Many student-loan borrowers are struggling to access their servicer's website and call center due to

Publish date: 2024-08-07
2023-08-28T18:21:33Z

The student-loan payment pause is ending in a matter of days, but many borrowers are already facing challenges.

On Monday, borrowers whose debt is managed by student-loan company Nelnet found they were unable to log into their accounts to view their payment information due to technical difficulties. Their luck wasn't much better when they attempted to call the company's customer service office.

"Our automated phone system and online accounts are currently unavailable due to technical difficulties, and we're working quickly to resolve the issue," Nelnet wrote in a statement on its website. "We apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back here for updates."

Nelnet did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but borrowers indicated on X, formerly Twitter, that the outage had been ongoing for at least two hours at the time of publication. 

After over three years, the federal student-loan payment pause is about to end. Interest will begin to accrue again on balances in September, with bills becoming due one month later. As Insider previously reported, the payment resumption has sparked confusion among many borrowers due to lack of clarity surrounding what their monthly payment will be, and getting answers from their servicer has not been easy because of long hold times due to an influx of questions from borrowers.

Earlier this month, Nelnet's call center shut down because of technical difficulties, with the company responding to a borrower on X that "we apologize for the higher than normal hold times as we are currently receiving an influx of calls." The company responded to a different user that "we are currently working emails as quickly as possible due to an influx of emails. There isn't an exact turn around time that I am able to give," and it recommended borrowers call 888.486.4722 or email nelnetcustomersolutions@nelnet.net. 

Nelnet has since disabled the capability for borrowers to comment on its posts on X.

An Education Department spokesperson previously told Insider that the department is in frequent communication with servicers to ensure it is delivering timely information to borrowers about the payment resumption. The department has also previously acknowledged that a lack of funding from Congress for Federal Student Aid limits the resources it can allocate to implement new programs quickly and effectively.

However, it's a critical time for student-loan borrowers to ensure they can financially plan for the payment resumption, and these technical issues are not making matters easier. One borrower wrote on X that "I've finally gathered the courage to look at my student loans and figure out a game plan (very triggering) and yet the website is completely not working…how is this right?"

And another wrote that "your systems are down days before student loan interest restarts. Trying to login to my account to start repayment planning. Houston, we have a serious problem."

Are you experiencing challenges with the student-loan payment resumption? Do you have a story to share about student debt? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

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