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Student Loan Scheme Act 2011

Interest, relief, penalties and offences, rights of objection, and rights to challenge - Relief - Relief from late payment interest

146: Commissioner may grant relief from late payment interest

You could also call this:

"You can ask for help to cancel some late payment interest on your student loan"

If you have been charged late payment interest on your student loan, you can ask for help to get some of it cancelled. You can do this even if you've already paid some or all of the interest.

To ask for help, you need to apply using a special form. The person in charge, called the Commissioner, will look at your situation. If they think it's fair, they might cancel some or all of the late payment interest.

If the Commissioner cancels some of your late payment interest:

  1. The total amount you owe on your loan will go down by the amount of interest cancelled.

  2. If the cancelled interest was added to any unpaid amount you had, that unpaid amount will also go down.

  3. If you've paid more than you need to because of the cancelled interest, the extra money will be used to pay off other parts of your loan. First, it will pay off any unpaid amounts. Then, it will pay off your main loan balance.

  4. If there's still money left over after paying everything, you'll get that money back.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3830400.

Topics:
Education and learning > Higher educationMoney and consumer rights > Banking and loans
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Part 4Interest, relief, penalties and offences, rights of objection, and rights to challenge
Relief: Relief from late payment interest

146Commissioner may grant relief from late payment interest

  1. Subsection (2) applies—

  2. if a borrower has been charged with late payment interest; and
    1. regardless of whether that late payment interest has been paid, either in whole or in part; and
      1. if an application is made under section 145(1)(a) for relief from late payment interest.

        1. The Commissioner may, having regard to the circumstances of the case and if the Commissioner considers it equitable to do so, grant relief to the borrower by cancelling as much of the late payment interest as the Commissioner considers equitable.

        2. If late payment interest is cancelled,—

        3. the borrower's consolidated loan balance is decreased by the amount of the cancelled late payment interest; and
          1. if the late payment interest has been added to the borrower's unpaid amount under section 139 (whether calculated at the full late payment interest rate in accordance with section 139(2) or the reduced late payment interest rate in accordance with section 141), the borrower's unpaid amount is decreased by the amount of the cancelled late payment interest; and
            1. any payment made in excess of the remaining amount of late payment interest payable (if any) by the borrower (an excess payment) must be offset against the borrower's consolidated loan balance as follows:
              1. first, against any unpaid amount; and
                1. secondly, against the loan balance; and
                2. the Commissioner must refund any remaining excess payment to the borrower (see sections 199 and 200).

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                  Notes
                  • Section 146: replaced, on (applying for 2013–14 and later tax years), by section 61 of the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 10).