Martin Lewis calls on all people born between 1985 and 2003 as five million could be in for pay day

Martin Lewis has issued a public service announcement to anyone born between 1985 and 2003, as he revealed that up to five million people in the UK could be eligible for a refund of their student loan repayments.

Speaking on The Martin Lewis Money Show, the financial expert shared several reasons why you might be owed a reimbursement and all the ways in which you might have overpaid.

The most common reason for overpaying is when you've not actually earned enough in that tax year to meet the minimum threshold, which depends which repayment plan you are on.

Reasons for this could be because you started working partway through the tax year, or had time off, or your income might have dropped substantially due to something like maternity leave.

Lewis lists all the possible reasons why you may have overpaid here:

"The new figures say 1.1 million university leavers and graduates have overpaid their student loans in the 24/25 tax year," he said.

"And that adds to at least four million people from figures and requests that we've given them for information in the past. So there could be five million of you out there who are owed money."

If you think you might have overpaid, or even if you're unsure, it's worth getting in touch and finding out if you could get your hands on extra cash.

How to claim a refund on student loans

There are two ways to go about getting a student loan refund but first you need to find out if you're owed anything.

The best thing to do is to simply give the Student Loans Company a call on 0300 100 0611 and ask them if you're owed anything. If you are, they will tell you how much and arrange the refund for you there and then.

Otherwise, you can simply fill in a refund request on the Student Loans Company website if you still have your log in details.

Adding back onto your balance

Up to 5 million people have overpaid (Getty Stock Images)

It's worth noting that if you do receive a refund, the amount you get back will then be added back onto the total you owe. And while that might seem completely counterproductive, it is still worth doing for the majority of people who are not earning anywhere near enough to ever pay off their student debt in full.

However, if you are anywhere near having paid your loan off, it's probably best not to receive a refund, as anything added back onto the balance will add to the amount of interest owed.

According to Lewis, only around one in three people on Plan 2 will clear their balance in 30 years before it is wiped, meaning it's well worth getting a reimbursement for the vast majority of people.