04 / 03
£1,340.28
The above 97 account was paid in 1 instalment on 03 / 10 / 97.
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CUSTOMER BALANCE ENQUIRY
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose
‘Customer Balance Enquiry’:
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When you first enter this screen it shows the customer’s whole balance and the transactions
for all of the customer’s Loan Accounts and Management Accounts. If any information is
required on a specific Loan Account or Management Account, click the relevant radio button:
Once the radio button has been selected, you must choose which Loan Account or
Management Account you want specific information displayed for. You do this by selecting a
Loan Account or Management Account number from the
‘Display Details For’ pop list:
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Click the
‘Balances’ tab to view the screen as shown below:
Status
Explanation
Current Balance
Customers current loan balance – this should never be quoted to the
customer
Arrears Balance
Customers arrears balance
Offset Cash in Hand Balance
Offset cash is an amount of cash which has been repaid over and above
the minimum required and has been earmarked to cover any future
repayments due. This will continue until this sum has depleted. Money is
allocated to offset cash at the customers request
Repayments Made
Repayments received at SLC
Accrued Interest to Date
Interest accrued in current month
Expected DD Represent Date
DD represent date
Charges
Any charges customer has accrued
Months in Arrears
Total number of months in arrears
Early Repayment Balance
Early repayment is an amount of cash that has been repaid over and
above the minimum and will not be used for future repayments
Repayments Due
Amount of loan repayments due to date
PAYE Repayments Made
Total amount of repayments received via PAYE
SA Repayments Made
Total amount of repayment received via SA
External Arrears
Total amount of months customer is in arrears specifically for HSL
customers and will not show true value of arrears
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In the above example CLASS has expected repayments of £334.55 as shown in
‘Repayments Due’ however the actual repayments made = £384.55 therefore the £50 which
has been paid over and above the repayments required is shown in the ‘Early Repayment’
tab.
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REPAYMENT METHODS
Direct Debit
The first and most popular way to pay a Mortgage Style loan is by Direct Debit. It is popular
with the Company as it is the least problematic way we have of receiving our money. Unless
the customer takes steps to cancel their Direct Debit the money will arrive at the Company at
the same time every month give or take a day. We can accept Direct Debit repayments
between the 10th and 28th of every month. If a customer has an ICR loan and wishes to
make extra repayments these can also be made by Direct Debit or the customer could also
set up a Standing Order.
Standing Order
A Standing Order is ideal for people who want to repay outside of the 10th - 28th time scale.
The main difference between a Standing Order and Direct Debit is that the customer controls
the Standing Order and initiates the repayment unlike Direct Debits which are under SLC’s
control.
Some of the disadvantages of repaying by Standing Order are:
o The interest rate alters therefore so does the customers scheduled amount. People who
pay by Standing Order tend to forget to adjust the amount and either overpay each
month or underpay and begin to accrue arrears.
o If the customer quotes the wrong reference number to the bank even by one digit they
could end up repaying somebody elses loan.
o Lastly their account could be repaid in full and if we have no current address on the
system then we have no way of contacting them to inform them to cease repayments.
Cheque
Cheques still remain a popular way to settle an account in full, although the Switch and Visa
option would appear to be the most efficient way to settle an account. Customers should be
prompted, where possible, to settle their loan using Switch or Visa.
o When a repayment is made via cheque, the customer will be given a settlement date 14
calendar days in advance.
o This can be problematic if the repayment is applied early or late which could result in an
overpayment or underpayment.
o Wherever possible, try to deter customers from sending in a cheque as there are too
many areas where things can go wrong.
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Switch / Maestro or Visa
Switch / Maestro or Visa are efficient methods for settling an outstanding balance but are not
ideal for making regular monthly repayments. There are advantages for customers living
abroad as they may not have access to a British bank account so cannot utilise the Direct
Debit facility. SLC accept Switch / Maestro, Visa, Visa Debit, Delta, Electron, Solo, JCB,
Master Card, Visa Credit.
Note: Please note that we cannot take credit / debit card payment details when CLASS is
not live. Under Data Protection we can only input card payments on to a live system. It
would therefore not be appropriate to store a customer’s card details anywhere for later
inputting. Any customer wishing to make a credit / debit card payment during system down
time will have to be instructed to call back when the advisor knows the system to be live.
Pay In Book
A Pay-In book is probably one of the least efficient repayment methods we offer. The book
contains no user friendly references i.e. Loan Account numbers’ or Management Account
numbers’. The repayment may take up to 10 days to reach us and customers can go in and
out of arrears as a result.
International Repayments
Other repayment methods available to overseas customers are: International Money Order,
Euro Cheque and Telegraphic Transfer but these methods are costly and in some cases the
charges outweigh the actual repayment amount.
If a customer wishes to make a repayment from abroad using Internet Banking they need to
quote a ‘Swift Code’. The code in all cases is ‘RBOSGB2L’.
Some overseas transactions may also require an IBAN reference which is
‘GB41RBOS83520000676345’.
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DEBIT AND CREDIT CARD REPAYMENTS
Student Loan Company customers can make repayments of their outstanding loans by
Credit Card. SLC incur a 1.5% charge of the repayment amount paid by the customer if they
use a Credit Card. The Student Loans Company will be transferring this cost onto the
customer by charging them the 1.5% charge if they choose to repay by Credit Card.
Repayment of all Student Funding products will be affected by this change. i.e. Loans,
Grants and Fee support will all attract the charge. However, the customer will not be
charged if the Loan Account is in arrears or litigation and are repaying by Credit Card.
We must advise our customers of this charge before any payment is processed.
To accept Switch / Maestro, Visa Debit, Delta, Electron, Solo, JCB, MasterCard, Visa Credit,
click on the ‘Switch’ icon
Once selected the below screen will appear:
.
You begin by completing the card number. The card number is normally 16 digits long and
then clicking the tab key:
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By clicking on the tab key the system can distinguish the type of card from the card number
and populates with the card type. You then have to ask the customer for the Issue Date,
click on the tab key and complete each field in turn. The system will recognise which fields
have to be populated. When you reach the Cardholder Name field ask the customer for their
name as it appears on the card. If a customer has advised that they wish us to take the
payment but future date this we can overtype the request date with the required date as
notified.
The customer will confirm how much money they wish to pay e.g. £100.00, key in the
required amount: and click on the tab key which will automatically populate with the 1.5%
charge as this customer is using a Credit Card:
When you click on OK the following message displays:
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We will then confirm the charge amount with the customer and clarify the exact payment to
be debited from their card.
Click Yes or No. At this point you can choose to use the funds as offset and request a
receipt to be sent out:
Also you can choose which loan account / s the money should be applied to by clicking on
the
icon and choosing the Management Account or Loan Account:
Update the Notepad to confirm the action taken.
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PROVIDING A SETTLEMENT QUOTATION
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose the option
‘Provide Settlement Quotation’:
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The settlement screen should be used when a customer requires an outstanding balance
whether they want to settle their account or not
.
Clicking on the
‘Loan Details’ tab behind the
‘Settlement’ screen will display the same
information as shown on the
‘Loan Details’ screen behind
‘Customer Selection’:
It is important to establish how many loans the customer has and if they are part of an
amalgamated or aggregated set. The customer may have one or both types, either way all
loans must be included if the customer wishes to settle their loans in full. Consider the loan
sets above. If this customer wishes to settle their loans or just receive an outstanding
balance on all of their loans the customer will have to be provided with 3 separate figures:
Use the scroll button under account number to calculate a figure for the loan required. Only
one figure can be calculated for an amalgamated set and the calculation must be actioned on
the parent loan:
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In the above example the ‘Settlement Total’ amount £2159.13 is the required amount to clear
this customer’s loans. Although the majority of customers will opt to pay by credit / debit
card, should a customer advise that they wish to settle by cheque the customer should be
instructed to write the different loan account numbers and settlement amounts on the reverse
of the cheque. This will ensure our Finance Department, upon receipt of the cheque, will
know how much to apply to each loan.
The settlement date will automatically default to two weeks in the future however if a
settlement date other than two weeks in the future is required, highlight the existing date and
overtype. If the customer is advising they will be settling their account by payment card, then
the settlement date should be calculated for the next working day.
If you choose a settlement date after the annual interest rate change, this warning message
will appear:
The following could also appear around rescheduling time if the customer pays by Direct
Debit and the settlement date range crosses the repayment due date. The system does not
yet know the customer’s new scheduled repayment and therefore cannot calculate a figure.
