Martin Lewis has said that millions of graduates could be owed money that they have wrongly overpaid to Student Finance, with some people reclaiming four-figure sums for errors that went unnoticed. The check is free to do.
Overpayments and Refund Success
The personal finance expert previously 'broke' Student Finance phone lines when an investigation by his MoneySavingExpert (MSE) team in late 2023 found over a million graduates had overpaid their student loans. That led to dozens of people getting in touch to check if they could be entitled to a refund.
A reminder in his latest MSE email, sent to subscribers earlier this week, said it is still worth checking in 2026. Lewis made new claims that "over 1.1 million student loans were overpaid in the last tax year alone and millions more before that".
One example shared with MSE by graduate Fiona claims an error meant she got £3,773 in overpayments back. Others had similar success, but with smaller amounts.
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."
Reasons for a Refund
There are four reasons that graduates could be entitled to a refund, and some can go unnoticed for years. These include: below-threshold months, where monthly repayments were made despite total annual income remaining below the repayment threshold; wrong payment plan, due to an employer error or a mistake on a starter checklist; repaying too early, before officially due to start (the April after graduating or leaving a course); and repayments after clearing the balance, where extra money was deducted after the loan was fully paid off.
MSE made clear that there is no time limit to reclaiming an overpaid student loan. The team said: "Even if it was a decade ago, you can still do it."
How to Check and Claim
Start by gathering old payslips if possible, including payroll number and a PAYE reference number. If those are not available, MSE says a new system lets many claims be processed online, and others can be handled by phone.
Lewis said: "In practical terms, student loans work less like a loan and more like a time-limited graduate tax. Exactly how this works depends on what plan you’re on."
The majority of students currently repaying loans, with over three-quarters of the total owed, are on Plan 2 (e.g., university starters in England from 2012 to 2022), which this academic year charges interest of 4.1% up to 6%, depending on earnings. On the surface, overpaying may look like a good idea.
However, the Government's own stats show that two-thirds of people, primarily those on low- and middle-earning graduate salaries, won't clear these loans in full before they wipe out after 30 years. If so, overpaying smaller amounts won't actually reduce future payments, as borrowers will keep repaying 9% of what they earn over the threshold for 30 years. If overpaying won't bring a gain, the money may as well be reclaimed.
