Vancouver Off-Topic / Current Events The off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum. | | |
02-27-2015, 01:17 PM
|
#1 | Everyone wants a piece of R S...
Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Los Santos, USA
Posts: 383
Thanked 524 Times in 140 Posts
| Proposed ICBC holds on people with unpaid student loans
This seems pretty backwards but is worth a read... Have unpaid student loans? Proposed law wants you to pay up, or risk being denied drivers licence Quote:
VICTORIA — British Columbians who ignore repayment of their student loans could find themselves unable to get a drivers licence or insure their vehicle, under a new bill introduced in the legislature Thursday.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the proposed law is intended to help government collect some of the debts owed, including an existing $185 million in outstanding student loans, as well as fines for other infractions such as illegal hunting and pollution.
“For folks that graduate and get a job and are working and decide they just don’t want to take their obligation to repay their student loan seriously, this would be a mechanism to remind them on a fairly regular basis they need to honour that obligation,” said de Jong.
The changes mean that the Insurance Corp. of B.C. could refuse to renew or issue a drivers licence if the government flagged a person’s debt for repayment. Vehicle registration and insurance could also be denied.
“It’s a collection tool,” de Jong said of bringing ICBC into the debt collection process.
“Candidly, it’s one of the few touch points that bring people into regular and predictable contact with the state.”
Government only collected $17.3 million of the $185.5 million in outstanding student debt in 2013/14.
By linking that debt to a drivers licence, the government estimates it can increase the amount paid by up to an additional $3 million annually.
Of $11.6 million in outstanding “court fees” for things like pollution infractions, hunting and other provincial fines, the government only collected $500,000 in 2013/14.
ICBC can already refuse to issue or renew a licence if a person has not paid their driver penalty points, Autoplan insurance, TransLink fare evasion fines, bridge tolls, impaired driving fines, or motor vehicle tickets for speeding or unsafe driving. Failure to pay fines resulting from convictions under the Criminal Code or nearly a dozen other acts can also trigger a refusal from ICBC.
Fathers or mothers who are not honouring their court-ordered child or spousal support payments in this or other provinces may also find themselves unable to renew their drivers licence or insure their vehicle.
Zachary Crispin, chairman of the Canadian Federation of Students B.C., said denying a licence due to unpaid student loans is “an unreasonable move” that would not resolve student debt issues.
“I certainly don’t think it’s fair,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you are gainfully employed. There are a number of reasons why you may have difficulty paying off a loan ... the end result of this is people are going to lose their jobs because they’re going to lose their drivers licences.”
Crispin said the fact that there is so much unpaid student debt in the province indicates people are having a hard time paying their loans.
“We have the highest rate of interest on student loans of any province in the country,” he said, adding that Victoria could have chosen to put this year’s budget surplus toward covering interest payments for students or helping make education more financially accessible.
Students in B.C. pay prime rate plus 2.5 per cent interest on their loans, according to the Ministry of Advanced Education. This province is tied with the Government of Canada and New Brunswick for charging the highest student loan rate in the country, according to the ministry.
De Jong said ICBC won’t become involved if a student or graduate is honouring a repayment plan or needs hardship assistance.
“Most people would agree in the case of student debt, if you are out there working and have a job, and if you borrowed for your degree $20,000 or $25,000 … you go to work and you should start to pay your loan back,” he said. “If you encounter difficulty or get laid off, there’s a provision for relief.”
The “refuse-to-issue” provision would apply to students whose loan accounts have been out of good standing for more than a year, according to the Ministry of Finance, and anyone facing a refusal must be given 30 days notice and a chance to provide information that they cannot make their payments due to financial hardship.
Unpaid court fines more than 120 days overdue could also be subject to the measure, according to the ministry.
| ICBC is slowly becoming a collection agency..
__________________
"Whiplash is not an injury, its insurance fraud"
1-6-5-10-2-7-3-8-4-9
1-5-3-6-2-4 x4
Its probably my fault.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 01:37 PM
|
#2 | I contribute to threads in the offtopic forum
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 2,799
Thanked 1,831 Times in 587 Posts
|
ICBC has always been a collection agency, only thing that's changing is that they now collect for other branches of government and private companies.
Soon if you have any overdue book fees at the library you wont be able to renew. Then you will need to that library and pay the fee before you can go back to ICBC to renew.......what a joke.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 01:48 PM
|
#3 | I wish I was where I was when I wished I was here
Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Coast
Posts: 4,931
Thanked 3,098 Times in 733 Posts
|
Makes sense since the government makes huge coin off student loan interest.
This would be a good way to protect their interests.
