Student loan borrowers face long hold times and inaccurate bills, feds find

As monthly payments for federally owned student loans restart after a pandemic-induced pause of more than three years, borrowers are facing myriad problems including long hold times for help and inaccurate billing statements, finds a report published on Friday.

Borrowers are frequently place on hold for more than an hour when calling their servicer, and many give up before getting assistance, a particular problem given the number of faulty and confusing bills being sent by student loan companies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in its findings.

Average call wait times to speak to a live representative have risen from 12 minutes in August 2023 to more than an hour, according to the agency, which notes borrowers calling their servicer in the last two weeks of October were put on hold an average 73 minutes. One consumer reportedly waited more than nine hours, or 565 minutes, to speak with a service representative, the agency noted.