If a customer is adamant that they still wish a settlement figure, the advisor should confirm
that this figure is not an accurate settlement figure and the figure could be slightly higher or
lower depending on the rescheduling amount.
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As previously stated, the system projects a settlement date two weeks into the future. If the
customer gets a repayment to us within that time frame they will settle their loan in full.
However consider a customer who for instance pays by Direct Debit on the 15th of every
month. If they call for a settlement figure on the 10th of the month then the system will project
a fortnight into the future and offer a settlement amount valid until the 24th. For this customer
the system recognises that although the 24th is the date of settlement, a Direct Debit is due
on the 15th and so deducts this Direct Debit amount from it’s calculations and presents the
user with a system message like the one below to inform the advisor that it has done so.
When presented with this message the advisor should inform the customer that the
settlement figure depends on the Direct Debit being met. If the customer advises that the
Direct Debit will
not be met then the system must be told to
‘Exclude’ this repayment from
its calculations. We do this by clicking on the radio button as shown:
All this is providing the BACS tape
HAS NOT already been produced. If the tape has already
been produced, the system will deduct the instalment from the settlement calculation and it
will not alter the figure if you
‘Exclude Repayments’. There is nothing SLC can do once the
tape has already gone and customers should be advised that the Direct Debit
WILL be
claimed. If the customer advises that the claim will not be met they should be instructed to
increase the settlement figure by the amount of the Direct Debit.
Note: Settlements should ALWAYS be saved and logged on the notepad.
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CREATING A DIRECT DEBIT OVERRIDE
From the main
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose the option
‘Create DD Override’
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The override screen can be used to generate Direct Debit requests for customers in
‘P’ or
‘D’ or ‘
O’ statuses. It is also used to increase existing Direct Debit repayments for accounts in
‘R’ status. Make sure that there is a valid Direct Debit in place before you proceed.
When setting up an override it is important not to set up an override to last beyond a period
of deferment. The customer can decide when repayments are scheduled whether they want
to defer again or set up another override or to repay the new repayment amount. Be aware
of setting overrides up around re-scheduling time, the system will call for either the re-
scheduled amount or the Direct Debit override, whichever is higher:
Direct Debit overrides are set up on Loan Account numbers only. If a loan is part of an
amalgamated set, only one override can be set up for all the loans in the set. In the case of
amalgamated sets, the action taken must apply to the loan with a
‘Trans Held’ tick.
If there is more than one Management Account, then by clicking on the blue arrows
,
further Management Accounts can be viewed.
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Put a tick in the
‘Include’ tick box of the loan account for which increased repayments are to
be applied. Tick only the loans where there are
‘Trans Held’. Any loans in an amalgamated
set will default to a tick:
If a customer has advised different amounts for specific loans then overrides must be set up
individually. Where a customer has advised one amount for all, make sure you put a tick in
the
‘Include’ boxes for all loans. CLASS will then apportion the amount you apply according
to the outstanding balances of the loans.
Providing there is sufficient time before the BACS tape, the start date box defaults to this
month. If the BACS tape has already been produced the start date will default to the
following month. To change the start date simply highlight and overtype.
The
‘Calculate’ button is to be used when one of the value fields are missing. For example
if the customer knew how many months they wanted to repay their loan off in, but not how
much each instalment would work out at. By entering the months in the
‘Number of
Instalments’ field and clicking on the
‘Calculate’ button the system will populate the
‘Amount’ field. The advisor is then in a position to inform the customer how much each
instalment would have to be for to pay off the loan in the selected months. By the same
token if the customer knew how much they wanted to repay, by entering the figure into the
‘Amount’ field and clicking on the
‘Calculate’ button, the advisor could then inform the
customer the number of instalments it would take to clear the loan at that value. The only
time we do not need to click the
‘Calculate’ button is when we know both the number of
instalments and the amount:
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Once you have calculated or input the figure, click the ‘Apply’ button and the figures will be
entered on the Loan Account lines. Click the ‘Save’ icon to ensure the account is updated
with the override. If separate amounts are to be applied to individual loans, the process must
be repeated including the loans where a calculation has not already been applied and saved.
If the customer simply wants to know how long it will take to repay their loans at a specific
rate or over a specific number of months, follow the same procedure but this time DO NOT
SAVE.
If a customer has more than one Management Account and repayments are to be adjusted
on all loans you must use the
‘Blue Arrows’ to scroll through the Management Accounts,
applying the overrides on each loan. Click on the
‘Repayments’ tab to look at the scheduled
amount which is set up on an account or to clarify if there is an override set up. (Ensure you
have
‘Included’ loans on the
‘Management’ tab first of all).
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Where there is no override set up and the account is in
‘R’ status, the Repayment Type is
‘Scheduled’:
Where there is an override in place Repayment Type is ‘DD Override’:
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If you place a into the
box then you will display a list of all previous
scheduled amounts relating to the Management Account you had on display on the
‘Management’ tab.
If the customer wishes to cancel their override and return to the minimum monthly repayment
amount:
o Click the scroll down button under status on the line where the override has been set up.
o Change the status to
‘Cancelled by User’. If you cancel in error or the customer wants
the override reinstated, change the status back to
‘Active’.
You can accept cancellation of an override over the telephone, however the customer must
follow this up in writing:
To make a change to an existing override amount or date, follow the previous steps
cancelling the arrangement and set the override up again in the usual manner, ensuring the
start date is not the same date as the previous arrangement.
A message like this one will appear if you try to apply more than one override to the same
account on the same day:
All overrides should be recorded on the notepad after saving. Make sure there is no ‘offset
cash’ before setting up overrides.
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MAKING SUNDRY ADJUSTMENTS
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen choose the option
‘Make Sundry Adjustments’:
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o Offset cash will reduce the outstanding balance.
o No repayments are expected until the amount of funds paid in advance have been
depleted.
o When accounts are rescheduled at the end of August, the monthly repayment will not
reduce as a result of offset cash.
Offset cash is created when a customer makes a repayment and it is used to cover future
instalments.
For example: A customer in
‘R’ status who is leaving the country for 6 months may wish to
pay an advance lump sum to cover their period of absence. The
‘Transfer to Offset’ tab
should be used when funds have been applied to an account in such a way that monthly
repayments will still be expected (early repayment) but the customer wants the funds to be
offset against future repayments:
The total amount of
‘Early Repayment’ available to cover future instalments will be
displayed in the
‘Amount to Transfer’ field. A tick will default into the
‘Transfer Balance’ box, therefore if you wish to transfer the total amount of early repayment, simply save and as
soon as a supervisor authorises the transaction the funds will move to offset.
If a lesser amount is to be transferred than is currently on display, simply highlight the
amount to transfer and overtype with the required figure.
A memo must be completed and handed to a Team Leader for release after a Sundry
Adjustment has been made.
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o Early repayment will reduce the outstanding balance.
o Repayments are still expected.
o When accounts are rescheduled at the end of August, the monthly repayment will
reduce as a result of early repayment.
If funds are to be transferred from Early Repayment to Offset, you must always remove the
tick in
‘Transfer Offset’ screen first of all. By doing this you make sure that you are not
moving funds from early to offset and offset to early at the same time.
Place a tick in the
‘Transfer Balance’ box at the right of the funds to be transferred to early
and then save. If the amount is to change then highlight and overtype the new amount
before saving:
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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Bank Details
There are two options available for customers wishing to change their bank details.
These are:-
o Paperless direct debiting by phone
&
o Issue of a paper direct debit instruction by post
We should promote paperless direct debiting as much as possible as it is far more cost
effective and beneficial to the Company and the customer.
Guidelines
4 Day Rule
If a customer contacts SLC and wishes to change their repayment due amount or their
repayment due date, SLC can alter this amount / date as long as the instruction has been
received 4 clear working days prior to the customer’s repayment due date.
Example:
Using the above calendar, if a customer’s repayment due date is the 15th contacts SLC to
change their repayment amount / due date on 8th then there is clearly enough time for us to
alter their repayment amount / due date. However, if they were to contact us on the 13th then
there is not enough time for the change to happen this month however that change would
take effect from February. In this example you would count their repayment due date the 15th
as day 1, 14th as day 2, 13th as day 3 and the last date a change could take effect from would
be on the 4th date the 12th.
