Drawing up an agreement for ex to pay me back

fimonkey

I have split up froma relationship and my ex owes me just shy of £700

There's no conflict over him owing me this, but I need to draw up some kind of agreement so that if he doesn't pay I can take him to court.

Asking for a monthly amount will be fruitless, I am better off giving him a year to pay it and he can pay it how he wants.

What form of words do I need to use and does it need to have a witness signature?

Thanks in advance

victory

Seems a disaster waiting to happen this one, you really need CAB advice, solicitors, do not take his word for anything, what if he meets someone else and just does not bother to pay you back?

This has to be super water tight, get expert professional advice.

fimonkey

OK I know its a disaster waiting to happen which is why I want a legal agreement. CAB are no good to me cos I have no time to go and sit in their waiting room to see a junior who can tell me the info I could find out for myself - hence my post here.

Also have no intention of paying for advice at this stage. Fair enough if the signature needs witnessing by a solicitor then I will pay for that, but not for advice at this stage.

fimonkey

For instance cos it is less than 5K if I decide to go after him it will be done myself through the small claims route, at the moment he agrees and admits he owes this money - just need to have somehting to use in future to prove it if he decides to doa runner

RichGold

Does he have money (or a job)? Because even if you get it in writing and take him to court, if he doesn't have it, they cant make him pay it.

DUTR

fimonkey wrote: »

I have split up froma relationship and my ex owes me just shy of £700

There's no conflict over him owing me this, but I need to draw up some kind of agreement so that if he doesn't pay I can take him to court.

Asking for a monthly amount will be fruitless, I am better off giving him a year to pay it and he can pay it how he wants.

What form of words do I need to use and does it need to have a witness signature?

Thanks in advance

You may just have to depend on his good nature, will be difficult to have an agreement after the event, especially as you are not licensed to loan money.

BitterAndTwisted

If he does a runner you won't be able to take him to court as you'd have nowhere to serve the documents. At this juncture you need a written acknowledgement from him in writing that the amount is owed to you and that he intends to repay it. Try to get him to give a deadline as to when he foresees being able to settle it in full. Just saying "Yes, I owe you the money and I'll try to pay it back when I can" won't be enough for court.

charlieann

Has he been paying it back already?
My ex owed me a simular amount and paid it off at £25 each month.
He stopped paying for a couple of months and when i contacted him he revealed he couldnt afford the amount so we agreed to £20 a month, every payday. If he was late by 5 days i would be on his back and it usually appeared that evening.
I kept a spreadsheet showing amount owed/ amount paid and sent it him every so often so he could also keep track of his debt.
I deleted his number and cut all contact as soon as I got my money back.

I would try and get your ex to agree to an amount every payday rather than give him a time to repay the whole amount. That way you are recoving the money, rather than waiting a year for an excuse why it can't be paid.

fimonkey

He originally owed me £2100 and was paying this off at £35 a week until Aug when things started to go wrong between us. I have kept meticulous records (spreadsheet) of what he owes and when he's paid and have periodically emailed these to him so have dated records. He's sef employed so his income is very variable (and very low at the moment).

I know if he has no money I won't recover it, - kay sera - but what I will do is send in the bailiffs and get a CCJ against him so ruin his otherwise OK credit history.

And he won't do a runner, I know his family and friends, they would definitely help me track him down.

So far this is reasonably amicable for us, so he has agreed to sign a document stating he owes this money. I just want a form of words and to know whether a witness is required and whether the witness needs to be a solicitor or just a friend?

In terms of him paying back weekly - well I doubt he could, but I could set 3 month deadlines for him in the agreement.

fimonkey

DUTR wrote: »

You may just have to depend on his good nature, will be difficult to have an agreement after the event, especially as you are not licensed to loan money.

Where do you get this from? I know of a many threads on forums where ex friends have successfully sued for money owed - have they all been lying?

fimonkey

RichGold wrote: »

Does he have money (or a job)? Because even if you get it in writing and take him to court, if he doesn't have it, they cant make him pay it.

No but I can scare the heck out of him with legal stuff and get a CCJ against him. I'm in a fortunate position that I don't actually need the money back but the principle is that if you owe money you pay it back - simples!