Im not having a go...

Lifeisbutadream

I didnt come on here to argue with people - I said that numerous times, but that has been ignored.

I came on here for a bit of advice perhaps, and to test the water to see what bankrupts thought.

I thought all this had been established a few posts up, but never mind, carry on having a go at me and telling me I will go bankrupt, I dont mind. I will make sure that I come back on here when it happens - I will have plenty of people to talk to..

I didnt pay out £2000 for a debt of £1400. I paid out £120 court costs and £209 charging order. The rest is interest that was added from the payment due date (June 2006 - the work was done in April 2006)

I could not find any bailiffs who were willing to go and take anything because the debt was too low. Maybe I did not try hard enough but at the time I was more concerned about how on earth we were going to pay the mortgage and working extra hours to ensure that we could.

I suppose the best thing for the person who owes me money would be to write off the debt, but sorry for me it was the principal off it. I knew this man already owed someone else £5000 from 2 years before this - why should I just let it go??? I went round to see this man numerous times and offered to stop any charges if he would pay me a reasonable amount - he offered me £1 per month. If he had offered me £50 or even £20 it would have been nearer the mark.

I do not blame all bankrupts for my situation and I certainly have not come on here and said that - I appreciate anyones opinion, but keep the tone polite please - I have.

skint_geordie2007

I think this thread is long past its sell by date.
I dont think anyone said you shouldnt chase him for the money, for what it cost you. I am sure everyone is happy that you did, and wish you luck in getting back.
Its now clear that you dont blame bankrupts, and clear that no one has a problem you chasing your lost money. Why would they?
Everyone have a love in

Lifeisbutadream

backontheup wrote:

Just a question though...why did you pay out £2000 pounds to recover a debt of £1400? As much as it hurts, I would have written it off as bad debt, blackened his name, got balliffs to go and recover goods etc. I would not have put a charging order on his house.

I wish you all the best in the future

Can I ask why you wouldnt have put a charging order on his house?

backontheup

Lifeisbutadream wrote:

Can I ask why you wouldnt have put a charging order on his house?

Because it would have been throwing good money after bad. I have learned this the hard way with various legal wranglings that I have initiated when suing people

I do hope you get at least something back - if only your costs.

Lifeisbutadream

backontheup wrote:

Because it would have been throwing good money after bad. I have learned this the hard way with various legal wranglings that I have initiated when suing people

I do hope you get at least something back - if only your costs.

I have never been in this situation before and hope that I never will be again - I have learnt from this and it is helpful to hear from someone who has been in the same position.

My main reasons for doing this - and it probably sounds harsh - is the principal of it. I dont think that this man is anything like most of the people on these boards - I truly believe that he knew exactly what he was doing - I thought when I met him he was either very stupid or very clever and although I still arent sure I do not see why he should get have our money.

TO be honest, I now see the money as a loss - it was hard coming to terms with it, especially as we are struggling financially ourselves (I have just done a SOA and we are almost £400 per month down on what we spend!), but I would rather give every penny that I do get to charity than see him keep it.

skylight

Lifeisbutadream

I have read almost all the thread, but the main thing that sticks out is the fact that you have to let this go.

The man was a swine and probably had no intention of ever paying you in the first place. You are in business and you were stung - by far more money than I could (and everyone else here could) afford to lose.

But you need to come to terms with this. It will eat away at you if you are not careful and resentment can be harmful to your health.

At the begining of the thread you were given some great advice on following up the charge on his house. Take that up and see what happens with getting something back from him.

But on this thread (and board) you are arguing with people who do care, people who have taken lifes knocks and are struggling to stand up. This man deliberately did not care. And he is never likely too either. But you cannot compare the two.

skint_geordie2007

Lifeisbutadream wrote:

I have never been in this situation before and hope that I never will be again - I have learnt from this and it is helpful to hear from someone who has been in the same position.

My main reasons for doing this - and it probably sounds harsh - is the principal of it. I dont think that this man is anything like most of the people on these boards - I truly believe that he knew exactly what he was doing - I thought when I met him he was either very stupid or very clever and although I still arent sure I do not see why he should get have our money.

TO be honest, I now see the money as a loss - it was hard coming to terms with it, especially as we are struggling financially ourselves (I have just done a SOA and we are almost £400 per month down on what we spend!), but I would rather give every penny that I do get to charity than see him keep it.

At least you know this now. I urge you to try and deal with it. Most of us end up here becasue we dont deal with it until its too late. If you havent done already post your SOA over on the Debt Free Wannbe board. You will get some great advice. This is of course assuming debts are a problem.
I guess this makes the guy who didnt pay you all the more a bitter pill to swallow.

Lifeisbutadream

skint_geordie2007 wrote:

At least you know this now. I urge you to try and deal with it. Most of us end up here becasue we dont deal with it until its too late. If you havent done already post your SOA over on the Debt Free Wannbe board. You will get some great advice. This is of course assuming debts are a problem.
I guess this makes the guy who didnt pay you all the more a bitter pill to swallow.

Thanks - I will post it on - although I have made some changes in past couple of months because I knew that we were going down...!

We have been up and down for years - we always seem to keep our heads above water - I dont think we will ever be rich!

immoral_angeluk

For the sake of £1400 would it not have been better to cut your losses than fork out loads of money to just get the original amount back??? Seems like a waste of time to me personally unless you'd be getting your court charges back as well.

plumduff-2

Im sorry I really cant find any sympathy... businesses do get !!!!!! on and as has been said the years losses should be covered in the costs... so you get your money back eventually...

You talk of this man going BR as though he was doing it simply to avoid having to pay you back... but... you say he has property... which this bloke would have lost in BR... why would he consider BR, just to get out of paying a debt...?

Furthermore there are many options to recover a debt - you have a CCJ against him.. You say you couldnt find bailiffs to collect... what are you talking about..? The county court bailiffs go out to enforce unpaid CCJ's - you dont just phone someone out of yellow pages..

And you say you are going for a CO, yet no nothing of how these work... thinking you can only get your money when he dies or the house is sold.. You havent read up on COs as you clearly didint know that a payment plan is usually set up as a condition... you didnt know that if the paymetn plan is broken by the debtor, then you could apply to the court for an order of sale..

Unfortunately, business is a risk and I really dont think that this will be the only time you will be 'ripped' off... so, maybe you need to read up on what options are available to you for when this happens again...

And one last point - you know nothing about this man and make loads of value judgements against him.. Do you know why he didnt pay the other company..? - perhaps the work was shoddy... perhaps your was.... perhaps your only telling half a story..

Perhaps since he got the work done, he has fallen on hard/harder times, maybe he has depression or mental or physical illness preventing him from working.. Been made redundant... who knows... but as has been said, BR is not an easy option and I certainly only give sympathy to people going BR on a BR board...