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9 Day Rule
If a customer contacts SLC and wishes to change the bank details their direct debit is being
called from, then SLC could set up a paperless direct debit which would require 9 clear
working days to allow the customer’s repayment amount to be debited from the new bank
details.
Example:
Using the above calendar, if a customer’s repayment due date is the 20th contacts SLC to
change their bank details on the 5th then there is clearly enough time for us to alter their bank
account details. However, if they were to contact us on the 16th then there is not enough
time for the change to happen this month however that change would take effect from March.
In this example you would count their repayment due date the 20th as day 1, 19th as day 2,
18th as day 3, 17th as day 4, 16th as day 5, 13th as day 6, 12th as day 7, 11th as day 8 and 10th
as day 9, therefore any change to bank details prior to the 10th February would take effect
from this month however any bank detail changes made after the 10th February would not be
effective until March.
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14 Day Rule
If a customer contacts SLC and wishes to change the bank details their direct debit is being
called from but does not wish to set up a paperless direct debit, SLC can issue a paper form
of the direct debit instruction. However, we would have to advise the customer that the
completed direct debit instruction would have to be returned to SLC 14 clear working days
prior to the customers repayment due date to allow us to successfully set up the new
instruction.
Example:
Using the above calendar, if a customer’s repayment due date is the 25th contacts SLC to
change their bank details on the 1st but requests a paper instruction we would have to advise
the customer that the completed paper instruction would have to be returned correctly
completed by Monday 8th March.
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Verifying Bank Details
Go to the
‘Loan Details’ tab on the main
‘Customer Selection’ screen:
When verifying a customer’s bank details, it is important to determine how many
Management Accounts there are, the status of the loans and the current repayment method
to determine whether the loans are Mortgage Style or ICR.
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Return to the main
‘Customer Selection’ screen:
Select the option
‘Maintain FI Account Details’.
The screen will be populated with the most recently updated bank details. If this is the bank
account where direct debits are currently collected from, there will be a tick in the ‘
valid’ box
and a tick in the
‘Link Summary – Active’ box:
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To verify the bank or building society the bank details relate to, click on the
to reveal the name, branch and phone number of the bank in question:
Now click the ‘
Show Details’ button. Disregard the Loan Account Links, however ensure
that the all the Management Accounts that are to be paid via the displayed bank details are
displayed under the ‘
Management Account Links’ box:
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If all of the Mortgage Style Management Accounts are not displayed, click on the ‘return’
button and place your cursor in the sort code field. Use the scroll down key on your
keyboard until the next set of bank details is displayed. The scroll keys will enable you to
view all of the bank details ever held on the account:
Click the show details button again. You
must do this process to check which Management
Account is being paid through which set of bank details.
Remember if there is more than one Management Account there will be more than one direct
debit set up.
With the correct bank details on display, click the
‘DD Instructions’ tab. This should read
‘Transmitted’:
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The final check you need to make is via the
‘Repay. Methods’ tab:
Ensure the Repayment Method for your Management Account is ‘Direct Debit’.
Once you have made all of these checks, you can be confident that these are the bank
details we are collecting repayments from.
Remember to perform checks for each Mortgage Style Management Account if there is more
than one.
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Paperless Direct Debiting
Paperless direct debiting is a procedure allowing customers to set up a direct debit over the
telephone.
A script must be adhered to at all times and should not be deviated from. It may be updated
from time to time and for this reason, it is not permitted to print the script. The script is
available in ‘Word’. If you are unsure where to find it, please ask your Team Leader. The
following points should be taken into consideration.
As you are setting up the direct debit over the telephone for a customer in repayment, you
would term this as a paperless direct debit and you would have to issue an Advanced
Notification Letter to confirm the details of your conversation.
The Advanced Notification Letter must be sent the same day you have the conversation with
the customer. How this letter will be sent will depend on the department you work in. If you
are working for the Collections Department, the procedure for issuing an Advanced
Notification Letter is covered in your Tallyman training. If you work in any other of the
Operational Departments then a log would be completed and the ANL will be sent out on
your behalf.
Note: You should not set up a PDDI if CLASS is not live.
Begin by following the Paperless Direct Debit Script. Then:-
Go to the
‘Customer Selection’ screen, choose the
‘Loan Details tab’:
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When first contemplating updating a customer’s bank details it is important to determine
which loans are to be paid through the new details. Once the loans have been identified,
then a note should be taken of the Management Account number that the loans are in which
will then allow the new bank details to be linked to the correct Management Account.
Return to the main
‘Customer Selection’ screen and choose the option
‘Maintain FI
Account Details’:
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The screen will be populated with the customer’s most recently updated bank details:
To create a new record, click on the
icon to enable you to enter a new set of details.
Insert the sort code and account number the customer wishes to repay from into the
appropriate fields and save.
Once the bank details have been saved, the valid box will be populated
confirming
that these bank details have been checked and are correct.
When a student supplies bank details that exist elsewhere on the system for loan payments,
the details come off on the Duplicate FI Details Report which is worked by CSSD.
CSSD now blocks payments to any bank accounts that exist elsewhere on the system
(unless the other account the bank details exist on is the student's stand alone account) until
the student who has just updated the new bank details provides documentary evidence (eg
bank statement) to confirm the account is in their name.
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If bank details are updated in CLASS and the above message appears, we must advise the
student that no loan payments will be made to these new details until they have supplied
documentary evidence (eg bank statement) which confirms that the account is in their own
name. It must also be marked on the notepad that this evidence has been asked for to
prevent us writing out. If the customer advises a reason why the bank account number
exists elsewhere this should be noted in the notepad, but the evidence must still be supplied.
The statement should be an original and if the address on the statement differs from the
address that we hold we will first of all check to see if it's a previous address. If the address
on the statement does not match any of the addresses we hold on file for the customer then
we will contact them for an explanation and may also ask them to provide a utility bill as
confirmation.
The next action to be taken when updating bank details is to link the account to the
appropriate Management Account, therefore click the ‘Link Accounts’ tab.
The only tab required to be updated for paperless direct debit repayments is the
‘Repayments’ tab.
Click in the
‘start date’ of the next available line until it is highlighted in yellow. Then click
the scroll button under Management Account and select the appropriate Management
Account. Save.
Return to ‘
FI Accounts’ tab.
Click the
button.
Click on the
‘DD Instruction Variation’ drop down menu and choose ‘local’ as shown:
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The reason a ‘local’ direct debit is chosen is that this allows a direct debit instruction to be
printed to your local printer and produces a core reference number which is unique to the
customer. It will also allow the advisor to approve a direct debit instruction on the same day.
The core reference number can be located within the CLASS Notes:
and also in DD Instructions tab:
Close the form for creation of a direct debit and return to
‘FI Account Details’.
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When you initially enter this tab, the status should show as ‘sent’. This is as a result of
requesting a local direct debit. Direct Debits follow a certain process as follows:
1. Sent
Will show on day one
2. Approved
To be manually updated
3. Transmitted
SLC have electronically passed the FI details to the bank
4. Cancelled by FI
May show after 1st claim or earlier if reasons appropriate
The status will update overnight and will then show ‘Transmitted’, which indicates that the
details have been successfully transmitted to the relevant bank.
The ‘Repay Methods’ tab will show a repayment method of direct debit:
In respect of paperless direct debiting, the final tab ‘Third Parties’ is not required.
An update should be made to the notepad indicating:
‘Paperless DDI set up on below core reference number for £------ effective --------------‘.
Note: Under no circumstances should an Advisor write down and / or retain a copy of a
customers bank details.
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Step by Step Guide to Paperless Direct Debiting
Access & follow paperless direct debit script with the customer
Check and note the Management Account to be updated
Access
Use the
icon to create a new record & update the bank details
Click the Link Accounts tab and link the bank details under Repayments to the
correct Management Account. Remember to
Return to the FI Accounts tab and
Request a local direct debit instruction to produce a core reference number
Return to F I Account Details and click the DD Instructions tab
Change status of core reference number from sent to approved
Calculate and advise customer of the next direct debit collection date from the new
details. Also advise if any manual repayments required in meantime
Log CLASS notepad with ‘Paperless DDI set up on below core ref number £--
effective from --/--/--. ANL to be issued as per Departmental procedures
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Issuing a Paper Direct Debit Instruction
Where a customer insists on the issue of a paper instruction, the bank details should only be
updated if the customer is not currently making direct debit repayments. ie repayment
method is manual.
