Can we do anything about this???

gibboking

Hi a while ago when my husband was made redundant, He sold his car to a friend for £3000.
His friend didn't have the full amount and they agreed that He would pay us £50 per week. Which at the time suited us as we were desperate for money.
Hubby signed the car over and no other formal agreement was made (stupid I know, but didnt think at the time).
This friend messed around with the repayments and should of had it all paid off by last xmas, and to date he has only paid £900, and he has damaged the car.
what i would like to know is do we have any rights at all?
We do have some money so that we could buy back the car but I am reluctant to pay him back £900 as he has damaged it and we will have to pay to get it repaired etc.
Will it stand up in small claims?
Any advice please
Thanks in advance.

Sillychuckie

The fact he has paid you money so far will stand as a good piece of evidence that there was some sort of agreement between the two of you.
This should help if you ever have to go to court, but it might be tricky proving what the full figure owed was.
One idea is to send a letter asking for the final amount and note their reply.
Another trick is to send a similar letter with an incorrect, (larger), final amount, and see if they are tricked into replying with "hold on, I only owe £X. With a reply like this, you have further proof you are owed money.

Often just starting some form of proceedings is enough to 'scare' them into paying up. Have a look at http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk if you want to go down that route.
The fact he has now damaged the car is irrelevant, it should not effect the fact that there is still money owed on your 'agreement', albeit a verbal one.
It wont be easy however as you have no proof.
Try writing to them as I have suggested.

prudryden

Good idea by chuckie. A verbal contract is still a contract. The fact that he has paid you enforces the contract. But it will be your word against his on the total amount due. A judge will make a decision on what he believes is the truth.