Overpayments to your student loan and claiming a refund
What you need to know
About overpayments
If you've repaid more to your student loan than you were required to for the tax year, you can choose what to do with the overpayment. You can either:
- leave the overpayment on your account
- apply for a refund, or
- transfer the overpayment.
Leave the overpayment on your account
If you leave your overpayment on your account, it will reduce your loan balance and the term of your loan.
Apply for a refund
If you choose to apply for a refund, it will increase the balance of your loan. You must apply for your refund within six months of receiving your end-of-year repayment calculation. You may also be charged interest on the amount of your refund see "Find out more" below.
Transfer the overpayment
If you have a student loan bill for another tax year, you can transfer your overpayment to the other tax year to offset the bill. You can also transfer your overpayment to other tax bills for example, you could transfer your student loan overpayment to an income tax bill. You may be charged interest on the amount transferred see "Find out more" below.
Interest on the refund or transfer
From 30 November 2005, you'll be charged interest on the amount refunded or transferred if:
- the refund or transfer is for the tax year 1 April 2004 - 31 March 2005, or 1 April 2005 - 31 March 2006, and
- you aren't in significant financial hardship.
The interest charged on the amount refunded or transferred won't be written off under interest free student loans. However, you may still qualify to have all or part of this interest written off if you're eligible for other interest write-offs. See "Find out more" below, for details.
Additional repayments
If you've made additional repayments to your loan to repay it faster, you still have the option of getting the overpayment refunded. However, if you do get your overpayment refunded, it will take you longer to repay your loan.
Use the Student loan repayment calculator to see the effect of making addtional repayments to your loan.
What you need to do
To request a refund or transfer of an overpayment, you need to phone us on 0800 377 778. If you want to leave the overpayment on your student loan account, you don't need to do anything.
What happens next
- If you request a refund, you'll receive the amount of the overpayment either in your bank account, or by cheque, within five to ten working days.
- If you request a transfer, we'll complete this for you and a statement will be issued confirming the transfer.
Find out more:
Date published: 04 Aug 2006
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