Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday’s ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.
Ms K.R. writes: My daughter was in her second year at university when she decided she wanted to change courses.
Her tutors advised her to check that her fees would be covered. She did this and was told she could have three further years, fully funded, so she swapped courses.
Imagine her horror then, after receiving a letter from the Student Loans Company, saying she has to pay this year’s fees of £9,250.
Misguided: The helpline at the Student Loans Company is unhelpful
Tony Hetherington replies: The letter from the Student Loans Company (SLC) admitted that your daughter received wrong advice, but added: ‘We must award funding in line with the student support regulations.’ It offered her £100, leaving her just £9,150 to find to cover this year’s fees!
According to the SLC, your daughter did not confirm the length of the new course, and when the adviser tried to clarify this she ended the online conversation. The problem only came to light when her written application was received, and the SLC’s rejection of funding was notified before the new course began.
In fact, the rejection arrived just days before your daughter’s new course began, when her only options were to quit university or look for work to fit in with her studies. She found a job, though the stress of finding time for studying has left you and her tutors concerned.
More significantly, though, the SLC’s statement made it appear that your daughter made a vague enquiry and then said goodbye when the adviser asked about the length of the new course. But a Subject Access Request under data protection rules yielded a full transcript of her enquiry, which revealed it did not happen like that.
The phone was answered by the usual annoying robot, offering a selection of questions. When she said none applied, it transferred her to a human adviser. She explained very clearly that she had just finished the second year of her biological chemistry course and wanted to switch to a course more linked to a branch of medicine.
She told the adviser: ‘I just wanted to know if I’d be funded for the three years.’ And the adviser replied: ‘As you have had two years’ full funding, your remaining entitlement would be three remaining years’. He stressed: ‘You would have a further three years’ eligibility of full funding.’
I went over all this with the SLC. It is crystal clear that your daughter was enquiring about funding for three years, and the adviser gave her the answer she hoped to hear.
The SLC admits that its adviser got it wrong, but it has fallen back on a get-out-of-jail-free card played by the robot. Before handing over to the adviser, the robot said: ‘Our live chat team can answer your questions. They cannot tell you that you’ll definitely get student finance. We need to look at your whole application before we can make a decision.’
In short then, the adviser can answer your questions, but you should not rely on the answers! This rather spoils the point of having an advice service, I’d have thought.
I hope your daughter graduates in her chosen field, but it will not be thanks to the SLC, unfortunately.
WE’RE WATCHING YOU: Scammers vanish… but for how long?
Two weeks ago I warned that Belfast investment company Alex Dickson & Sons Ltd was not all it seemed.
Although the firm is genuine, crooks had stolen its name and registration number to appear authentic. They had set up a website, adsamgroup.com, and claimed to have been in the investment business for over a century.
The real company is indeed more than a century old, but has always been a horticultural firm.
Scam: Messages and calls from the fake firm show they have acquired lists of investors who were ripped off by scams going back at least ten years
Well, within hours of my warning appearing, the website was wiped from the face of the internet.
Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged that it is nothing more than a fraud.
Messages and calls from the fake firm show they have acquired lists of investors who were ripped off by scams going back at least ten years. They are operating a so-called recovery room – a second scam to cheat the same victims all over again.
One was told they had traced a staggering £368,000 held offshore, which he could claim if he paid them £18,000.
I revealed they were using phone number 0333 880 9050, and I can now warn they also used Belfast number 02895 582206. If they set up shop again, I’ll sound the alarm again.
If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
