Spend Less By Asking (Part 2)

Previously, I have shared my experience, saving money on both medical and car insurance because in the first instance I asked for free premium financing, and in the second I asked for a discount. This is a mini post on the third instance where even you can save money;  HELB loan penalties.

As you know, HELB has been very aggressive in making sure graduates pay back their student loans. We can debate the cost of university education, but repayment of HELB loans is not debatable in my opinion. It is not a tax, you got help and your repayment goes to helping another student. HELB loans should and must be repaid. But we don’t always do it promptly. I remember repaying my loan consistently for 2 years, then on the third year I took a work break, stopped repaying and didn’t pick up on it again for a couple of years.

When I eventually did, I was shocked to realize that my loan had accumulated loans and penalties, I now owed 3 times more than my balance when I took the repayment break. Did you know non-payment earns you a Kshs 5,000 penalty for every month you miss a payment? Did you also know HELB can and will list you with the Credit Reference Bureau if you do not repay your loan?

I called HELB and told them that I wanted to repay my loan all at once, if they can give me a waiver on the penalties. Granted I did not get a full waiver, but they waived 95% of the accumulated penalties (Thanks Judith), I paid off the loan and moved on.

If you’re repaying your loan+penalties, call today and just ASK! Want flex-time at work? Don’t wait for HR to change workplace policies, you can just ask!