Martin Lewis warns millions of graduates could be owed money in student loan overpayments

Financial expert Martin Lewis explained the reasons why so many people are overpaying student loan repayments, and how to reclaim the money

More than one million student loan overpayments were made last year, Martin Lewis has uncovered. MoneySavingExpert revealed there were 1.1m overpayments in the 2023/24 tax year, according to figures from the Student Loans Company.

Sharing advice in his Money Tips Email, finance expert Martin Lewis shared four common reasons why university leavers could be overpaying, and how to claim back the money, as some could be entitled to hundreds of pounds.

As the expert set out, the advice applies to anyone who may have overpaid in previous years, including the four million people known to have overpaid previously. The money guru also shared how to reclaim the money.

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Explaining why so many people overpay, Martin revealed the problem could occur if you don't meet the annual threshold for repayments, but you repaid the loan in some months because you earned more than the monthly equivalent.

"It's common for those who don't work a full tax year (eg, your salary's above the threshold, but you only worked nine months), or are on variable incomes or commissions," he said.

Separately, you may be on the wrong student loan payment if your firm is unsure which plan you're on and you end up on the default plan, with a lower annual threshold. If this occurs, the expert advises you should notify your payroll and reclaim past overpayments.

In some cases, you might start repayments earlier than you need to if you've mistakenly given the wrong end date for your studies or your firm made an error. "You're usually only eligible to start repaying in the April after you left your course," Martin clarified.

Additionally, it's possible you had money deducted when the loan was fully repaid. Martin explained: "You could still repay even after your loan is cleared due to pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) timings. If this does happen, you will automatically be repaid, so don't need to reclaim. Yet better still, to prevent this, you can set up a Direct Debit for the last two years of your repayments."

If you're looking to claim back overpayments, certain claims can be made online but some require a phone call. Martin recommends collecting your payroll number, PAYE reference number and old payslips if possible, with more advice available on MoneySavingExpert.