__________________
-------------------------- Cadillac CTS (Current) |
| |
02-27-2015, 01:53 PM
|
#4 | To me, there is the Internet and there is RS
Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Okanagan
Posts: 16,265
Thanked 8,911 Times in 3,872 Posts
|
While is seems like a crappy way to collect, they need to do SOMETHING to get people to pay up.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed] Quote:
Originally Posted by maksimizer half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF. | Quote:
Originally Posted by RevYouUp reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z | Quote:
Originally Posted by Good_KarMa OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry: | |
| |
02-27-2015, 02:17 PM
|
#5 | 14 dolla balla aint got nothing on me!
Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Maple Ridge
Posts: 654
Thanked 279 Times in 95 Posts
|
Ugh, I’m of two minds here.
Giving government agency’s more power to take from people is not the direction I would like to see us going. A driver licence shouldn't be connected to your child support payments or your student loans. I would rather see less government hands in pockets than more.
BUT
People not paying student loans eventually means government money being lost. That means I’m paying for someone to go to school, while people like my wife and a majority of others worked hard to pay off their loans. I’m never a fan of people who exploit the system while those who play by the rules get screwed.
Unfortunately I lean towards the “serves them right, time to pay it off” camp, although I really wish I wasn't as it gives governments more power. If everyone had to play by the same rules, it would make things easier on everyone, not a select few who decide they don’t have to.
In the end, this also points that education here and in North America in general is too damn expensive.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 02:26 PM
|
#6 | Willing to sell body for a few minutes on RS
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Cloverdale
Posts: 11,534
Thanked 3,731 Times in 1,322 Posts
|
I'm a little torn here as well, as someone who pays every damm penny he owes back it pisses me off when there are people out there who abuse the system costing those who play by the rules more money. That said I understand not issuing a license for unpaid tickets but I don't know if it's right to hold it back for other debts totally not related. They need a better way to collect the debts I just don't know if this is the right one.
__________________
“The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth.” - Rocky Balboa |
| |
02-27-2015, 02:33 PM
|
#7 | In RS I Trust
Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Mission
Posts: 20,633
Thanked 17,581 Times in 4,297 Posts
|
I'm ok with it, too many people are not paying back student loans and using the money for something besides school why not use ICBC as a scape goat to get the money back. Shit I have to pay bridge tolls in time and if you want to borrow money from our government make arrangement's to pay it back and not say fuck it.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 03:36 PM
|
#8 | Need to Seek Professional Help
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 1,036
Thanked 1,820 Times in 501 Posts
|
So... the BC gov't wants student loan money, plus interest, back. That is fair.
BUT in order to get people to start paying up, they are taking away your access to a drivers' license and car insurance. In many jobs, especially most trades, a drivers' license is a requirement of employment. To take one away would severely limit one's job qualifications in many vocations. Not to mention makes it difficult for people who don't have much access to transit to even get to work in the first place. So essentially, BC is saying... we want you to work so you can pay us, but we're going to make it harder than it already is to find a job by taking away the one of the most important non-degree credentials one can have AND make it harder for you to commute to a job site...
What kind of fail logic is that?!
|
| | This post FAILED by: | boostfever, flagella, Geoc, iEatClams, RCubed, Special K, SupraMan604, TOPEC, underscore, vash13, vitaminG |
02-27-2015, 03:50 PM
|
#9 | what manner of phaggotry is this
Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Kelownafornia
Posts: 18,285
Thanked 5,473 Times in 1,814 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyColdMedina So... the BC gov't wants student loan money, plus interest, back. That is fair.
BUT in order to get people to start paying up, they are taking away your access to a drivers' license and car insurance. In many jobs, especially most trades, a drivers' license is a requirement of employment. To take one away would severely limit one's job qualifications in many vocations. Not to mention makes it difficult for people who don't have much access to transit to even get to work in the first place. So essentially, BC is saying... we want you to work so you can pay us, but we're going to make it harder than it already is to find a job by taking away the one of the most important non-degree credentials one can have AND make it harder for you to commute to a job site...
What kind of fail logic is that?! | easy. don't pretend to be the victim when you made the choice to not pay your student loans.
or hey, if you can't afford to pay your student loans, which are a contract you agreed to, and are required to pay. you dont get the privilege of choosing where you spend your money by insuring a car instead of paying the loan.
you cant tell the bank you're not paying your mortgage until you feel like it because you want to go traveling instead. grow up, and deal with adult life.
__________________ STRENGTHaesthetics |
| |
02-27-2015, 03:54 PM
|
#10 | Even when im right, revscene.net is still right!
Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: yvr
Posts: 1,326
Thanked 668 Times in 258 Posts
|
No joke, when I was at UBC I new people that would take out student loans because they thought the government would forgive their loans after they graduate. I could only smh. |
| |
02-27-2015, 03:55 PM
|
#11 | Need to Seek Professional Help
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 1,036
Thanked 1,820 Times in 501 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by RRxtar easy. don't pretend to be the victim when you made the choice to not pay your student loans. | I'm not saying these people are victims. No doubt they need a good reality check and some aggressive tactics. I personally am taking school "slow" so I can work part time to pay for school instead of taking out loans. Considering how stagnant our job market is right now, I don't understand everyone's rush to graduate with zero work experience. Plus, I hate debt.
But this "plan" is incredibly counterintuitive. Making it harder for people to find work isn't going to help said people scrounge up the money to pay back their loans.
It's like you telling me to go catch some fish to feed the both of us and then breaking my fishing rod in half. Is it doable? Yes... but at the end of the day it makes no sense.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 03:57 PM
|
#12 | RS.net, where our google ads make absolutely no sense!
Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Richmond
Posts: 916
Thanked 692 Times in 227 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by FunkyColdMedina So... the BC gov't wants student loan money, plus interest, back. That is fair.
BUT in order to get people to start paying up, they are taking away your access to a drivers' license and car insurance. In many jobs, especially most trades, a drivers' license is a requirement of employment. To take one away would severely limit one's job qualifications in many vocations. Not to mention makes it difficult for people who don't have much access to transit to even get to work in the first place. So essentially, BC is saying... we want you to work so you can pay us, but we're going to make it harder than it already is to find a job by taking away the one of the most important non-degree credentials one can have AND make it harder for you to commute to a job site...
What kind of fail logic is that?! | I was intending to stay away from this discussion, but what you said is an outright farse and false information.
If you don't have a substantial source of income, the student loan assistance program will allow you to defer your payment while freezing the interest.
So if you are unable to pay it you will still be able to renew whatever it is you need with ICBC.
There is already infrastructure available to help people with their loans. If you are too lazy to fill out the damn forms, or you just don't want to pay the loans, then you're going to face the consequences.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 03:57 PM
|
#13 | WOAH! i think Vtec just kicked in!
Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,687
Thanked 731 Times in 294 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by RRxtar easy. don't pretend to be the victim when you made the choice to not pay your student loans. | amen.
student loans minimum payments are pretty low as it is, plus you can claim a tax credit on the interest. STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND PAY UP!
|
| |
02-27-2015, 04:00 PM
|
#14 | Need to Seek Professional Help
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 1,036
Thanked 1,820 Times in 501 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoc I was intending to stay away from this discussion, but what you said is an outright farse and false information.
If you don't have a substantial source of income, the student loan assistance program will allow you to defer your payment while freezing the interest.
So if you are unable to pay it you will still be able to renew whatever it is you need with ICBC.
There is already infrastructure available to help people with their loans. If you are too lazy to fill out the damn forms, or you just don't want to pay the loans, then you're going to face the consequences. | Quote:
De Jong said ICBC won’t become involved if a student or graduate is honouring a repayment plan or needs hardship assistance.
| My bad. You're correct, I didn't read the full article... I quick reacted and assumed that even people who couldn't find work were in danger of losing their license. But people who have means to pay their loans but - for whatever reason - don't, they deserve whatever's coming to them IMO.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 04:09 PM
|
#15 | Zionism gets my shell hard and slimy
Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: in a shell
Posts: 2,598
Thanked 6,021 Times in 1,129 Posts
|
like many here im a little torn..
on one hand.. you spent the money on your education and you owe it.. so pay up? makes sense
on the other hand. not everyone may have the same privileges as others. i for example didnt do post secondary as i was on my own working full time since i was 16/17 (not my choice) so if i was to take out a student loan, get my education, maybe find a good job but may find a shitty job that hardly covered living expenses.. well it would be a little difficult to pay back my loan in a time sensitive fashion.. so making it hard to get a licence would only dig the hole deeper.
something a LOT of people dont consider is the advantages/disadvantages some may have and also some of the situations people may be put in at no fault of their own with no one to help. im not saying its an excuse. of course people shouldnt wasting money on extravagant things while in debt, thats just silly. but to ask someone to give up many basic comforts/necessities to cover a debt is a little heavy as well.
driving a vehicle may be a privileged but its not like its a gift. the whole process is heavily taxed and licenced. with todays average annual driving being approx 30k a year its almost a necessity
taking a crutch from a man with a broken leg wont help it heal any faster..
but.. assuming said person has completly ditched the idea of paying back the debt and assumes there is no consequence then of course there needs to be some repercussion
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by smoothie. It doesn't matter what size you are, if all you do is masturbate. |
Last edited by snails; 02-27-2015 at 04:20 PM.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 04:25 PM
|
#16 | I only answer to my username, my real name is Irrelevant!