Update the bank details in the same way as setting up a paperless direct debit, until you
need to request a direct debit instruction.
In this case you can choose the ‘new FI Details supplied’ direct debit variation from the
‘Request DD Instruction’ screen and the details will be printed on the instruction:
If the customer is currently making repayments by direct debit and still insist on a paper
instruction, do not update the bank details. Issue a generic direct debit instruction, leaving
the existing bank details in place and advise the customer that it is their responsibility to
cancel the current direct debit with their bank and we will continue to call on the details we
have until they either cancel or return the instruction.
This allows SLC to continue calling for repayments until the customer arranges alternative
arrangements for payment.
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THE DEFERMENT PROCESS
What is Deferment?
All Mortgage Style customers are due to enter repayment the April following their last date of
attendance on their course.
In the February before repayments are due to commence, they are given the opportunity to
suspend their repayment for a twelve month period. This suspension of repayments is called
deferment. At the end of January the system sweeps for all newly graduated and withdrawn
customers and sends them a Deferment Application Form (DAF) along with pertinent
information about deferment. The system also sends forms and information to customers
who’s current deferment period is about to come to an end.
Who Can Apply?
Deferment is only appropriate for Mortgage Style customers who earn less than 85% of the
Gross National Average Earnings. The threshold for deferment is set by the DIUS each June
and the new threshold is applicable from September.
SLC administer deferments for all customers regardless of whether they are Sole or Shared
customers.
In order to ensure that all the required information for deferment is passed between SLC and
HSL a number of interfaces will transmit the information between SLC and HSL.
As SLC are administering the deferment process we will be able to answer queries from both
Sole and Shared customers. However you should remember that we will be unable to advise
on any financial information for HSL loans as this information will only be held by HSL.
SLC will be responsible for assessing a borrower’s application for deferment and deciding if it
is to be accepted or not. However, as we no longer have any involvement with the
customer’s repayments, we need to advise HSL of our decision so they can adjust the
customer’s repayments if and when required. We will process deferment forms as usual, the
customer will return them to us and we will establish eligibility. We will then advise the
customer if their application is incomplete, rejected or it’s accepted.
The only differences for Deferment as far as the customer is concerned, is, if it’s a SOLE
HSL customer, they will need to contact HSL to request Ad Hoc Deferments. This is
because we may not have up-to-date address details for these customers so these requests
for SOLE customers will come to SLC via the interface. If you receive a call from a SOLE
HSL customer requesting a DAF form, you must advise them to contact HSL. For Shared
customer’s its fine – SLC can issue a DAF for SLC and HSL loan accounts so they customer
need only contact us.
With regards annual deferment sweep, we will issue these DAFs as normal for both sole and
shared customers.
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The Process
The deferment packs are sent out in plenty of time before the customer’s deferment lapses
or before they are due to enter repayment.
When the form is returned to the company it goes to Central Document Services at
Hillington. The form is scanned along with any evidence and an electronic image is sent via
a software package to the advisor who will eventually work the deferment applications. The
form and any evidence enclosed (excluding any photocopied evidence) will be returned to
the customer.
Deferment Application Forms
Although all DAF’s are by and large the same there are 2 types of covering letter’s sent with
the form.
A customer entering repayment for the first time the April after their graduation will receive a
PREL (pre-repayment
letter).
These letters
state:
“As you completed your course last year”
There is also a daily ‘
PREL’ run to capture customers who have dropped out between the
end of January and the end of March, but before repayments are due to commence in April.
The letters sent to repeat deferrers are
DFRE / DEF1 (end of deferment pack). These letters
state:
“Your current deferment period will expire on …”
Requesting a Reprint
Customers frequently require a reprint of these forms. These can be obtained from the
‘Request a Reprint’ screen.
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What Proof Does the Customer Need?
The customer must prove that they are earning under the threshold for deferment. Some
examples of acceptable proof are shown below:
In Receipt of Benefits
o
Benefits agency stamp on form.
o
Recent award letter confirming name, date, type and amount of benefit received.
o
Bank statements showing benefits being credited to account.
o
If receiving Tax Credits, an award / assessment letter from HMRC.
Employed
o Payslips confirming gross income (not take home pay) for the last three calendar
months (handwritten payslips not acceptable).
o Signed and dated letter from employer on headed paper confirming gross monthly
income for each of the last three calendar months (including overtime / bonuses /
allowances / London weighting etc).
o Offer of employment / copy of contract dated within the last two months together with
most up to date payslip.
o A P11 (printout from temp agency) displaying company name, customer name and
gross earnings.
o Internet / Intranet payslip printouts
Self Employed
o Tax assessment, profit and loss accounts, latest statement of business accounts,
form SC60 or an accountant’s letter.
Unearned Income
o Signed and dated letter from Third Party confirming level of support is less than
current deferment threshold.
o Grant Award Letter for current academic year. ESPRC letter for current course
together with letter from College confirming attendance.
o Copy of loan agreement.
o Maintenance agreement or letter from person making payments.
o Letting agreement or letter from tenant confirming frequency and amount paid.
o Bank statements showing sufficient balance / overdraft facility. Also letter confirming
this is the only means of support.
o Confirmation of income received from investments.
o Copy of travel itinerary and evidence of support e.g. – savings, overdraft, Third Party
Support, letter confirming intention to gain casual work.
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Deferment Forms Returned by a Third Party When the Borrower is
Travelling
The first type would be signed by the Third Party and accompanied by a POA or Consent to
Share advising of the borrower's means of support.
The second type would be signed by a Third Party, accompanied by a POA or Consent to
Share advising that the borrower is abroad travelling.
The third type would be signed by a Third Party and accompanied by a letter from the Third
Party explaining that the borrower is abroad travelling. The Deferment Form will be input via
CLASS and be routed to the correct POA queue, pending the appropriate information being
requested. The information required would be a POA or Consent to Share from the
borrower.
If the DAF is unsigned, then it is incomplete and it will be routed to the appropriate
incomplete queue.
Other
o If serving custodial sentence then letter from prison authority required.
Student
o Student Support Number for current academic year (1st instalment of loan must already
have been paid to be classed as income).
Consent to Share
Consent to Share (CtS) is written or verbal authorisation from our customers allowing us to
provide account information, with the exception of the customers bank details, to a 3rd party
which they have nominated. The Consent to Share party must satisfy the authentication
process of SLC before any information may be divulged in respect of our customer. The
authentication process requires full name, full address including post code, relationship to
student, date of birth and password. In exceptional cases where a student’s circumstances
prevent them from setting up ’Consent to Share’ these will be dealt with on a case to case
basis.
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Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney (PoA) is an official document where an individual can grant attorney to a
3rd party to release or update information relating to their account details. A PoA must
contain the specific period for which the 3rd party can act as an attorney and the specific
tasks that the attorney can perform. With effect from the 01/09/05 we may only release or
update information to 3rd parties who hold a PoA and satisfy the authentication process of
SLC. In exceptional cases where a student’s circumstances prevent them from making a
telephone call to set up authentication these will be dealt with on a case to case basis. With
all PoA enquiries the advisor should aim at all times to enhance the existing PoA’s originally
held on file with the new authentication guidelines.
A PoA must take a prescribed form e.g. wording is slightly different in England and Scotland.
For more information on a PoA please refer to SLC’s Service Standard Guidelines.
Except in the cases of overseas deferments, SLC would require a PoA in favour of a 3rd party
in the instance that a 3rd party wished to make changes to a customer’s account.
Deferment Approved?
o When deferment has been input and accepted a ‘Deferment Acceptance’ letter will be
sent to the customer’s correspondence address.
o Deferment will run for a 12 month period and we will contact the customer again next
year before deferment expires.
o Deferment can be backdated up to a maximum of 3 months. If there are outstanding
arrears after the 3 months have been backdated the Deferment Acceptance letter will
advise of any outstanding arrears.
o If DAF input during BACS cycle, CLASS will display a calculation date. On this date the
deferment period will either backdate or future date depending on whether the Direct
Debit that has been called for has been paid or not.
Deferment Approved and Circumstances Change
Deferment can still be in place and the customer can set up a Direct Debit override for any
amount. Alternatively cheques, PIB or Standing Order can be used as viable repayment
methods.
