Financial guru Martin Lewis has issued an urgent call to action for millions of people across the UK, warning that they may be owed significant sums from student loan overpayments.
The Money Saving Expert founder used his latest ITV show to highlight a potentially widespread issue affecting those born between 1985 and 2003, suggesting that up to five million people could have legitimate claims for refunds.
Who Needs To Check Their Student Loan?
Lewis specifically targeted viewers aged between 22 and 40 during his broadcast on 18 November 2025, explaining that many university leavers and graduates have been repaying their student loans when they didn't need to.
"The new figures say 1.1 million university leavers and graduates have overpaid their student loans in the 24/25 tax year," Lewis revealed. "And that adds to at least four million people from figures and requests that we've given them for information in the past. So there could be five million of you out there who are owed money."
Main Reason For Overpayments
Lewis identified four key reasons for overpayments, but emphasised that one particular issue affects the largest number of people. "The first reason is the 'big reason' - when you repaid your loan but you didn't earn enough to need to repay it," he explained.
He detailed how the repayment system works for Plan 2 loans, which cover most English students who started university between 2012 and 2022. "Your repayment threshold is £28,470 a year. You repay 9% of everything you earn over that in a year."
The problem often arises because the PAYE system calculates repayments based on monthly earnings, which can create situations where people repay throughout the year despite their annual income falling below the threshold.
Lewis provided a clear example: "Let's imagine you've just started after university... You didn't work in April, you didn't work in May, you didn't work in June. Then you got yourself a job paying £36,000 a year. £3,000 a month."
"In each of those months, you have to repay 9% of everything above the monthly threshold, which is about a repayment of £56 a month each month for the remaining nine months. Your total tax year earnings were £27,000. The annual threshold is £28,470. You earned less than the threshold; you don't have to repay your student loan."
How To Claim Your Refund
For those who discover they've overpaid, the process to reclaim money is straightforward. Lewis advised: "You use Student Loan Company refund request form at gov.uk. Or you can do it in your student loan company repayment app."
He noted that claims can be made for every tax year except the current one, which requires waiting until the tax year concludes.
The financial expert also highlighted three other common scenarios where people might be owed money, though these affect tens of thousands rather than millions:
- Wrong repayment plan: Employers sometimes default to Plan 1 when they should be using Plan 2 or Scottish plans
- Starting repayments too early: Nearly 40,000 people began repaying before the April after leaving university
- Payments after clearing the loan: Almost 60,000 people continued paying after their debt was fully settled
Lewis offered crucial advice for those approaching the end of their repayment period: "Within the last two years of repaying your student loan, you can go online at SLC and ask to set up a direct debit. So you pay it by direct debit, not through the payroll, and then you only pay the exact amount that you owe."
The message from Britain's money-saving champion is clear: check your student loan account now – you might be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.
