A fan of Martin Lewis has explained how she got a £900 refund after overpaying her student loan.

Abby Kutiwa, from London, followed the advice of the MoneySavingExpert.com founder after he issued a warning about how millions of people are due refunds from the Student Loans Company. MSE previously warned how student loan overpayments can happen if you were placed on the wrong loan plan.

Other ways you could've overpaid include if you started paying off your loan before you were earning enough money, or if you had payments taken after you finished paying off your loan. Abby told Yahoo News: “The call was quick and easy, I spent a total of 11 minutes on the phone, my phone number was linked to my account, so I got through pretty quickly - but have your customer reference number ready.”

Plan 1 students start repaying 9% of their income (except if you're on a postgraduate course, then you repay 6%) when they earn over £24,990, while it’s £27,295 for Plan 2. The threshold for Plan 4 is £31,395 a year, and it’s £25,000 for Plan 5. Which plan you’re on depends on when you went to university.

You're on a Plan 1 repayment scheme if you started your course before September 1, 2012 (England and Wales) or after September 1, 1998 (Northern Ireland), or Plan 2 if you started your course between September 1, 2012 and July 31, 2023 (England) or after September 1, 2012 (Wales). For Plan 4, you will have started your course after September 1, 1998 (Scotland) or for Plan 5, this is for people who started their course after August 1, 2023 (England).

How to get student loan refund

If you think you've overpaid, you’ll need to contact the Student Loans Company to look into your account. The numbers to ring are:

  • England, Scotland and Northern Ireland: 0300 100 0611
  • Wales: 0300 100 0370
  • Overseas: +44 141 243 3660

It helps to have as much relevant information to hand as possible, such as the email address you used to register for your loan. You should also flag to your employer if you're on the wrong payment plan, so you don't keep overpaying.

If it turns out you've been underpaying your student loan, you won't be asked to pay anything back - but you will be placed on the correct plan going forward.