HEARTLESS bosses at a student loan company are hounding a desperate Glasgow mum for cash after a lockdown wrangle dragged her into debt.

Gayle McNicol, 47, says she is being pursued by Honours Student Loans for £495 of arrears which the firm expected to be paid towards her account during the Covid pandemic.

The mum-of-two relies on benefits to survive and says she was unable to secure deferment on her loan between March 20, 2020 and August 19, 2021, due to the coronavirus crisis which saw Department of Work and Pensions staff sent to work from home and fail to provide her with proof of her eligibility to pause repayments.

Glasgow Times:

Gayle exclusively told the Glasgow Times: “Basically because the UK was shut down and people were working from home, I couldn’t get my form stamped by the DWP in time to prove that I receive certain benefits and satisfy this firm that I wasn’t in a position to pay them back.

“Within months I began to receive correspondence saying that I had to start making payments, despite the fact I’ve got no way to clear the debt. I’m a vulnerable person and trying to raise two children on my own, I just don’t have that sort of cash to spare.”

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Gayle says that despite the company now accepting that she qualified to defer, they are still insisting that she coughs up the money they believe is due during the 17-month period which is in dispute.

She added: “It’s caused me three years of anguish and stress and I’m still being chased for payment. I’ve sent the company bank statements and a letter of complaint, but I’m getting nowhere.”

Gayle, from Pollokshields in Glasgow’s Southside, took a Mortgage Style (MS) loan, which was issued to students before 2000. All MS loans were sold by the UK Government to companies, with hers sold to and administered by Honours Student Loans.

Deferring repayment, which is only available to MS-style loan holders, means the customer doesn't have to make repayments for each applicable year, but does not result in interest accrual being paused, meaning the £1000 she borrowed for a graphic design course in 1999 has now risen to £1665 over the last 23 years because of her circumstances.

The Glasgow Times has viewed correspondence Gayle sent to the company stating that she should be exempt from payments.

Glasgow Times:

She said: “I’ve got health issues and I’m classed as a vulnerable person, so it’s bad enough the debt has grown so much, but now I’m being chased because of a red tape mix up that was no fault of my own.

“I feel like I can’t be the only person in this situation. If I struggled to access a DWP stamp to prove to this company that I qualify to defer, then others must be in the same position. I’m worried sick about how I’m going to clear this debt and I’m appalled at the way this whole situation has been handled.”

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When contacted by the Glasgow Times for a response, a spokesperson for Honours Student Loans said: “We do not comment on individual cases.”

A DWP spokesperson however admitted their blunder, adding: “We apologise for the delay in processing Ms McNicol’s paperwork.

“During the pandemic, colleagues had access to the relevant DWP systems, including when working from home, enabling them to maintain their normal level of customer service.

“Last year we introduced an online service which can be used to request a proof of benefits letter.”