TFS Guarantor (getting my money back)

Braingers

Stupidly i became a guarantor for my girlfriends friend not fully understanding what being a guarantor meant at the time i had the "love" blinkers on and stupidly agreed to be guarantor for this person with promises from my girlfriend things would be ok and it would get paid every month.

I have since learned that the person has been suspended from her job and she still gets paid yet she doesn't seem to want to pay the loan, TFS have tried to get in contact but the phone seems to be switched off and i'm really not sure if she opens her letters.

I was also told that she isn't paying her rent and yet she has a lodger staying with her, I have been getting lots of letters saying the monthly charges have not been paid and been threatened with court action if the arrears do not get paid, i was sick of all this rubbish that i asked TFS how much would it be to pay the whole loan off to which they said £4600.

So i paid off the whole loan the full amount and tried to get my Girlfriend to get a message to her that she owes me £4600 wether it be at least £100 a month or she can get her own loan and pay it off in the one go.

It seems the only way i can contact her is through my Girlfriends facebook unless i travel down to England and get to see her face to face.

I'm just wondering if there is anything more i can do to get my money back.

27col

It sounds as if you have been shafted mate. Don't bank on getting any of it back. You should have come onto this forum and read about the perils of being a guarantor first. Now you know what the perils are, but it too late.

MonkeyMad

You are going to get none of this money back. You have voluntarily paid the debt, and have no agreement of any kind between you and the friend for her to pay you this amount.

tell_it_how_it_is

As mentioned above, you sadly need to assume the money is lost.

All you can do is bring it up every so often with your girlfriend (and her friend if you make contact), in as polite a way as possible.

As you say, even asking/pleading for and getting small amounts would be some kind of achievement.

Braingers

thank you for the replies, i was thinking about going to the small claims court to try and scare her a bit but i will probably just end up paying more money for the fees etc.

dealer_wins

You could go and see her, take her to court, get her teeth kicked in, but it wont get your money back from someone who doesnt have any.

Write it off to experience, and never be a guarantor or lend money to "friends" ever again.

Apples2

Well done for paying it off. Most guarantors are on here vehemently trying to deny any involvement in the loan at all.

The requirement for a guarantor is simple - the borrower is not going to repay it, lenders are good at judging this scenario so they simply protect their investment.

We routinely have arguments on here trying to warn people away form acting as guarantor, along with disparaging remarks toward those desperately trying to get someone to agree to become one (we even get people directly asking MSE members to become their guarantor!)

KingElvis

No, you've been done up like a kipper my friend.

learn from it and don't let your "old chap" lead you into very bad decisions again.

Love and money rarely mix............Love, money and shysters (your GF's mate in this instance) are a disaster.