The customer’s deferment period can be cancelled and a monthly Direct Debit can be put in
place, however the Direct Debit must be set up for at least the minimum repayment amount
as determined by the last re-schedule taken at either 31st March or 31st August the previous
year.
The customer must advise SLC in writing that the deferment period is to be cancelled.
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If Deferment has been Deemed Incomplete
o Customer has not signed form – a new form is generated and a tick sheet sent to advise
them of the problem.
o Not enough evidence enclosed – the DAF is held in an incomplete queue and a tick
sheet is sent to explain the problem to the customer. When the evidence comes in it will
go to Correspondence Dept who will prepare it for scanning. This will then marry up with
the incomplete DAF.
o A grace period of 28 days is granted if the application has been deemed incomplete.
This gives the customer 4 weeks in which to supply the missing element in their
application.
If Deferment Has Been Rejected
o The customer's income from all sources is over the threshold. In these instances the
case will be routed to the ‘Possible Rejection’ queue and will be reviewed by the
Assistant Manager. The customer will be advised by letter that their application for
Deferment has been rejected.
If No Deferment Form Received
o If we do not receive a Deferment Application by the end of March then we have to
assume that the customer wishes to repay. That being the case, we send a letter to the
customer advising them of the value of the repayments due to be collected on the April
due date. If we do not have a live Direct Debit Instruction on the customers account we
will send them an Instruction and request that they complete it. We will send 2
Instructions in total and if there is still no response from the customer we will send them
a Pay-In Book.
Faxed Deferment Forms
DAF’s and their supporting evidence can only be faxed in extreme emergencies and must be
authorised by a Team Leader beforehand.
o If the need for a fax arises, remind the customer to fax both sides and fax supporting
evidence.
o When a fax comes through someone in Hillington has to come off their scanning duties
to prepare the faxed material, which means that their normal duties are suffering. Faxes
are not treated as a priority.
o The forms are to be faxed to Hillington only on Fax Number - 0141 810 1844.
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Disability
o Special Repayment and Deferment arrangements can be organised for disabled
customers.
o The repayment term can be extended to 120 months.
o The deferment term can be extended to 36 months.
o Loans may be cancelled and the balance written off in the case of customers who will
never work again providing we have a satisfactory medical report from their doctor
confirming they are permanently unfit for work. We also require confirmation from the
DWP advising what benefits are received and for what period.
o HSL will determine eligibility for their own loans.
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Identifying if DAF Sent out
From
‘Customer Selection’ choose
‘Customer Activity Enquiry’:
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This screen displays all system activity ever taken on the customers account. Because this
activity can be vast it is necessary to narrow down the field to enable us to view deferment
activity only. To do this we must firstly go to the
‘View Options’ tab then click on the button
‘Clear All’. With the fields clear we are free to select
‘Deferment Applications /
Cancellations’ field as below:
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Now when we return to the Activity tab there is only deferment information on view. Double
clicking with the left mouse button will give you more in depth information on the selected
line.
There are 5 possible entries in this selection:
Deferment Requested:
This is the date the deferment pack was sent to the customer.
Deferment Returned:
This is the date the deferment form was received back at SLC.
Deferment Accepted:
Double clicking on this entry will enable you to provide the customer with a
deferment start and end date.
Deferment Incomplete:
Double clicking on this entry will enable you to tell the customer the reason
why their deferment is incomplete.
Deferment Rejected:
This will allow you to inform the customer that their application for
deferment has been rejected.
In 2002 the above customer was sent their DAF on the 2nd April. They
‘Returned’ the form
to us on the 22nd April but the form could not be approved because something was amiss.
The account was marked
‘Incomplete’ and a tick sheet detailing the error was sent to the
customer. The customer supplied the missing element and the deferment was
‘Accepted’ on the 9th May.
Double clicking on an
‘Accepted’ record allows you to inform the customer of their
deferment start and end date.
Note: If any further action is taken on an account e.g. a deferment shift then the ‘Last
Updated By’ field may be different to the ‘Status Set By’ field.
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DEFERMENT SHIFTS AND REFUNDS
What is a Deferment Shift and why is it Used?
Customers begin making their repayments the April following their last date of attendance.
For various reasons some customers are late in returning their deferment application. They
may not have received the initial deferment application and they do not realise repayments
have been deducted from their bank accounts by Direct Debit until they receive a bank
statement.
In these cases SLC - on request (telephone call acceptable) - is willing to refund Direct Debit
instalments for a
maximum of three months.
For example, a customer may apply for deferment after having repaid by Direct Debit for two
months. Providing their deferment is accepted and a refund has been requested, the advisor
would shift the start date of deferment back by two months e.g. - where a customer applies to
defer at the end of May having paid April and May’s instalments - after deferment is
approved and the status of the account changes to
‘D’, the start date is shifted from June to
April which therefore creates two months offset cash available for refund.
The following are examples on whether refunds should be processed or not:
Q)
Customer’s deferment ends and repayments are called for by DD. They realise late and apply for
deferment. They then ask for a deferment shift and refund.
A)
This customer is entitled to a refund because they deferred before and have clearly forgotten
this time, given that they wanted to defer we would refund up to 3 months repayments and
shift.
Q)
Customer’s deferment ends and they fall into arrears. They manually pay the arrears and apply for
deferment, they then ask for a deferment shift and refund.
A)
This customer is not entitled to a refund. We have had to use the collections process to
actively retrieve repayments they missed as a result of not deferring therefore they are not
entitled to any refund.
Q)
Customer has been repaying by DD then decides to apply for deferment. They ask for a refund and
a shift.
A)
If the customer has been repaying and then asks for a refund they would be entitled to one
up to a maximum of 3 months.
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PROCESSING AND INPUTTING A DEFERMENT SHIFT
There are three different scenarios that apply when inputting a deferment shift. The most
straight forward of which is where the customer has been accepted for deferment, the status
of the account has already changed to
‘D’ and Direct Debit repayments have been claimed
for and met.
Inputting a Deferment Shift on an Account in D Status
Establish the number of months to be refunded and check that the bank details have not
been updated since the last collection. Once these checks have been made follow these
instructions for the first scenario:
From the pull down menus choose
‘Post Payment’ > ‘Deferment’ > ‘Input Deferment
Decision’.
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Click on the
‘Individual’ tab and then click the torch to search for the customer:
Once the customer's details are on display, the Loan Deferment Status should be displayed
as ‘accepted’ and the start and end date fields should be populated as shown in the screen
above.
Highlight the box
and type in the number of months for which the shift is to apply,
(Maximum of three) then click on the
‘Process Deferment Shift’ button. Save your actions.
The deferment start date and end date will immediately backdate taking into account the
number of months shifted.
A replacement deferment acceptance letter will be automatically produced informing the
customer when repayments will become due again.
The refund however cannot be actioned until the following day as the system updates
overnight.
Deferment Decision Input too Late for Current Month
The second scenario is when the deferment application form has been received and input
but too late to take effect in the current month.
For example a customers application is input on 18th February however the repayment due
date is the 10th. A shift and refund cannot be carried out until the 10th March because the
status will not change until that date. In these cases the borrower must be advised that the
refund will not be issued for 5 to 7 days after 11th March (the date the refund is input).
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Inputting a Deferment Shift When There is a Calculation Date
The third scenario occurs when a deferment application has been received and input within
three working days before the repayment due date. Technically the customer has deferred
before their due date so deferment should be granted. The problem arises because of our
procedure of sending the customers details to BACS 4 working days before their due date.
In these cases the system is confused because it has received conflicting information. As we
have put the customer onto the BACS tape the system thinks that the customer wishes to
repay. If we then go on to input a deferment decision we have now given the system
information to the contrary. If the repayment is met the deferment will forward date to the
next month, because the customer has repaid they are still in
‘R’ status. If however the
Direct Debit is returned unpaid, the deferment will be backdated to commence from the
repayment due date in the current month and the customers status alters to
‘D’.
It is easy to recognise these accounts. When you click on the
‘Accepted’ record to give the
customer their deferment start and end date, instead of seeing a start and end date you will
see in its place a
‘Calculation’ date. This is the date that the system knows it will hear back
from BACS and it will then have the necessary information on which to base its decision.
The customer should be instructed to call back on that date to confirm deferment start and
end date.
If that Direct Debit is returned unpaid, then no shift or refund is required.
