He owes me money but won't pay up!!!!!

Princesspearl

Myself and my partner are in the process of going our seperate ways. For years he has underpaid in to our house account and left me to pay some of his personal debts and the majority of the household bills and mortgage.
I have spent hours today going through bank statements as far back as March 2006, working out what the short falls in payments were and basically the lack of payments made by him since 2009.
Each month since 2006 I have paid a set amount in to the house account. His payments have been very hit and miss, this was due to him not having a job. When he did have work he paid in lump sums but over time this still did not cover or match the payment made by myself or the short fall for the months that he didn't pay.
In May 2009 I tool his name off the house account as I could not trust him anymore. Why should he have access to an account that he was not paying in to? There were instances where he was even making £100-£250 cash withdrawals having not even paid anything in!!!
So to date he owes me in the region of £21,000
Part of this amount is made up of a calculation I made that covers May 2009 to date. I worked out how many payments he should have made to the house account during this time, and minused what he had in fact paid. What my question is, is this, Can I ask him for the money that he has failed to pay? He says he won't pay this as it's not additional money I had to personally transfer from my own private account to make up the short fall.
He says that it's just tough luck andd shrugs his shoulders.
For the whole of this sorry saga I have borrowed from my parents, off my credit card and used my own savings to make sure if nothing else, the mortgage was paid. Thankfully I have never missed a payment.
The mortgage is in joint names.
So what do you think I can and can't ask him for? i'm so desperate to move on but I can't start the process until I can go to him with evidence to show every penny that he owes me. (plus my legal right to the equity in the house) I should just add that due to his debt issues he had a CCJ taken out against him by our own mortgage company, which has resulted in a charge on the house.

Sorry to go on, but Im needing advice before I start paying a solicitor!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you.

notakid

How much equity in the house?

I guess if you can prove that you paid the bills, deposit, loans that you could receive all the equity.

I hope someone comes along who knows what they are talking about tho.:D

zzzLazyDaisy

Sorry this is not what you want to hear...

He doesn't owe you any money, in law, unless it was a loan and he agreed to pay you back - even then, without documentary evidence, it might be difficult to prove.

As far as a joint account is concerned - the legal position is that both account holders each own all the money. So he was perfectly entitled to withdraw money from the bank.

Again, if that was not your intention or agreement, you should have got him to sign an agreement that he would pay you back.

The bottom line is that any debts in his name are his, any in your name are yours.

Sounds like you are well rid!

podperson

I'm sorry but unless you actually have an official agreement I think you have very little chance of getting this money off him. If he wasn't paying his way as far back as 2006 then you should have done something about it then - you let it slide for the next 6 years because presumerably you felt it was ok (or at least put upable with) as long as you were still in a relationship. You can't suddenly ask for every penny from during the relationship back because you break up! As for the mortgage if it's in joint names then you are both jointly and severly liable for the full amount - not you're responsible for your half and he's responsible for his. Morally unfair perhaps but that's how the law will see it.

When did you buy the house and did he initally put any money into it? If he has put very little money into it then you might be better trying to appeal to him to sign it over to you, rather then chasing for all this money that you will never get back.

balletshoes

would the CAB be able to advise you? I think I'd try there first before engaging a solicitor.

zzzLazyDaisy

Princesspearl wrote: »

The mortgage is in joint names. .

Sorry, I missed this bit. The mortgage is in joint names which means that you are both equally responsible for paying it. You may have had an agreement that you would each pay half, but was that agreement ever formalised in writing? Almost certainly not, because that isn't how relationships normally work when they are going well. And the truth is that you probably wouldn't be asking for the money back if your relationship hadn't hit the rocks?

With regard to the house - if it is in joint names, you need to establish whether that is as 'joint tenants' or 'tenants in common' (you can check this online on the land registry website by inputting your address. Either way, the division of any equity is down to how the house was purchased at the outset, and what happened afterwards re bill paying etc makes no difference. You are not married so the courts have no power to adjust property shares to make things fairer.

If the house is in negative equity you are both equally liable for the whole amount.

Have you come to any agreement with him about what will happen to the house?

Fire_Fox

Welcome! You can claim for anything you can clearly demonstrate was a loan, you generally cannot claim for anything that is deemed a gift or inequitable payments due to one person unable to contribute (stay at home mums). He will have to pay any debts in his own name, he should have to pay for his CCJ.

You *might* be able to get consideration for some missed mortgage payments say those that are after split up since it's unlikely you would still be payng his way voluntarily as you might during a relationship. I wouldn't bank on getting much to be honest, if you are joint tenants you are jointly and severally liable for the FULL debt.

lika_86

Probably not what you want to hear but I think you're letting the splitting up process bring out your petty side If you were together and living as a couple and you were employed and he wasn't, why should he put equal amounts into a household account when he's not earning. You say he put in lump sums when he could. If you'd been out of work, would you have expected your partner would keep asking for money you didn't have? Or would you have expected that you are a partnership and that the other person would support you as best they could rather than keeping a mental tally of when you were unable to contribute?

How any equity should be split is a legal matter, but as for your other 'claims', I think you need to let it go really.

Whilst I'm all for making sure your own finances are protected when you're in a relationship, I think you need to consider what it means to live as a couple for your next relationship.

zzzLazyDaisy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

if you are joint tenants you are jointly and severally liable for the FULL debt.

Just to clarify - even if you are tenants in common, you are both still jointly and severally liable for the full debt. TiC only regulates how the value of the house is split between the owners, it doesn't affect how the joint mortgage operates.

Princesspearl

Thanks for all your comments. Sorry I didn't get back earlier.
I'm a bit surprised at being called "petty"!!!! Oh believe me I'm not in any way. I just happen to be a very nice person who thought that the man I have shared the past 14 and a half years with, would actually man up and recognize how much stress I was under having to pay out for everything every month.
I have always had a job and unlike him him would never walk out of a job just because I didn't like it, and then sit at home for a year waiting for another job to come along. In all of his time of not working he never once signed on. I know job seekers is crap but just something would have helped. He would at some points have been classed as long term unemployed and therefore could have got free training for a new trade, but again as he refused to sign on, got nothing.
He has employment now and has started to give me money for the house account, but when he gives me the money it's almost like I have to get on my hands and knees and thank him for eternity!!!!!
I have all the paper-trails/bank statements to track his lack of financial support within the relationship, but I do know that the bottom line may be that as he's not man enough to admit that he left me to pay the bills and the mortgage, he won't be man enough to admit he owes me anything.
I'm going to go and see the CAB in the new year to make sure I know my legal standing with his CCJ and debt management. I will be very very p'd if this comes up on my credit score (It hasn't yet as far as I know) as eventually I want to move on and finally get him out of my life.
Thanks again for letting me rant, maybe in my next relationship I won't be so understanding and supportive!!

mountainofdebt

As far as I'm aware if you have any joint accounts with him then you are financially linked to him and will be until those accounts are closed.

Edit : I've just re-read your initial post. How come the mortgage co put a charge on the house because of his CCJ ? Is it any way linked to non payment of the mortgage?