Harassment against a soft loan.

SIMON47

Last November I wrote to a friend who had "soft loaned" me £3000 and with whom we had both been involved in a failed overseas transaction circa £9000 to advise that I was suffering from depression and would be out of circulation until I had recovered sufficiently in the New Year. He had asked me for a repayment plan and I stated that I could not offer a repayment plan until I had a regular source of income and I would not enter an agreement I could not honour.

My wife further added that due to the serious nature of the depression, not to push me as it could have serious implications for my well-being. My "friend" wanted medical details which my wife rightly did not disclose.

My "friend" had loaned me the money as we were both partnering formally on a sales and project management deal for a manufacturer and the rewards were potentially high. The loan was offered when I told him I was going to back out of the partnership as the revenue stream was taking too long to cut in and I had sold many of my assets over two years in order to survive and support my young family.

At the end of January a "debt collector" arrived unannounced at my home and gave a letter to my wife which was a "without prejudice" threatening letter which foretold of a series of events that would be unleashed against both me and my wife. The letter was signed by my so called friend.

In February another debt collector called at my brother's house and alerted my brother to the fact that I was in debt and brandishing a thick pile of papers.

In early March two "heavies" arrived at my house as I returned home one afternoon and made a number of serious threats including implied threat to kill, direct threat to kill, threats to harm myself and my wife and also that I now owed £20000! They told me contradicting things such as they now owned the debt but also that my "friend" was the "boss". The language was from the gutter and I stayed very calm and composed and asked for Identity. I was told that I would never find out who they are. I was given 10 seconds to tell them how I would pay up and then told I had 36 hours and to pay by Friday 12 noon "or else you might as well ******* move house. These "heavies" had copies of all the paperwork between me and my friend and some other paperwork relating to the failed overseas deal.

Because my "friend" had been close to me for some years he knew my family are reasonably settled and the "heavies" told me to approach them to get this settled.

I first rang the 0300 number for reporting Loan Sharks and was told to go to the Police.

The Police were excellent and we were fortunate to have both high quality video and stills of these thugs.

Thus far one man is arrested and bailed. He denies any wrong doing and insists he travelled to see me in peace and just to have a quiet chat. He knows my friend from the pub and was just doing a favour free gratis.

My "friend" has only been spoken to so far.

The other guy has a warrant for his arrest and the police are looking for him albeit his known addresses are all false leads. He has gone to ground.

The Police do not seem well clued up on harassment and I have spoken at length to the officer in charge with little help. They view this as Public order and to quote "your debt is a civil matter and not for the Police".

The risk to my family was deemed serious enough for us to be told to move out of our home and into a Hotel for 5 nights under a Pseudonym and for the car to be locked away in a remote garage.
Upon returning the local Police put a CCTV van in the road and have upped the patrols. We also have other security measures in place. Our eldest son's had to take a week's holiday from work and whilst our Hotel costs were met by some very generous people from our community, we had to eat out for lunch and dinner which for four people over the 6 days added up.

The repercussion's have affected my immediate family and I feel great shame for exposing them to danger in this way through a rogue "friend". My brother has indeed discussed this matter with my family who view me very differently now.

I know that my youngest child is suffering Post Traumatic Stress as am I and my wife.

As for making money, I was just at the point where I was starting a new business and fighting my way out of depression, which was both regional and web based. I had written the web site and taken a contract out for hosting. Because the web site featured my name and address and mobile numbers and so forth I have had to cancel and I am thankful to the firm for not sticking to the rigid policy and understanding my situation. However, this leaves me without a source of income which seems so wrong.

To make things worse, we had a legal expenses policy that I tried to enact and gave a detailed case to the legal expenses firm who then emailed a very detailed letter declining to help to the wrong email address...despite me emailing them and them having a record of my address. I told them I needed support and the least I could expect was for them not to breach Data Protection. They have written back declining to help and stating they have no reason to compensate as they have taken steps internally.

Some support at this time would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Googlewhacker

To be honest I see it from the 'friends' side of things to start with, they lent you 3k and then when they asked for some of it back they were told no and don't ask why and don't push for it without really any valid proof....anyone can say they are ill (I am not doubting you were) and the lender is basically told there is no outcome in the near future.

However the actions afterwards are not good from the 'friend' and I have no clue what you can do bar what you have done.

EDIT: I presume you are talking to people, i.e. counsellors and Doctors, if not you really should.

SIMON47

To be fair, I had been in almost daily contact with my "friend" for three years and he was convincing me to continue with our business partnership. He did not take it well that I felt the partnership was not going to achieve it's goal and it was not proportionate of me to disclose to a "friend" the private details of my counselling and trips to the doctor.
Eventually his telephone number was blocked as he pulling me down. I explained the reasons why and maintained occasional mobile contact until I fell ill.

Perhaps I should add that I gave much of my time to my friend for free to advise on an overseas company he owned (owns).
To support the partnership I sold most of my assets and felt duty bound to the partnership to the detriment of my personal finances.

This very much feels like he is trying to revenge me not wanting to work with him any more.

The risk in disclosing to an individual such sensitive information is that they are not bound by the data protection act and could use it to cause harm.

Perhaps you need to experience depression to understand how hard it was to even to disclose to someone that you are suffering from it. Especially when you have been highly driven and entrepreneurial all your life. Depression, failure and debt are all closely linked.

Googlewhacker

So are you talking to counsellors and Doctors?

I am talking currently, not in the past because it is obviously affecting you now.

SIMON47

Yes indeed. I have an excellent counsellor and have approached someone regarding post traumatic stress.

I am also taking legal advice, as a soft loan is not regulated and therefore if someone tries to enforce using harassment, serious threats and by spreading rumours to family it becomes quite serious. More so, when people claim to be debt collector's and are not licensed. It means in my opinion that the soft loan crosses over to being akin to a loan from a Loan Shark.