TIME: “What to Do If You Can’t Afford to Pay Back Your Student Loans”

“Logging into their account is really important because during the payment pause there was a shift in federal student loan servicers, and so some borrowers may see that they actually have a new servicer now,” Kyra Taylor, an Attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), a nonprofit that advises on consumer issues for vulnerable communities, says.

“The other nice thing about income driven repayment is that it’s kind of like a safety net. In the event that life goes a little haywire,” says Taylor. “Because the monthly repayment amount is anchored in the borrower’s income, if they have a drop in income for any reason, because of a job change, health issue, etc., they can recertify their income and that could lower their monthly payments if their income goes down.”

“The other thing about federal loans is that there’s no statute of limitations, so that collection can go on indefinitely until you pay off your debt,” Taylor tells TIME. “If you can get out of default, most borrowers really want to get out of default because those financial consequences are so severe.”

Borrowers can move out of default by consolidating their federal loans into a new loan, or enter into a rehabilitation agreement over a nine month period, says Taylor. Borrowers can only consolidate or rehabilitate their loans once.