Small claims court for getting money back from ex

elisebutt65

Sorry if this is wrong place but it's sorta money saving? Pleas move if in wrong place

Ok - a friend of mine(not me) lent her ex £800 (gaaah) She transferred the money into his bank - he set up dd and paid off £100, but now he's cancelled it.

Me and another friend are trying to help her get the money back via small claims court but we need help on drafting a statement.

We know it's along shot but who knows? He may be afraid enough of the court action letter into paying up.

Can anyone help pleeeease?????

ManAtHome

Not sure what you mean - she'll have a record of the transfer across and the first payment back - would have thought that would be enough (would be difficult to argue that the other £700 was a gift).

An ex successfully sued a previous ex (confusing enough..?) in a similar situation through SCC - settled before the hearing... Hope she gets the same result.

elisebutt65

It's just help with drafting an official(ish) sounding statement where you say why you want the money etc - Neither of uis is too good at that sort of thing without sounding whingy IYKWIM?

ManAtHome

Probably best just to stick to the facts - "Loaned Mr X £800, he agreed to repay £100 a month for 8 months, but stopped after the first payment".

Rex_Mundi

Not an easy one. He could easily defend the claim by saying the money was a gift, or was the repayment of a cash loan made by him to your friend. Seeing as they were a couple, there could be many (very plausible) reasons for the transfer of money between the partners accounts. Without some form of proof (written agreement etc), this would be so hard to win in court.

I'd say there is a very good chance of your friend losing the claim in court, and her £80 court fee (this is how much it would cost in court fees for a claim of this amount).

dmg24

Rex_Mundi is right, as no consideration was provided in exchange for the money, then there is no actual contract.

Is there no chance of sorting this more amicably?

chuckles1066

dmg24 wrote:

Rex_Mundi is right, as no consideration was provided in exchange for the money, then there is no actual contract.

Is there no chance of sorting this more amicably?

Zero chance of success via legal channels.

If I were him, I'd say I sold her a pc for £700, she accidentally paid me £800 so I refunded the £100 difference.

Now what's all this about a loan?

It's dead in the water..........

crazy_guy

Writing to the ex saying that you will take this to court may be enough for him to settle and pay up. Alternatively he may just pay up once he gets notification from the Court aswell but then your betting 80 quid on this assertion but its better than 700 quid

wireframe_2

Its not "dead in the water", god you people are pessimistic sometimes. Never watch Judge Judy?
She lent him £800. That wasn't a gift. He knew that cos he paid back £100 of it. You have the £800 transfer, and the £100 repayment. He still owes you £700.


"Dear Sir
This is notification of Impending Small Claims action against yourself.

On the 1/2/1234 mrs x loaned you the sum of £800, to be repaid in 8 monthly installments of £100. On the 3/3/3333 you mad the first of these payments in the amount of £100. There is still a balance of £700 outstanding. If you do not repay IN FULL the outstanding balance, mrs x will be forced to take legal action against you. This will allso include any court costs she may incur and bayliff costs, should the matter reach that stage

Ete etc

Yours anytime

Willy Wonka"

Bish. Bash. Bosh.

dmg24

Never watch Judge Judy? I hope you are joking!

Yes, he may bow to the threat of court action. However, if he has anything about him he will get advice and find that, as there was no consideration given for the money, then there is no contract.

I am really sorry for the OP, I have been in the situation myself (love is blind and all that). Not easy to write off that amount of money, but maybe it would be better in the long run to cut your losses and put it down to a very bad experience? x

jobbingmusician

Assuming that you will lose the court action assumes that he will be happy to lie in court. Am I alone in thinking that although he might conveniently 'forget' to pay the balance, he's quie unlikely to be willing to lie his socks off under oath to get out of such a relatively small amount of money?