However, if the Direct Debit has been met then you may not create the shift or process the
refund until the following month when the status changes to
‘D’.
Other Circumstances
Sometimes borrowers may be particularly insistent on the refund being processed prior to the
following month. Only when there is no way to pacify or persuade them otherwise would a
supervisor deal with the call and then instruct the advisor to complete the refund memo. In
these cases the refund is processed which creates arrears on the account and a diary entry
must be made to ensure that the shift is done as soon as it is possible. The Collections
Department must also be contacted to ensure that the borrower is not chased for outstanding
monies.
A Deferment Shift can only be processed once so it is important to get it right the first time
and before processing please check that a previous shift has not been carried out for that
year.
A Deferment Shift can only be carried out for a maximum of 3 months.
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q.
I have had repayments taken from my account. Can I have a refund?
A.
A refund is only possible when the deferment has started and a‘Deferment Shift’ has been
carried out.
Q.
I did not receive my forms because I changed address. Can I have a refund?
A.
Customers frequently move house without informing the company. A refund is still possible
as long as the deferment has started and ‘Deferment Shift’ has been carried out.
Q.
I have incurred bank charges can I have those charges refunded?
A.
SLC will only give a refund to a customer if we were at fault. e.g. if the customer returned
their form and for some reason we failed to work it. Not because the customer failed to
inform us of their new address and subsequently made a repayment which incurred bank
charges.
Q.
I have incurred SLC charges and I am unhappy about it. Can I have them reversed?
A.
SLC charges are discretionary but should be enforced wherever possible.
Q.
Do you include overtime in your calculations?
A.
Customers should be made aware that income from all sources is included in our
calculations.
Q.
I have returned my form but have been informed that it is not yet visible on your system. What will
happen now?
A.
Check scanning to see if the DAF is in the building. If not inform the customer that the form
has not yet reached SLC and if a reasonable amount of time has passed it would be
advisable to send the customer a reprint.
Q.
I am a supply teacher who earns over the threshold. My wages will drop though, can I defer then?
A.
These customers must wait until their earnings drop below the threshold and they can defer
at that time.
Q.
Is all income included; bonuses, child benefit, maintenance payment, income from property letting,
London weighting etc?
A.
Customers should be made aware that income from all sources will be included in our
calculations.
Q.
Can you process my refund before my deferment is approved?
A
It is vital that deferment is approved before a refund can be given. If we refund a customer
and their deferment does not go on to be approved then we would have given back money
that the customer was due to pay, thereby putting that customer into arrears.
Q.
If I defer, will interest stop accruing?
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A.
No, interest will still accrue at the current rate until the loan is fully repaid. Interest is
calculated daily and applied monthly.
Q.
I cannot afford the minimum repayment required of me but would still like to pay something – what
should I do?
A.
Complete the deferment form and set up a Direct Debit override.
Q.
I am going abroad this year and won’t be around to fill in the forms – what should I do?
A.
Make sure that you leave a letter of consent (a document which gives consent to another to
deal with your affairs). Remember to also leave proof of how you will be supporting yourself.
Acceptable evidence in these cases are: Copy of Visa, copy of flight itinerary etc and
confirmation of your income.
Q.
How long does deferment last for?
A.
Each deferment will last for 12 months.
Q.
My income is currently over the threshold at the moment however, I will shortly be leaving this job for
one which will pay under the threshold. What should I do?
A.
Do not return the DAF until you start your new job and can supply acceptable evidence of
your new income.
Q.
I sent in my payslips and I urgently need them back – can you return them today?
A.
Payslips will be returned in due course. In emergencies we can send copies taken from
Tower Imaging. These copies are accepted by Family Tax Credit and most banks and
building societies.
Q.
When deferment is input, do any arrears automatically backdate?
A.
Any arrears will backdate in the overnight cycle. (Maximum 3 months)
Q.
Are hand written payslips acceptable?
A.
Kalamazoo payslips are the only handwritten payslips that we accept.
Q.
If I was earning over the threshold and then my wages dropped allowing me to defer can I claim a
refund of any money previously repaid?
A.
No, repayments made while over the threshold are non refundable.
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Processing and Inputting a Direct Debit Refund
From the
‘Customer Selection’ screen, choose the option
‘Refund Request Entry’:
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Click the
‘Refund’ button on the line where the refund is to be applied. (Remember that if
the loan is part of an amalgamated set, then you must select the refund button on the loan
account where transactions are held):
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In the majority of Direct Debit refunds the funds will be credited back into the customer’s
account via BACS, therefore make sure that the
‘BACS’ radio button is selected at the top of
the screen. Ensure that the bank details have not changed since the Direct Debit collection.
Click on the tick box where it states
‘Include Account in Refund’
Note how the
‘Repayments’ button at the bottom of the screen enables:
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By clicking on the ‘Repayments’ button displays the screen below showing every Direct Debit
transaction that has come in on the customer’s account that is surplus to requirements.
Exercise caution in this screen as repayments from previous years may also be displayed
here. The only repayments that should be refunded to the customer are the ones that the
Deferment Shift was specifically actioned to refund.
Place a tick in the
‘Include Trans in Refund’ boxes according to the number of months to
be refunded. The total amount available to refund is shown above, the transaction amount
and the total of the Direct Debit repayments you have selected is shown at the bottom right
of the screen. Clicking the
‘Repayments’ button will display another screen as shown:
Note that the
‘Repayment’ button has now altered its name to
‘Accounts’:
The
‘Accounts’ button must be clicked to allow you to return to the previous screen, this
now allows you to perform the following validation checks:
1.
Is the radio button clicked in the
‘Back-dated Deferment’ field?
2.
Is the correct repayment method selected?
3.
If the refund is to be by BACS are the correct bank details represented?
4.
Does the
‘Amount to Refund’ tally with your calculations?
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If all is in order then process the refund by clicking the
‘Apply Refund’ button. Lastly you
will be presented with a final check box affording you the opportunity to cancel the
transaction:
Once the process is complete you must pass the refund memo to your Team Leader. They
will check and authorise your refund and another Team Leader will release the journal to go
to Finance. Only once Finance has released the refund will the funds be scheduled to be
paid back into the customers’ bank account. It normally takes 4 - 5 days from the time the
refund is authorised.
Note: The above can only be taken on SLC administered accounts.
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CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD
Your password should be changed on your first login. Your new password must be at least 6
characters long and can contain either letters or numbers or both.
To change your password click on
‘Post Payment’ > ‘Data Management change CLASS
Password’ which displays the box below:
•
Type the current password of CLASS
•
Type the new password of your choice
•
Verify the same password again
•
Click the Action Change button
•
Say yes to the prompt box
•
The password chosen must contain 6 or
more characters
Logging Out of CLASS
To log out of CLASS click on the
icon at the top left of the screen as many times as it is
necessary until you return to the desktop.
The red door icon will take you back one step each time you want to leave a screen.
When you have finished updating a customer’s account after saving your actions, click on the
red door and you will be returned to the main screen.
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RTL OVERVIEW
The Repayment of Teacher Loans scheme was an incentive scheme that had been
introduced to try and help address the problem of teacher shortages in certain subjects. To
have qualified for the scheme, the teacher must have been teaching in England or Wales.
This scheme was designed to help encourage new teachers into the profession and to
encourage them to stay in the profession for a number of years.
The idea behind the scheme was that the Government would agree to pay off their loan(s) for
as long as they remained teaching shortage subjects. They would be paid so much each
year, depending on their circumstances, but it could take as long as 5 – 7 years for those
teachers with Mortgage Style loans and up to 10 years for those teachers with ICR loans.
Eligibility
The scheme’s purpose was to help encourage new teachers into the profession, so only
new
teachers were eligible for the scheme. Their employment contract needed to begin on or
between 1st July 2002 and 30th June 2005 and they must have been employed to teach one
or more of the following shortage subjects:
o Mathematics
o Science
o Construction
o Engineering
o English Including Drama
o Design and Technology
o Modern Languages
o Welsh
o Information and Communications Technology
o Basic Skills (Sept 03)
School teachers needed to have obtained QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) since 1st
February 2002. Further Education teachers did not require QTS but did require a recognised
teaching qualification or prove that they were working towards one.
The teacher was required to take up their teaching post within 7 months of qualifying. The
only exception would be if the teacher had given birth within those 7 months. In this instance
the teacher would have had up to 19 months to take up their teaching post.
