This slice of family drama comes to us from the UK, where a university student recently discovered that her parents had left her £2250 in debt!
Excited About Her Education
Our protagonist, a young female, has always had dreams of going to university and getting an education. She was excited to start her journey and work towards her future career.
However, things didn’t go exactly as planned. When she applied for a student loan, she didn’t have a bank account.
She and her parents tried to set up a student bank account, but she kept getting rejected, apparently for her non-existent credit history.
As her start date for the university was approaching, they didn’t have enough time to sort out the issue, so they agreed to set up her parent’s bank account to receive the loan and for them to make the payments to her accommodation.
Student Loans in the UK
If you’re not familiar with how student loans work in the UK, students get two loans: a tuition loan of around £9,000 which gets automatically paid to the university, and a maintenance loan of about £4,000, which gets paid to the student to pay for accommodation.
Things didn’t go as planned for the OP at university, either. She struggled with anxiety and stress, which only worsened as time went on. She was having regular panic attacks, and it was affecting her studies.
By her second year, she had reached a breaking point and needed to seek therapy. As a result, she had to go on temporary withdrawal from the university.
During this period, The Student Loan Company (a UK firm created to manage student loans) declared she was overpaid on her maintenance loan since she did not need accommodation for the whole year.
She Owed the Loan Company
The overpayment would get deducted from her next year’s loans.
When she returned to university the following year, things didn’t get any better, and she ended up permanently dropping out.
The Student Loan Company said they had overpaid her a total of £2250 of money she did not need for accommodation, and since she had dropped out due to her mental health, they demanded she pays it back immediately!
The OP obviously didn’t have the money to repay the loan, and her father offered to handle it. Her parents separated at the time of her loan application, but they still had a joint account.
Her Parents Divorced
They are currently in the process of divorcing, and of course, the OP doesn’t want to know the details of her parent’s divorce process.
However, she soon found out that her father was dragging his heels on making the repayments, always pushing back and not taking any action.
This resulted in the OP repeatedly getting threatening phone calls and letters from the Student Loan Company!
After over a year of dealing with the stress and anxiety of the situation, the OP finally confronted her father about it.
The Money Was Gone
She lives with him currently, and he admitted that the money received from the Student Loan Company was “gone.”
Apparently, between both of her parents, they had managed to spend the money that was supposed to go towards her accommodation fees, and now the money just isn’t there anymore!
The OP told her father that they would have to pay the Student Loan Company back with their own money since they decided to spend money that wasn’t theirs to spend.
However, her father deflected the blame on her mother, asking why she couldn’t pay the money back and why he had to!
Debt Burden
This conversation occurred recently, and the OP is feeling very frustrated. She now has to carry the burden of having the debt pinned on her, even though her parents spent money that wasn’t theirs to spend.
It seems like the two of them would rather fight over who should pay the money back than help the OP.
It’s a tough situation for the OP to be in. Not only did she have a difficult time at university, but now she had to deal with the stress of debt and her parents’ financial irresponsibility.
It’s understandable why she would feel frustrated and upset about the situation. She trusted her parents to handle her finances, and they let her down.
Consequences of Their Actions
Now she has to deal with the consequences of their actions. It’s frustrating that her dad is trying to push the responsibility onto her mum, and it’s clear that the divorce has made things even more complicated.
Debt can be a heavy burden, especially for young adults who are just starting out in life. Since the OP’s parents separated at the time of the loan, there may be legal options available to her.
A lawyer can help her navigate the complex legal landscape and determine what her rights are.
It won’t be easy, but with determination and perseverance, she should be able to overcome this setback and emerge stronger and more resilient than ever before.
What do you think about this story? Her parents have really left her in a horrible situation, surely they should pick up the bill?
He Went to the Gym and Took off His Wedding Ring, She Saw Him, and Has a Meltdown
He’s Going to Miss the Birth of His First Child So He Can Extend His Next Business Trip
The post Her Parents Put Her in Debt; Now They Are Fighting Over Who Will Pay the Loan Company first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Dubova. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit