Fran, just one comment which may or may not pertain to your case. You say that you left your employment for a family funeral while on a business trip and notified your employer from the UK. If I had left my last job without permission (in advance) from my employer, I would have been fired. Even for a funeral. If I had overstayed my allotted time for a family funeral I would have been fired. And this is a large American company. If this is true for you as well, it seems that YOU broke the conditions of your employment, not your employer. Perhaps they had every reason to fire you. If this is the case, your assertion that you took the loan contingent on your continued employment is not a valid one.
Mandi