Student Loans are a total mug's game and I really regret taking one out, and my folks regret encouraging me to do it. None of us knew exactly how it worked and the repayment system is DESIGNED to confuse the hell out of the self-employed to maximise interest. They have NO interest at all in helping you because the longer you go on the more interest they can pull out of you.
Here's a tip for anyone who is self-employed or soon to be SE and who has a Student Loan:
You only start making contributions (non-voluntary) once you're earning over 15k of **TAXABLE PROFITS** - **NOT TURNOVER**. Repeat - **NOT** turnover. And also NOT non-taxable profits. What this means is that for many of us, when you start out as self-employed it can take several years before you're really profitable and doing well - hell - 15k of taxable profit is GREAT for most SE people during their first year or three. (Remember, this is AFTER all expenses have been taken). During this time you're quite likely to stay under 15k of TAXABLE PROFIT, even if your turnover might well be way more than that. During this time, you won't be making ANY non-voluntary contributions. NONE. And... here's the kicker! The SLC will NOT call you up or write to you to recommend you make voluntary payments to keep things moving along nicely. They just sit tight and say nothing. So if, like me and many others, you simply don't realise this, you can end up not making ANY contributions for many years. During this time you'll be accruing a LOT of interest. I mean a LOT. Yes, this is a relatively "cheap" loan, but it's still not "cheap cheap". It all stacks up and believe me, after 4 years it can ADD UP seriously.
So - my advice - if you're self-employed - talk to an accountant - get some advice and work out if you're going to be making involuntary payments or not. And whatever you do, keep up with the interest and pay it off! Don't just ignore it because everyone's telling you it's the "cheapest loan you'll ever have" - because that's NOT TRUE AT ALL.
Now, obviously, if you really know what you're doing and are up on this then you won't be in this position. I'm not a stupid person and I consider myself very careful with money, but it's VERY EASY to get into a mess with SL when everyone's attitude towards it seems to be to just forget about it and let it deal with itself over time, and it's often a huge hassle to even be able to talk to someone there who isn't a complete muppet.
Debt is debt, small or large.
Hope that helps someone who is/will soon be in a similar position.
Due to the fact they have only just got my last years statement correct it's the first time they were able to process the stop, I get paid in 2 weeks so won't be enough time to stop it before that payday.