In 2015, the government raised the Central Student Aid Board’s reminder fee to SEK 450, so that more people would repay the loan. Five years later, the unpaid CSN debt mountain with the Enforcement Officer has increased by almost 20 percent.
– The people who stay here, their average debt increases, says Johan Krantz, analyst at the Swedish Enforcement Agency.
Since the Central Student Aid Board, CSN, after the government’s decision raised the reminder fee from SEK 200 to SEK 450 in 2015, the unpaid CSN debt has increased by almost 20 percent, and amounted to almost SEK 1.4 billion at the turn of the year. The average average debt among debtors has also increased by 37 percent during the same period.
Johan Krantz believes that the reminder fee may be one of the reasons why the indebted end up with the Enforcement Officer.
– High reminder fees can affect that you can not pay in the end and end up with the Enforcement Officer, says Krantz.
Maria Edstrรถm, manager at the payment department at CSN, confirms that the debt mountain is growing, but also believes that it is positive that more and more people pay in their bills in time after the increase.
According to her, the increase in debt is due to a higher CSN loan, a general increase in debt, and that those who already have payment problems got an even higher debt due to the increased reminder fees.
– It is clear that this increase could be seen, especially in the next few years after 2015 when the increased reminder fee was imposed, says Edstrรถm.
The money CSN gets in in reminder fees go straight into the treasury, and are not earmarked. Last year, the amount amounted to SEK 352 million, which is the highest since the increase was implemented in 2015, and according to the government a contributing reason why Sweden can maintain a generous student support system.
According to Jan Bertoft, general secretary of the organization Swedish Consumers, it is wrong to let a small number of borrowers pay for the masses.
– Of course you have to pay your bills, but you can strongly question whether you can charge it as a reminder fee, ie as a kind of penalty fee.
Source: ICELAND NEWS
