My mate owes me £2k ?

[wazbrad]

Hi all , need a bit of help ere , as not sure what to do .

 

I had a cheque made out for my so called mate to pay off his finance on a van i was to purchase off him .

I have asked the building society for the proof of the cheque and its on its way .

Our agreement was a verbal one and he has is the last 6 months been paying me back £50 a month via my bank account .

The debt is now over 2yrs old and after numerous promisses being broken to pay back the full amount.

I am not charging him interest and so i am losing a lot of money , at this rate of £50 a month its gonna take 5yrs to pay off and thats if the payments are still forth coming .

He has money and his wife knows nothing of this loan , he just purchased a boat for over £600 .

 

I was thinking of taking my friend to small claims and see how that pans out , whats your advice ..?

 

many thanks ,,,warren

[jordangills]

To be fair, i dont think there is too much you can do.

 

Obviously there is no legal obligation for him to pay this. I'd be suprised if there is anything you can do.

[rebel11]

Thread moved to the correct forum.

 

Heres a guide to small courts procedure:- http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/wirral/countycourtindex.htm

[MARTIN3030]

Quote

Obviously there is no legal obligation for him to pay this. I'd be suprised if there is anything you can do.

 

Well there is evidence to support the payments he has been making to the OPs bank account.

If a small claims action is brought then the burden of proof will be on the OP to show that there are monies owing from the verbal agreement and that the repayments that are being made are not satisfactory or have not been maintained by the original agreement.

A court would likely want to see that there has been communications made to seek to resolve any disputes.

Also any response to such communications.

The record of the payments that have been made would show that there has been an agreement of some sorts or an indebtedness.

I am not clear where the issues of the van purchase fit in though ?

[wazbrad]

the van he owned was on finance .so had to be cleared before sale to me ,,ie i lent him the money to do so .

big mistake ..so would it be worth a small claims in court ?

 

 

 

 

thanks ,,,warren

[rebel11]

Hi Martin

 

The OP's friend used the £2,000 to pay off his finance for his van.

[rebel11]

Hi Waz

 

The pre action protocols might just do the trick, LBA well written, sent Recorded. Don't have any verbal communication even though he's a friend. He might

just get the message.

 

the van he owned was on finance .so had to be cleared before sale to me ,,ie i lent him the money to do so .

big mistake ..so would it be worth a small claims in court ?

 

 

 

 

thanks ,,,warren

[Ganymede]

If you take him to Court he might not be your friend for very long...

[MARTIN3030]

You would also have to consider whether a Court would order the remainder of the debt to be paid any faster.

If he mitigated insufficient disposable income then it could actually be counter productive.

[waddington24]

even though your mate has been paying you through your bank £50 a month

and that you can provide proof of the debits to your account that way

i know some one who was in a very simular situation to yours,and he was taken to court

for what he owed,but he simply told the court that he had popped around one night

after work and paid him the balance he owed,stale mate realy,he says he owed him money

he told them he had paid it back.no proof.he was sent away the judge told him he

hoped he had learned a valuable lesson in trusting any one, even friends.

[totiesquoties]

hi wazbrad,

you say this was all a verbal agreement, which still stands in law, and is enforceable the same as a contract, if a true friend he would pay back what you have verbally agreed, and since he had monies as you say, he cannot be a friend, just a user of your good nature, if you go through the whole court process it is costly, and not definite if you will get your monies back, for many reasons, one thing you could do is to tell his wife, and shame him into paying you back, and your so called friendship will be finished altogether then anyway, no doubt you have learnt from this and not do it again, hope this helps, totiesquoties.

Edited October 19, 2011 by totiesquoties

[MARTIN3030]

There is no guaranteed fix that will not affect or end the friendship,so the OP has to decide on whether a friendship in these circumstances is worth carrying on.

[wazbrad]

Thanks for the input all .

 

To be honest a good friend wouldn`t pull a stunt like this , so as far as the friendship is concerned thats done with .

 

I am thinkin along the lines of the letter first to mr & mrs ,,and see what comes from that ..

 

 

 

cheers ..warren

[rebel11]

Send it Recorded, there are quite a few examples of LBA's, keep it professional, if he rings you once he receives the letter, don't revert to being his buddy, everything in writing.

 

Thanks for the input all .

 

To be honest a good friend wouldn`t pull a stunt like this , so as far as the friendship is concerned thats done with .

 

I am thinkin along the lines of the letter first to mr & mrs ,,and see what comes from that ..

 

 

 

cheers ..warren

[andydd]

As posted above..it is a contract and could be enforced by law, the trouble is that there are no T&C's and it would prob boil down to your word verus his. He may well claim that the agreement was he pay you £50 a month, could you prove otherwise.

 

As also mentioned it maybe a court doesnt order him to pay back any quicker.

 

Its unfortunate but for sums that large you really do need written contracts, etc or at least a witness.

 

Andy

[DonkeyB]

Did you pay the money to him, or direct to the finance company? If the latter, you may be able to claim an interest in the vehicle.

[wazbrad]

I had a cheque made out for the amount outstanding on the finance , paid to the finance company , my mrs was with us when it was drafted up over the counter in the building society.

 

If this does go to small claims ,, does any 1 know what`s it gonna set me back to do so please ? ...

 

 

 

 

thanks ..warren

[DonkeyB]

If you really want to go small claims, I would first suggest a bit of subterfuge. Call him and ask when he’s going to pay you back, and why he has not done so yet. But you MUST RECORD THE CALL, for your own reference, of course. Then if you issue the claim and he denies he owes the money, offer a transcript of the call as evidence. No decent judge would refuse such evidence.

[wazbrad]

Ill have ago , but i dont think he`s talkin to me now , had a heated conversation the other day about the boat he just purchased for £600 ...

[wazbrad]

Has any 1 got a decent lba i could copy or use please ,,been looking for ages now ,,and i cant seem to find 1 suitable for my needs ..

 

 

many thanks ..warren

[andydd]

No need to use a LBA template.

 

Just put NOTICE BEFORE ACTION at the top and put down the deatils of the transaction like.

 

 

On xx 2011, Mr xx borrowed £2000 which was to be paid by xx 2011. Unless this amount is paid by xx or a satisfactory response is received then I shall begin legal proceedings, as a result i shall also seek to recover legal costs and interest at the rate of 8%.

 

Yours

 

xx

Although as pointed out above, its not that certain that you would be succesfully in court.

 

Andy