Graduates who overpaid their student loans can reclaim money with no time limit, and one borrower secured £555 back after a 15-minute phone call. Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert (MSE) team says over 1.1 million student loans were overpaid in the last tax year alone, with millions more overpaid before that.
How graduates reclaimed overpayments
Fiona, a graduate who shared her case with MSE, received £3,773 in overpayments due to an error. Another graduate, Lisa, said: "I spent 15 minutes on the phone and got £555 back for overpayments on my student loan. Most was because of my maternity leave. Thanks so much, couldn't have come at a better time."
The reminder came in MSE's latest email to subscribers, confirming it remains worth checking in 2026. The finance expert previously caused Student Finance phone lines to crash after an MSE investigation in late 2023 revealed over a million graduates had overpaid.
Four reasons you may be owed a refund
MSE lists four reasons graduates could be entitled to a refund. These include months where your annual income fell below the repayment threshold despite monthly deductions, being placed on the wrong repayment plan due to an employer error, repayments taken before you were due to start (the April after graduating), and deductions made after your loan balance was cleared.
There is no time limit on reclaiming, according to Martin's team: "Even if it was a decade ago, you can still do it." Refunds are available to borrowers in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, not just England, though thresholds and terms vary by loan plan.
How to start your claim
Begin by tracking down old payslips, including your payroll number and a PAYE reference number. If these are unavailable, MSE says a new system allows many claims to be processed online, while others can be handled over the phone.
Martin explained that student loans work less like a loan and more like a time-limited graduate tax. Most repaying borrowers are on Plan 2, covering university starters in England from 2012 to 2022, which charges interest of 4.1% up to 6% this academic year. However, Government stats show two-thirds of people, mainly low- and middle-earning graduates, won't clear these loans before they are wiped out after 30 years.
"If so, overpaying smaller amounts won't actually reduce what you'll pay in future, as you'll just keep repaying 9% of what you earn over the threshold for 30 years. And if you won't gain by overpaying, you may as well get that money back," Martin said.
