Please help, my 'friend' owes me money & won't pay it back. Legal action?

flammingstarr_2

Hi,
I am hoping that you will be-able to help me.
My friend and myself have been friends for years and we have been on holiday together previously 5 years ago.
We decided to book a holiday for June 2013 to give us something to look forward to and give us time to save/pay the balance bit-by-bit.
At the time she was a little short of money and I had been working lots of hours so had a few very good wages so we booked the holiday and agreed that I would pay the deposit and some money off the holiday and she would pay me back at/around Christmas when I would be struggling.
Now we have fallen out and she is refusing to speak to me even though I have sent her several e-mails/texts trying to resolve things, I even sent a card and friendship bracelet and keyring in the hope we could sort things out. I have tried everything to resolve things but she won't.
She is now totally refusing to pay me any of my money back despite me threatening her with Small claims court.
I have just sent her a final e-mail saying she has 72 hours to pay the money back or I will be making a claim to SCC. I have evidence of all of the payments I have made and texts/e-mails to prove that she owes me the money.
I have paid a total of £400 of which £350 was the deposit. I have spoken to the holiday company and I stand to lose £350 of the balance, the deposit.
If I take this matter to SCC, I will be claiming the full amount that I have lost - £350.00 plus whatever it has cost me to bring the matter to court. Would I be allowed to do that or only claim a proportion of my losses? I don't know what to do, but it is clear that she is not going to pay me back and I can not afford to lose this money. My work hours have been cut, I am now working p/t and she is working full time, she earns more money than I do. Any advice would be much appreciated.

TonyMMM

You can claim the actual amount of your losses , plus the court charge - BUT you may win the case, and get a judgement against your friend, that doesn't mean you will get your money....does she already have CCJs against her - if so, one more won't be much of a worry.

Can you get someone else to go on the holiday and change the booking name ?

DCFC79

What was it you fell out over ?

Do you know anyone else who would go ? Theres enough notice to give people to book holiday etc.

MrSilk

Do you have a written signed agreement to present to the judge if you do decide to take this to court? - The courts don't just give out CCJ's like sweets...

Plus I'm pretty sure you can't give her a CCJ as such.. Someone please advise.

DCFC79

MrSilk wrote: »

Do you have a written signed agreement to present to the judge if you do decide to take this to court? - The courts don't just give out CCJ's like sweets...

Plus I'm pretty sure you can't give her a CCJ as such.. Someone please advise.

A CCJ is for a court to decide but as Tony says, if the friend already has some CCJ's then 1 more wont matter, if the frienddoesn't have the money to pay then the OP wont get the money.

opinions4u

Might be easier to go on holiday with somebody else and pay an admin fee to change the booking to them.

Even if you go to court and win it doesn't mean you get your money back.

Read this thread.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/76953

flammingstarr_2

Thank you everyone.

Just wanted to say that it was a stupid row that we had over her 'husband'. They split-up because he had several affairs, got into a huge amount of debt and was physically and verbally/emotionally abusive to her and her [grown-up] children.
I supported her through this and helped her and now she has gone back to him and I called her a fool for doing so and begged her to leave him because he hurt her physically very badly last time and he is no good.
He is very controlling and he is definately behind her behaviour but I don't see why I should lose money I can't afford to lose because of her bad decisions.
Her name and DOB is on the booking form and I have texts and one e-mail from her saying she will give me £100 of what she owed me last month and then e-mailing again to say she can't afford it and doesn't owe it.
I know that there are no guarantee's that my money will be returned, but my patience has worn very thin now, I have supported her and helped her and this is my repayment. A CCJ and/or a fine will hopefully teach her a lesson and show her I won't be messed around.
I sound horrible and cold, but if she is stupid enough to go back to that monster when I have supported her through everything he has put her through for 6 years then she deserves to be taken to court...They can't say I have not tried, I have sent her approx 10 e-mails asking her to get in touch, be friends again and to resolve things and she either doesn't answer or sends a nasty email back.

andy.m_2

If you can, wait it out, his behaviour will repeat and you can be there for her to pick up the pieces.
If you cannot, then move on with your life and try to put this all behind you.

Either way the money is as good as gone so try to minimise the loss, get someone else to go with you, write off the £350 to claim the £50 back.

Wywth

Answered in your earlier thread on the CAB board.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4257977

DCFC79

OP id stop sending emails, and stop sending her gifts like friendship bracelet and keyring as these wont have an affect.

andy.m_2

OP do you secretly fancy your 'friend'?
I've seen this before on telly.