The Repayment of Student Loans and Postgraduate Master’s Degree Loans (Amendment) Regulations 2017

New regulation 20A

13.  After regulation 20, insert—

“Excess payments: more than one loan

20A.— (1) This regulation applies where—

(a) a borrower has—

(i) a postgraduate master’s degree loan and a post-2012 student loan;

(ii) a postgraduate master’s degree loan and a student loan which is not a post-2012 student loan; or

(iii) a post-2012 student loan and a student loan which is not a post-2012 student loan; and

(b) the Authority receives a repayment either directly from the borrower under regulation 15(1) or from HMRC under Part 3 or 4—

(i) which results in one of the loans being repaid in full; or

(ii) when one of the loans has already been repaid in full.

(2) Where the amount of the excess payment exceeds £10, the Authority must give notice to the borrower that—

(a) the Authority intends to treat the excess payment as a direct payment under regulation 15(1) for the second loan, unless the borrower notifies the Authority, within 60 days of the date of the Authority’s notice, that the excess payment should be refunded to the borrower; and

(b) interest will accrue on a refund from the date of receipt of the repayment until the earlier of—

(i) a period of 60 days after the Authority issues the notice; or

(ii) the date on which the Authority makes the refund to the borrower.

(3) The Authority must treat any excess payment as a direct payment to the Authority under regulation 15(1) for the second loan, unless the borrower gives notice to the Authority in accordance with paragraph (2)(a).

(4) Where the borrower gives notice to the Authority in accordance with paragraph (2)(a) that the excess payment should be refunded, the Authority must refund the excess payment and any accrued interest to the borrower.

(5) A refund under paragraph (4) carries interest calculated as if it were the principal of the fully repaid loan, outstanding from the date of receipt of the repayment to the earlier of—

(a) the end of a period of 60 days after the Authority issues a notice, or

(b) the date on which the Authority makes the refund to the borrower,

after which period no interest will accrue.

(6) In this regulation—

(i) “fully repaid loan” means a loan that has been repaid in full in the circumstances described in paragraph (1);

(ii) “second loan” means the loan that remains unpaid in those circumstances;

(iii) “excess payment” means the amount of the repayment described in paragraph (1)(b) which is not required to repay the fully repaid loan.”.