Student Loan - Loans and Debt Consolidation

BARCLAYS ORDERED TO REPAY STUDENT LOAN BLOG

New Barclays boss Bob Diamond could soon wake up to a hefty bill on his doorstep.

As we reported earlier this year, a string of private training providers went bust after Barclays Partner Finance stopped providing loans to their students.

One called Property Professionals+ - which offered training for a new career as an energy assessor - left 2,500 hopefuls in the lurch.

But Barclays refused to pay up and instead arranged for an alternative training company to finish the course.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is being asked to rule in hundreds of cases and weve seen its first adjudication.

One student is down 5,850 after repaying Barclays loan but complained the replacement course involved less teaching, led to different qualifications and, unlike the original course, did not result in an offer of work with the sister company of Property Professionals+.

Ombudsman Raj Varadarajan wasnot persuaded that Barclays proposed remedy is fair and reasonable as the replacement course wasnt equivalent.

He told Barclays to refund the loan plus interest.

Its a one-off ruling but, if others go the same way, Barclays could owe millions. But probably less than the 26m Diamond banked from Barclays shares last year.

Im one of the students who was with Advent before they went bust and I wouldve thought that Barclays would have cancelled my contract. Instead they set me up with a second rate training provider which is not at all the same s...[more]