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: CELICAland
Posts: 25,650
Thanked 10,381 Times in 3,907 Posts
|
student loans are consolidated as national/federal loans now aren't they? if that's true the provincial govt. (icbc) couldn't force collection due to separation of powers...
suppose i could do a google search, but whatev :P
|
| |
02-27-2015, 05:09 PM
|
#17 | My dinner reheated before my turbo spooled
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,738
Thanked 939 Times in 308 Posts
|
If you have debts....man up and own up to it. Don't run and hide finding loopholes.
Goin through ICBC is wrong...opens up a can of worms..cell phone and bc hydo companies are next to collect using ICBC?
|
| |
02-27-2015, 05:21 PM
|
#18 | Rs has made me the woman i am today!
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burnaby
Posts: 4,023
Thanked 6,694 Times in 1,625 Posts
|
How does one "not pay" student loans??
If you're having financial hardships, you can send them proof, and they'll defer your payments or make them on your behalf (not sure about the last one), and this can go on "indefinitely" as long as you continue to provide proof.
I didn't even realize it was possible to simply not pay...smh. You can also change your payment plans to reduce the monthly amount, if I recall.
The retards I saw in school that treated student loans as free money from the gov't made me question the entire premise of going to post-secondary...the sheer number of fucknuts in university is staggering.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 05:24 PM
|
#19 | WOAH! i think Vtec just kicked in!
Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: abc
Posts: 1,656
Thanked 937 Times in 220 Posts
| Federal government writes off almost $300-million more in student loans | National Post
This is bound to get alot more of you pissed off. I was fuming when I saw this, I work my ass off to pay back my student loans and I also didnt know that it was an option that you "didnt have to pay" back your loans.
Too many people I knew in university got student loans cuz their parents were overseas so it seems like they were low income, and then used the money to mod their cars.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 05:31 PM
|
#20 | I only answer to my username, my real name is Irrelevant!
Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: CELICAland
Posts: 25,650
Thanked 10,381 Times in 3,907 Posts
|
misuse of student loans is an issue but writing off bad debts/loans isn't
I'm on the side that feels the gov't. should pay for post secondary education, like many European, and other, countries do
It would only benefit the nation in the long run, and we should be able to afford it as comparable countries can do so + provide many other social programs
|
| |
02-27-2015, 06:05 PM
|
#21 | My homepage has been set to RS
Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: AB/BC
Posts: 2,218
Thanked 1,206 Times in 385 Posts
|
most of the baristas I know don't even have a license so this wont affect them
|
| | This post thanked by: | 6o4__boi, hchang, HonestTea, inv4zn, lowside67, RS_Pat, slow-fastback, SpeedStars, SpuGen, Timbits93, Tone Loc, TouringTeg, underscore |
02-27-2015, 06:14 PM
|
#22 | I wish I was where I was when I wished I was here
Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Coast
Posts: 4,931
Thanked 3,098 Times in 733 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by sdubfid most of the baristas I know don't even have a license so this wont affect them | hahahahahaha
first post ever on rs I wish I could thank more than once
__________________
-------------------------- Cadillac CTS (Current) |
| |
02-27-2015, 06:17 PM
|
#23 | RS Peace Officer
Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver Islan
Posts: 3,867
Thanked 1,636 Times in 683 Posts
|
We used to call them "stereo system and party" loans. That's where most of the $$ went at my university dorm.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 06:27 PM
|
#24 | Where's my RS Christmas Lobster?!
Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Richmond
Posts: 878
Thanked 421 Times in 186 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by StylinRed student loans are consolidated as national/federal loans now aren't they? if that's true the provincial govt. (icbc) couldn't force collection due to separation of powers...
suppose i could do a google search, but whatev :P | I think that only the application process has been consolidated, ie one application makes you eligible for both. The amount received is still separated into federal and provincial portions.
|
| |
02-27-2015, 06:31 PM
|
#25 | Willing to sell body for a few minutes on RS
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Duncan, BC
Posts: 10,127
Thanked 5,568 Times in 2,107 Posts
|
If it means they reduce the student loan interest rate and put more money back into education, I'm all for it ... But we all know it won't...
|
| | | |
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -8. The time now is 03:01 AM. |