Loan to Ex partner

[NTscott22]

I took out a loan for a car for my Ex partner for £8000 in August and I paid the car company by credit cards .The agreement was that she would make payments . The car was registered in her name now she is refusing to pay anything towards the debt.

Any advice would be appreciated 

Thanks 

[Ethel Street]

Is the agreement between you and your ex-partner in writing?  What evidence do you hold that she agreed to make the payments?

 

How did the repayments work? Are you paying the your credit card bills  and your ex-partner is repaying you? 

 

Does your ex-partner still have the car? 

 

What reason has your ex-partner given you for refusing to pay?

[NTscott22]

The agreement was a verbal initially that she with cover the payments of the loan ,which I also have in writing in text messages . I then put the agreement in writing and sent over a copy of the contract which she has not signed or returned.

My Ex partner still has the car  and V5 in her name with  no payments that have been made by her , I am paying the payments on the Credit card .

No reasons given for non payments, refusing now to take my calls .

 

Thanks 

[dx100uk]

got you by the tight and curlies sadly.

are there divorce proceedings involved?

[NTscott22]

No divorce proceedings was just helping out can I take it to court 

[dx100uk]

dont think a text msg cuts it, they can be faked?

 

see what others think.

 

dx

 

[Ethel Street]

Who is the legal owner of the car? Your ex-partner is the registered keeper but that isn't evidence that she is also the legal owner. Being registered keeper doesn't make someone the legal owner.

 

Have you still got the documents - especially the invoice -  from when the car was bought? Do the documents show that you are buying the car or your ex-partner?

[NTscott22]

I made the payment via credit card the invoice is in her name 

 

thanks 

[Ethel Street]

Normally I'd be thinking that starting a court action to recover your loan is the obvious thing to do  (how much does she owe you by the way?)

 

I can see two hurdles for you

 

(1) Lack of written evidence that she agreed it was loan that she would repay. The text is far from ideal evidence but might be sufficient, especially if she doesn't deny she sent it. Depends what it says.

 

(2) Courts typically regard agreements between people who are a couple, who are one family, as family arrangements that weren't intended to create legal contracts. ie, in effect the court might decide that it was a gift from you to your partner. However the text might be sufficient to show a contractual agreement was intended. Again, depends what it says.

 

I'm not a lawyer so even if I knew what the text says I couldn't say whether it's sufficient to start a court action. And in any case, as dx says, because texts aren't hard to fake she could simply deny it came from her.

 

Let's see if others have an opinion on this.

 

 

[NTscott22]

I have emailed the company requesting a new invoice showing payments made by me .

[Ethel Street]

@NTscott22How much is the total loan you made to your ex-partner?

[honeybee13]

Post #1 says £8k, Ethel.

 

HB

[Andyorch]

A verbal agreement can still be legally binding and carry weight in litigation. But, it’s important to realise that not all verbal agreements will be. 

 

It’s the same for written agreements. Some written agreements will be legally binding and others won’t be. It all depends on the substance or contents of the agreement itself and whether or not the elements of a contract are present.

Therefore, whether your agreement is verbal or written, if your agreement has all the elements of a binding contract, then it’ll be binding.

 

Andy

[Ethel Street]

@NTscott22  If you want to pursue this further I believe the only route open to you is a small claims court action.

 

But before you start that one question: does your ex-partner have any money to pay you the £8k if you win the court action? Presumably she didn't have the ready cash or she wouldn't have asked you for a loan. Does she have other sources of funds to meet an £8k claim? Or would you be dependent on her having to sell the car (likely to raise less than she owes you I'd have thought)?

 

There's not much point financially in bringing a claim against someone who can't pay you even if you win. That's just throwing good money after bad.