You Can Get A Refund For Student Loan Payments Made During Lockdown!

I’ll tell you what I did

Yes, you’re reading the title correctly. I read an article from CNBC confirming it! If you made at least one payment during the student loan pause, you can call your loan provider and ask for a refund.

Here’s How It Went For Me

After I read the article, I called my loan company, Great Lakes Borrower Services. I expected to be on the phone for hours, but the wait wasn’t long.

I asked the woman about how the refund worked. You’ll get your money back, which goes back to your debt. At first, I wasn’t going to take it. I was ready to say, “Never mind,” and move on with my life. But the lady explained why it was a good idea.

As long as I’m keeping my refund to my maximum forgiveness, I can still benefit from Biden’s loan forgiveness.

Let’s talk about it. If you had $23,000 in debt but paid $5,000 during the lockdown, you’d have $18,000 left. And since you made payments voluntarily since March 2020, you didn’t have to worry about interest.

If you had Pell Grants in college, asking for a refund would work for you. You could ask your loan company to refund you $2,000. Then, come October, you apply for forgiveness and get $20,000 forgiven.

If you didn’t have Pell Grants in college, asking for a refund would be pointless. You’d be adding more to your principal than what gets canceled.

There is a small catch. You wouldn’t see the money in your bank account right away. If you have Great Lakes Borrower Services, like me, it could take 60–70 days before it shows up in your bank account.

I have no idea how long it’d take other companies. I’m curious if anyone wants to share.

If You Made One Payment Between March 13, 2020, To The End Of The Payment Pause, You Need To Act Before You Apply For Forgiveness

The beauty of finding out about the refund is that you don’t have to worry about it getting in the way of the loan forgiveness. Applications for loan forgiveness aren’t showing up until early October, and the company will process your refund before they process the cancellation.

The Student Borrower Protection Center is a wealth of information about debt forgiveness and the student debt crisis. I saw their bit on Twitter about refunds and clicked on their website. The site explains everything you need to know about debt forgiveness and refund eligibility.

The site also teaches you to check if you took out Pell Grants in college! Many people don’t know if they did, and the site shows you how.

Final Thoughts

So to sum it up, here’s how you can request a refund.

• Check for Pell Grants! Once you know if you’ve had some or not, you know how much to request in refunds.
• Make sure you made a payment after March 13, 2020. If you haven’t made any payments during the pause, all of this is pointless.
• Check your balance! Your refund goes back into your debt, so if you still owe money after forgiveness, you’re adding more debt. It’s better if your balance is below the maximum amount.
• Call your provider. The wait isn’t long, and the service provider is happy to help you.
• Wait. I expect to wait for about sixty days before I see my money. Unless your loan service company is super fast, you’ll wait a while before you get your money back.

It’ll be nice to have an extra chunk of change for the holiday season. Here’s to hoping you have the same experience, or better, than me!

For an all-access pass to my work, please click on the link below! Tips are appreciated, too! Your support helps small-time writers like me! Thank you!