Student loans

If you default on your student loan, Lånekassen (the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund) will transfer your loan to us. This is called a 'terminated student loan' or 'permanently transferred student debt', depending on how long you have been in default on the loan.

Woman studying

Terminated student loan

Your student loan can still be transferred back to Lånekassen.
Since you did not pay the instalment on your student loan by the deadline, the whole loan has been temporarily transferred to us. The instalments that you have not paid are called the amount in default. Having your student loan with us is more expensive for you (interest on overdue payments will be charged on the WHOLE student loan). You should therefore pay the amount in default so that the whole loan can be transferred back to Lånekassen as soon as possible. In that case, you will still have all your rights as a customer of Lånekassen.

How to have your loan transferred back to Lånekassen
If you pay the amount you are in default, the whole loan will be sent back to Lånekassen for payment in accordance with the original payment plan. You will then have the same rights as you had before the loan was transferred to us.
Contact us to know how much to pay to get the student loan back to the Norwegian State Loan Fund.

Consequences of not paying the amount in default
If you do not pay the amount you are in default or sign a voluntary payment agreement with us, attachment proceedings will be initiated. This means that we can establish a charge on your assets/house or make deductions from your pay.
Attachment proceedings can result in you being registered as payment delinquent, which can make it more difficult for you to be granted a housing loan, take out a mobile phone subscription etc. If a charge is established, the charge will remain in place until the whole student loan has been paid back.

Permanently transferred student debt

We have permanently taken over your student loan.
If you are in default of your student loan for more than three years, the loan can be permanently transferred to us. We then take over the collection and administration of your student loan, which means that you will only deal with us.

Since we will now take over your student loan permanently, you lose all the rights you had in Lånekassen – to more loans or grants in connection with studies (check withLånekassen for more information about rights) – until you have paid what you owe. In addition, interest on overdue payments will be charged on the whole student loan.

If you do not pay the whole loan or sign a voluntary payment agreement with us, attachment proceedings will be initiated. This means that we can establish a charge on your assets/house or make deductions from your pay.
Attachment proceedings can result in you being registered as payment delinquent, which can make it more difficult for you to be granted a housing loan, take out a mobile phone subscription etc. If a charge is established, the charge will remain in place until the whole student loan has been paid back.

Are you experiencing difficulties paying back your student loan?

If you are experiencing difficulties paying back your student loan, it is important that you make use of the remedies Lånekassen offers at an early stage (rights that you have as long as your student loan has not been permanently transferred to us), so that you can gain control of your situation:

  • Illness grant, if you become ill while studying.
  • Postponement of payment of instalments. The loan can be postponed for a total of three years, BUT you must apply for postponement EACH year. A postponement also costs extra, so you should be certain that this is only a temporary solution until you have money.
  • Exemption from interest for a period
  • Exemption from interest AND postponement of payment at the same time (called 'freezing')
  • Convert your loan into a grant, if you meet the conditions
  • Writing off – If you have been ill and are able to document this, or if you have been declared disabled, this can form the basis for applying to have the student loan written off.

Published 05. May 2022

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