Student Loans Company overpaid by £184m last year - how to check if you're owed a refund

• Former graduates paying back their students loans overpaid by nearly £200 million in the last tax year.
• If you have overpaid, you can request that money back using a new, simple online tool.
• If you don’t, it is put towards your student loan balance.
• The Student Loans Company has contacted some 700,000 people eligible for a refund directly, but just three-quarters have opened the message.

Many former graduates currently paying back their student loans may have a hefty refund waiting for them - if they choose to accept it.

New figures have revealed that the Student Loans Company (SLC) was overpaid by £184 million in the last tax year, the BBC reports. Now hundreds of thousands of graduates who borrowed money to fund their degrees and have since been paying it back might be eligible for a slice of the pie, claiming back any extra cash they might have paid.

SLC says that there are a four main reasons someone might be eligible for a refund. Most of the over people who have had repayments kick because they earned over the threshold amount one month, but still earned less than the annual threshold for repayments throughout the year - such as if they received a one-off bonus.

Other reasons include another repayment accidentally being taken after the loan has been paid off; new graduates being charged before they are required to begin repayments - usually the April after finish their course; or the borrower’s employer putting them on the wrong repayment plan.

Not getting your refund means it goes towards your student loan balance, but according to student money site Save the Student’s finance expert, Tom Allingham, claiming it can be worthwhile for some.

“When students see how much debt they're in after graduation, it can be easy to panic and try to pay it all off before it starts accruing more interest,” he wrote in the site’s advice to borrowers. “However, if you pay it back at the rate set by the Student Loans Company, there's a decent chance that a big chunk of it will be written off after 30 years, saving yourself loads of money in the long run.”

This was particularly true for students from England and Wales who started studying between September 2012 and 2023, he continued. “If you've been making incorrect repayments, I'd definitely recommend requesting a refund if you're eligible, as you may never have to pay it back.”

How to see if you’re owed money - and claim your refund

SLC launched a new online service in May this year to simplify the process of requesting a ‘below threshold’ refund - the most common type.

To support the launch, the student loan provider has directly reached out to nearly 700,000 customers who are eligible for this kind of refund in the 2023/24 tax year. Of those contacted, 75% of customers have opened the email and one third have requested a refund.

If you believe you have made repayments despite earning less than the annual threshold - which differs depending on your repayment plan - you should check your emails (including the spam folder) for any messages from SLC. You can then request your refund online by logging into your SLC account here.

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If you haven’t received an email but still think you might be owed a refund, you can also check which repayment plan you’re on and previous repayment thresholds to work it out. SLC will need HMRC to confirm your income for the year, but once it does you should also be able to apply for your refund using the online portal.

For other reasons you might have overpaid, the process can be a little different. If you have paid off your loan but another repayment has been charged (SLC advises switching to Direct Debits to prevent this), you’ll usually be repaid automatically. You should make sure your bank and contact details are up to date to ensure this goes smoothly.

You can check if your employer has put you on the wrong repayment plan by logging into your account and selecting ‘Download active plan type letter’, then comparing it with your employer has on record - they will be able to correct it if it is wrong. If you have overpaid because of this, you should contact SLC by phone or on social media for your refund once it has been corrected.

Finally, if you started making repayments before you had to, you can once again correct this online. You can then ring or message SLC on social media to request your refund.

Have you discovered you were being overcharged on your student loan repayments, or managed to claim a refund? Share your story by leaving a comment below.