What to do if…
your student loan automatic payment fails because your bank details are incorrect or outdated

What to do now

1. Check whether you normally repay from payroll or from a bank payment.

   • If you repay through PAYE payroll, repayments are usually taken from your salary, not from your bank account. Check your payslip and your official repayment account before treating a “bank details mismatch” message as real.
   • If you use a Direct Debit, one-off card payment, recurring card payment, overseas payment, or voluntary extra repayment, your bank details or payment method may need fixing.

2. Sign in to your official student loan repayment account.

   • Go to GOV.UK yourself and use the student loan repayment account service.
   • Check whether there is a failed payment, missed payment, message from SLC, changed bank detail, or Direct Debit problem.
   • If you cannot sign in, use the official account recovery or SLC contact route, not details from an unexpected message.

3. If the account shows money is due, pay once using an official route.

   • Use the repayment account or the official extra repayment page.
   • If you pay by bank transfer or another manual method, use the payment reference GOV.UK asks for, usually your customer reference number for student loan payments.
   • If you are overseas, use the official online account or the current official overseas payment details; do not copy bank details from an email or text.
   • Save the confirmation, amount, date, and time.

4. Fix the automatic payment method.

   • In the repayment account, check and update your bank details.
   • If you use Direct Debit, set up or amend the Direct Debit there.
   • Check the sort code and account number carefully, and make sure the account can accept Direct Debits.
   • If you use recurring card payments from overseas, check whether the card details or local-currency repayment setup need updating.

5. Ask your bank what happened.

   • Ask whether the Direct Debit instruction is active, cancelled, expired, or linked to an old account.
   • Ask whether a bank switch, account restriction, incorrect details, or insufficient funds caused the rejection.
   • If the bank charged a fee, ask whether it can be waived or reduced.

6. Update employment details if you are leaving or have left the UK for more than 3 months.

   • Use the separate official employment-details service.
   • Do this if you are leaving the UK for more than 3 months, returning after more than 3 months away, or SLC asks you to update your details.
   • This is separate from updating bank details; it helps SLC work out whether you should be repaying and at what rate.

7. Contact SLC if the account still does not make sense.

   • Tell them the payment method, the failed payment date, the amount, and what you have already done.
   • Ask them to confirm whether your account is up to date, whether there are arrears, and what they expect next.
   • Make a note of the date, time, and summary of the conversation.