Prime Minister John Key has announced an inquiry into the escape of murderer Philip John Smith from New Zealand:

Student loan debtors should not be treated worse than murderers.

A good summary of the emotional effects of debt was published on The Simple Dollar website. The emotional effects of debt include:

• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• Resentment.
• Stress.
• Anger.
• Shame.
• Embarrassment.
• Fear

We see this all the time. Clients whose marriages are harmed by one partner having a large student loan debt, clients with depression, clients whose health is impacted by the rage they feel at the New Zealand government because of the way their loan has been handled by the IRD. It doesn't have to be this way. If you are drowning in student loan debt, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Take control of your life and contact us.

Do you have family members visiting New Zealand, for Christmas, who have overdue student loans? Your family members may be at risk of arrest if their student loans are not sorted before travelling.

We  offer the only specialist student loans service in New Zealand. We have helped hundreds of student loan borrowers to obtain write offs, workable repayment arrangements or to become bankrupt. There is still enough time before Christmas for us to help you or your family members.

If you are worried about a student loan debt that has spiralled out of control, or you just want to sort things out, contact the student loan specialists today. Our help is cost effective, prompt and confidential.

If this is you, take action now. We can help you get your loan sorted, and your life back under control. Our help is prompt, cost effective and confidential. Please contact us today.

Late in 2013 the IRD started data matching with the Department of Internal Affairs. As a result of obtaining passport renewal information, the IRD contacted over 2,300 overseas based student loan debtors, whose whereabouts were previously unknown to it. 

The IRD obtained payments of over $6 million from the debtors contacted. The IRD's costs were only $1,700 so we can expect to see much greater future use being made of the IRD's data matching powers.

The IRD is increasingly using commercial debt collectors to chase student loan debtors living in Australia and the UK.  In the last year the IRD's Australian debt collectors collected $6.7 million from 1,782 Australian resident borrowers. With returns like that there is little chance that the debt collectors will go away. We hear from many overseas based borrowers who are being harassed by debt collectors. They call night and day, at home and at work. They don't care if you are sick or don't have enough money to pay the bills or if you have a dispute with the IRD about the debt or if their harassment pushes you to the point of contemplating suicide. 

What should you do if a debt collector contacts you? We don't think you should talk to them. We recommend that you contact us straight away as we can help with advice on your options, and how to resolve the problem without further stress. We have resolution options that the debt collectors won't tell you about.  If you can't contact us we recommend that you deal directly with the IRD and not a commercial debt collector.

We are always interested in hearing about your experiences with the debt collectors. Please contact us in confidence to discuss.

Late in 2013 the IRD started data matching with the Department of Internal Affairs. As a result of obtaining passport renewal information, the IRD contacted over 2,300 overseas based student loan debtors, whose whereabouts were previously unknown to it. 

The IRD obtained payments of over $6 million from the debtors contacted. The IRD's costs were only $1,700 so we can expect to see much greater future use being made of the IRD's data matching powers.

Government statistics show that, on average, student loan debtors who move overseas take twice as long to pay back their loans, compared to student loan debtors who remain living in New Zealand.

For student loan debtors who finished their education in 2009, the median student loan debt repayment time for those who stayed in New Zealand was 6.7 years. For those who left New Zealand it was 12.1 years. A large part of the difference is because overseas based debtors pay interest on their debts making it much harder to repay the student loan. Part of the difference is also due to the easier way that payments are handled if you remain living in New Zealand.

What does this mean for you? When you weigh up the costs and benefits of the big OE, your student loan debt should be taken into account. It may be much better for your long term financial security if you stay in New Zealand and pay off your student loan debt, in full, before you head off overseas. If your student loan debt is getting you down, please contact us, as we can definitely help.

In 1992 student loan debtors owed $92.9 million. In 2013 this had grown to $13,562 million. 

Part of the reason for this massive increase is the huge increase in numbers of younger and older borrowers. In 2000 there were only 579 student loan borrowers aged 60 years or older. In 2010 the figure was 2,568. For the under 20's the numbers of borrowers had increased from 35,907 to 55,158.

It's great that people of any age can study but unmanageable student loan debt has a big impact on too many people.  We have many clients who borrowed when they were just teenagers, some as young as 15 years, who did not understand the debt they were taking on. Some of them were told that if they earned beneath a certain amount they wouldn't have to pay anything back, even if they went overseas. Some of these people are now in their 30's and 40's and unable to start a family or buy a house.

Having a student loan debt when you are about to retire can also be deeply harmful to your financial and emotional well being.

There are lots of ways we can help you if your student loan debt is getting you down, but we also think that the whole scheme needs an overhaul.