The British Treasury is running a deficit and the government is looking hard for ways to put money back into the Treasury. Thousands of people have already been forced to pay back benefits they were wrongly paid. In some cases, the sums amount to tens of thousands of pounds.
In addition, companies and individuals who have assisted people to illegally receive such benefits are being investigated, with some offenders already in jail.
Another commonly practiced fraud exists, which I also expect to become a topic in the news - sooner or later. It is about student loans.
As most of you have noticed, many people offer assistance to enroll you to study. The help is insistently offered so that the helper can get his commission - which is OK, if all is well. Very often, however, such persons or companies lie and falsify documents for the sole purpose of enrolling you in an educational institution and getting you the maximum amount of money.
Enrolling agents very often intentionally don't tell you the truth about student loans, hide if you already have higher education from Bulgaria, don't declare if you live with a "mate" or not and what not.
If the authorities ever check you and find out that you have been using fraud, they may force you to start repaying your loan immediately, no matter what your salary is.
Some people think if they go back to Bulgaria they won't have to repay their student loan, but that's not exactly true.
Even when someone comes home permanently, depending on their salary, they may have to start paying back their student loans.
Currently the lower income threshold for Bulgarian students is £10,920.00 per year (BGN 25634.44 per year or 2136.20 per month before tax). This means that if you earn more income than this, you must start repaying your loan.
If it turns out that you've moved back home and haven't notified Student Finance within 3 months, and on one check they find out you haven't followed the rules, they can ask you to pay £148.80 a month regardless of how much money you earn a year.
It is recommended if you decide to move back to Bulgaria permanently to fill in the necessary paperwork with Student Finance so that you know you will not be unpleasantly surprised.
If you need help If you need assistance to get into university, or if you have a problem with funding, or if you want to move back to Bulgaria permanently - we can help make things happen easily.