Not all education establishments were included in the scheme, for example, if the teacher
worked for a private school or College they were not eligible.
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The teacher could have a full-time or part-time job but must have been employed for a
minimum of 1 term and must have been teaching shortage subjects for at least 50% of their
time in a typical week. Supply teachers were eligible if they had a permanent or fixed-term
contract of at least 8 continuous weeks and that contract was directly with the school or Local
Education Authority. Teachers employed by teacher supply agencies were not eligible.
Primary school teachers were only eligible if they were employed as a specialist i.e. they
taught one or more shortage subjects to classes or groups other than their own.
Application Process
When a teacher contacted SLC to request an application form, we would ask a few simple
questions to determine if the customer could have been eligible, including ‘Are you teaching
in England or Wales?’.
The application was then personalised with the customer’s name and address before being
issued.
Once the application form had been completed by the teacher, it then needed to be verified
by an approved verifier (such as Head Teacher) which was an important part of the whole
process. For each teaching post the teacher applied for, the details they give within their
application form had to be double checked and verified by the verifier, so the application form
was not accepted based on the teacher’s word alone.
If the customer was in arrears before their RTL commencement date, their application would
not be processed but held pending until those arrears had been cleared. Although they were
asked to clear their arrears as soon as possible, they would have had until the 30th
November following the current academic year to clear the arrears as this was the latest date
for the acceptance of applications.
Application forms received after 30th November were rejected however SLC did have some
discretion in very exceptional circumstances.
RTL Entitlement
The amount of RTL entitlement to which a teacher was permitted was determined when they
were accepted to the scheme. Providing they continued to teach within the rules of the
scheme and were working full-time, the total of all their outstanding loans (at the date they
were accepted) were covered by RTL. Part-time teachers received a pro-rata amount.
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Change of Circumstance
Should a teacher’s circumstances have changed during the year, they were asked to notify
SLC immediately as the change may affect their entitlement. The Change of Circumstance
form deals with many different situations including:
o Changes to an existing job
o Starting a new job
o Going on an allowable break
o Renewing a contract of employment
o Changing working hours
o Being promoted to a management post and going on secondment
Annual Review
An annual review will take place each September and will ask the teacher to:
o Confirm their teaching circumstances for the past year
o Confirm their plans for the coming year
Like the original application form, this form needs to be verified and returned to SLC by 30th
November. This will enable SLC to confirm their entitlement, and where appropriate, make
adjustments.
SLC’s Administration of the Scheme Involves
Providing Support – SLC will handle both telephone and written enquiries.
Daily Administration of Scheme – Dealing with Change of Circumstance processing, issuing
of refunds where due, issuing of on-going customer correspondence as necessary etc.
Conducting Annual Reviews – Only once a teacher’s circumstances for the past year have
been clarified by the annual review will RTL entitlement be confirmed.
External Teacher Inspections – External teacher inspections will also be carried out. Around
5% of teachers who apply for the scheme will be investigated to verify the details supplied
are correct.
Management Reporting for use by SLC, DIUS and HMRC – There will be a number of
Management Reports produced to provide information.
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HSL / RTL
SLC will continue to administer the RTL scheme post migration. Pre migration all RTL
customers whose loans would have been affected by migration were swapped with non RTL
customers. So at the point of migration no RTL customers were affected by migration. Post
migration any customers who apply for RTL and have migrated accounts will not be swapped
but will continue to be jointly administered by SLC and HSL. There are new processes in
place to deal with these customers.
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RECOVERY OF GRANT OVERPAYMENTS
The Student’s Award Authority may advise SLC on a revised Financial Support Notification
that the Dependants Grant has been re-assessed and this may mean that the customer has
been overpaid.
When a revised Financial Support Notification is received it is uploaded to CLASS.
An overpayment may have occurred in a previous Academic Year or may occur in the
current Academic Year.
SLC will attempt to recover the Dependants Grant overpayment by:
o Re-scheduling future instalments (where possible).
o Deducting the overpayment from the following year’s entitlement (where possible).
o Collecting the overpayment (where first two options are unavailable).
Classifying the Overpayment
Depending on when the overpayment is reported, a new Financial Support Notification will
determine the action and associated processing to be taken on the account.
Circumstances
Classed as
What will Happen
Reported during the
In Course
If reported during the Academic Year – further Grant
Academic Year – further
instalments re-scheduled downwards to account for
Grant instalments
deductions
scheduled
Reported during the
In Course
If there are no available instalments to deduct from,
Academic Year – no
the overpayment will be deducted from next year’s
further Grant instalments
entitlement
scheduled this year
Reported in the students
End of Course
Account will be dealt with by Collections by a variety of
final year – however, no
means
remaining instalments left
to re-schedule
Reported following the
After End of Course
Account will be dealt with by Collections by a variety of
end of the students course
means
In the above scenarios, CLASS will issue correspondence to the customer, advising them
that there has been an overpayment.
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Viewing the Overpayment on CLASS
When the revised Financial Support Notification has been input and uploaded to CLASS, the
following screens will be updated.
The course details tab will be amended and will now look like this:
The
‘Recovery’ button will only be available if a Recovery of Dependants / Supplementary Grant
is applicable.
When the ‘
Recovery’ button is clicked a pop-up box will appear:
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Field
Explanation
(Reduced) Grant Entitlement
The revised Dependants Grant Entitlement minus any
Outstanding Recovery Amount
Paid Amount
The amount paid to the student in this Academic Year
Outstanding Recovery Amount
The value of overpayment yet to be recovered
Dismiss
Removes pop-up box from view
Acknowledgement Letters
The Dependants Grant and the Support Request Acknowledgement letters have been revised in
line with this functionality.
Notifying the Customer
When the overpayment has been notified, a letter will be generated to the customer. Depending
on when the overpayment has been reported, the appropriate letter will be generated:
Circumstances
Classed as
What will Happen
Reported during the Academic Year –
In Course
If reported during the Academic
further Grant instalments scheduled
Year – further Grant instalments re-
scheduled downwards to account
for deductions
Revised Payment Schedule letter
generated
Reported during the Academic Year –
In Course
If there are no available instalments
no further Grant instalments scheduled
to deduct from, the overpayment
this year
will be deducted from next year’s
entitlement.
‘In Course’ letter generated to
advise funds will be deducted from
next year’s entitlement
Reported in the students final year –
End of Course
Account will be dealt with by
however, no remaining instalments left
Collections
to re-schedule
‘End of Course’ letter generated to
advise overpayment due now
Reported following the end of the
After End of
Account will be dealt with by
students course
Course
Collections
‘
After End of Course’ letter
generated to advise overpayment
due now
No correspondence will be issued if:
o The correspondence suppression indicator is enabled.
o The customer is deceased.
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Repaying the Overpayment
It is extremely important to note that on our correspondence to the customer we have created a
new Dependants Grant Reference. This Reference must be quoted if the student is sending
manual repayments to SLC. Finance are aware that this reference is used specifically for
Dependants Grant overpayments and should therefore apply the funds only to the overpayment.
An example of the ‘
Customer Balance Enquiry’ screen is shown to demonstrate that a
repayment has been made.
This information will only be available upon selection of the Grant A/C radio button:
‘O’ represents that the account is in an ‘overdue’ status – those being dealt with by Collections.
Accepting a Credit / Debit Card Repayment
Although a unique reference number has been created for the Grant overpayment, when
processing a Credit / Debit card repayment you will need the LPK Account which can easily be
identified in the
‘Student Details’ tab. The payment types and their LPK Account can also be
seen in the
‘Payments’ tab of the
‘Loan Details’ tab in
‘Customer Account Transaction
Enquiry’ screen.
To ensure the Credit / Debit repayment is correctly applied, you must use the torch and then
select the appropriate LPK Account within the correct Management Account. An example is
shown overleaf:
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GRADUATE ENDOWMENT
The Graduate Endowment Bill that was passed by Parliament in March 2001 introduced the
Graduate Endowment Scheme. The scheme affects those students entering Scottish
Universities from the academic year 2001 / 2002 making them liable to make a one-off payment
in recognition of the benefits received by taking degree courses. The contribution will be put into
an endowment fund to go towards supporting future entrants to higher education.
GE is jointly administered by SAAS and SLC. SAAS are responsible for assessing which
students are liable to repay the GE and which students are exempt. They are responsible for
processing the loan applications for those students who decide they wish to pay their GE via an
ICR loan. Loan applications will then be electronically passed to SLC (using the interface already
in place to create support loans) and it will be SLC who will administer the collection of payments
through the current ICR repayment process
o
The endowment applies to all Scottish and EU students residing in Scotland and
studying full-time for a 1st degree course at a publicly funded, Scottish Higher
Education Institution (HEI) starting on or after 1st August 2001.
o
It is anticipated that approximately 50% of liable students will receive an exemption
from paying the endowment. This would include:
o
Students’ assessed as independent (entitled to the mature students' package) at the
start of their course.
o
Students’ who are eligible for a Lone Parents' Grant at some point during the course.
o
Students’ who have a disability and receive Disabled Students' Allowance at some
point during the course.
o
Students’ who are studying a higher education course which is exempt such as an
HNC or HND course.
o
Students’ who transfer to a degree course directly from an HNC or HND which they
entered before 2001 - 2002.
o
Students’ who take less than two years to complete their degree course immediately
after completing an HNC or HND.
o
Students’ who take less than three years to complete their degree course in all other
circumstances.
o
Students’ who take certain degree courses or any course that attract a Health
Department bursary in each year, such as nursing, midwifery, radiography etc.
o
Students’ who fail to meet the requirements to be awarded a degree.
o
Students’ who have studied for a degree in a publicly-funded higher education
institution before.
o
Students’ who are studying at a UK institution outside Scotland.
o
Students’ who study part-time.
o
Students’ aged 25 or over at the start of the period of study.
o
Students’ married at the start of the period of study.
o
Students’ who have supported themselves for at least 3 years prior to the start of the
period of study.
Although graduates do not pay the endowment until the April after they have completed their
course, the amount payable is set at the beginning of their degree course. The fixed amounts are
as follows:
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o
Liable students who began their degree course in session 2001 / 2002 will have to pay
£2,000.
o
Liable students who began their degree course in session 2002 / 2003 will have to pay
£2,030.
The amount will increase by the rate of inflation for students starting in future years.
The endowment is liable for repayment on the 1st of April following successful completion of the
course. Students who fail to attain the credits necessary to be awarded a degree will not be
liable. A person will only be due to pay one GE regardless of the number of degree courses they
may choose to do.
In order to pay their GE, a student will have the option of making a one-off payment, taking out an
ICR loan or a combination of both. All liable graduates will be eligible for an ICR student loan to
cover the cost of the endowment. This loan will be added to the balance of any existing loans or
if no current loans exist, a new loan will be created.
No money is actually paid to the student when they take out an ICR GE loan. The balance is
simply added to their account. The money is then recovered by SLC via the standard ICR
repayment method and this money then paid to SAAS by SLC.
SAAS will write to all liable students during the final year of their degree course to let them know
how they can pay the Graduate Endowment. They will write again to liable students shortly
before they graduate to ask for details of how they plan to pay the endowment.
Some graduates may wish to pay the endowment direct to SAAS at the end of their course.
However, from an estimated 21,000 students judged eligible to pay, 90% are expected to repay
by loan.
Most GE borrowers will already have existing customer loans with SLC. However, SLC don’t
currently process EU students domiciled in Scotland, therefore these GE borrowers would be
new customers to SLC. There will also be a small percentage of students that would be liable to
pay the GE that have never taken a loan previously.
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The Student Loans Company Ltd
CLASS
Learning & Development
INTRODUCTION TO ICR
Student Support loans fall into Income Contingent Repayment. The Dearing report of 1997 had
various outcomes affecting SLC and the repayment of student loans:
o The repayment of IC loans is directly related to income.
o The average IC repayment period will be longer than Mortgage Style.
Various parties are involved in the collection of IC loans:
o DWP check the validity of National Insurance Numbers (NINO’S).
o The HMRC advise employers to commence / cease deductions.
o Employers are expected to collect deductions from customer wages and then send to
the HMRC.
o SLC are responsible for the maintenance of the customer’s account.
IC customers are due to enter repayment the 6th April (the start of a new Tax Year), following
their last date of attendance. In the October prior to entering repayment, SLC ask the HMRC to
check their employment records and advise of the borrower’s employment status.
Dependent on their employment circumstances, IC customers will repay their loans through either
the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system, Self Assessment (SA) or direct to SLC if outwith the UK tax
system.
SLC’s Validation on NINO’s
To allow successful collection of repayments from a customer with an ICR loan, we need to have
a valid National Insurance Number (NINO). SLC aims to establish this as soon as the student
applies for a new loan.
Should the customer fail to provide a valid NINO, or valid reason for not possessing a valid NINO,
then 2nd and 3rd instalments will be withheld.
DWP’s Validation on NINO’s
In order to ensure that the NINO’s we have are correct, the Department for Work and Pensions
(DWP) will verify those that SLC send to them. We will send these at the end of the first month
after the student has had their first loan instalment. However, before we can send a NINO file to
the DWP we need to ensure that every customer has a NINO noted on their account and that it is
in a valid format.
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©
The Student Loans Company Ltd
CLASS
Learning & Development
Customer Enters ‘Repayment’ Status
When CLASS identifies that a student is due to graduate in this tax year, i.e. on or before 5 April,
or notes that they have withdrawn from their course, it begins the process of preparing their
account(s) for repayment. CLASS will extract all those accounts that do not meet the criteria for
repayment via the tax system at this point in time and will deal with them accordingly.
CLASS will then prepare a file of all those customer details that are suitable to start repaying
through the tax system. The first, and largest, of these files is then sent to the HMRC in the
October preceding the new tax year.
Once matched to a live employment record the customer will receive a letter, normally in
November, informing them that they are about to enter repayment in April (the new tax year) and
that collections will be made from then if appropriate.
Unmatched or No Live Employment – Other
If the HMRC are unable to match to a live employment record then SLC will issue a Confirmation
of Customer Details pack for the customer to provide their employment details.
PGCE Accounts
Borrower’s who have both MS loans and an ICR PGCE loan will be extracted before information
is sent to the HMRC as they have to be issued an option form which gives them the opportunity
to pay their ICR loan only, their MS loan only (assuming they earn over the threshold – if not they
can defer) or both. Borrowers have to opt to repay at least one of their loans i.e. if they decide to
put off repaying their IC loan they cannot then choose to defer their MS loan. Once this option
form has been returned the details will be recorded on CLASS. MS / IC repayments are now
due.
Customer Goes Overseas
Should the customer advise SLC that they are leaving the UK tax system, we will record a leaving
date on CLASS. This action will generate an Overseas Income Assessment Form. When the
customer returns this form, SLC will input and generate a monthly repayment amount due.
If the customer fails to meet their monthly repayment amount due then their account will fall
overdue and the arrears are to be collected.
Should the customer fail to return the form by the leaving date or fail to provide income
information then SLC have been unable to assess the customers’ liability to repay. In these
instances a fixed rate repayment will be scheduled on the customers account.
However, if the customer did not advise that they had left the UK tax system and SLC identify that
the customer is / has been outwith the UK tax system then an increased penalty rate of interest
will be applied to their account for the period of their non compliance.
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©
The Student Loans Company Ltd
CLASS
Learning & Development
Repayments via HMRC
Should the customer match as a UK tax payer then they will repay via:
o PAYE
o SA
o PAYE / SA
Following the end of the tax year, the files containing repayment information will be sent from the
HMRC to SLC. Once loaded, the repayment amount will be deducted from the customers
balance, interest which has accrued over that tax year applied and a statement can then be
issued.
Settlement Figures
At any point in the process, a customer may request a settlement figure for their outstanding
balance. For customers who are making repayments via the HMRC we may need to manually
input this information to provide an accurate settlement figure.
Full Repayment Predictions
For customers who are in repayment SLC can provide an indication of when the balance may be
fully repaid. This action will reduce the likelihood of the customer overpaying.
Refunds
When the HMRC repayment files load, if CLASS identifies that the customer has overpaid then
an Automatic Credit Balance refund may be generated.
Advisors may process a Clerical Credit Balance refund when it is identified that the customer has
overpaid and an Automatic refund has not yet been processed.
If the customers’ earnings fall below the annual threshold however they have made some
repayments then they may have those refunded via a Below Threshold refund.
There are refund scenarios that occur outwith the above functionality where we would use the
Generic refund option.
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