Small Claims Court guide

blt

I think I just didn't anticipate them pretty much ignoring the summons amount and how to pay…. Wallies.

I'll let them know that the debt has not been paid in full and directing them back to the summons. I have done that already so I don't know if they're just playing at silly buggers or what!

Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

Craig_leahy

i need real help,
i lent some friends £700 for a deposit for a house, now they wont give it to mt back. ive been to see them, phoned them and sent texts numerous times and all im getting from them is !ill pay next week. i lent them the money over 10months ago and they were suppose to pay me back after 3 weeks. since i lent them the money, theyve bought a transit van minibus, taxed it and insured it, theyve bought 2 horses and 3 motor cross motorbike but no money for me.........ive dent a final txt saying i needed the money back asap but now they wont answer the phone to me or reply to my txt.
what is the 1st thing i should do....in fact is there a check list of things i need to do before starting down the legal route. ive been told i must write a final letter to them giving them a date to pay by or ill be taking legal action against them...........is this true ?? if so is there a template i can use to draft the letter ?
im disabled and i only lent them the money because we were close friends...
please please please i need good advice. who can help me

wealdroam

Craig_leahy wrote: »

i need real help,
i lent some friends £700 for a deposit for a house, now they wont give it to mt back. ive been to see them, phoned them and sent texts numerous times and all im getting from them is !ill pay next week. i lent them the money over 10months ago and they were suppose to pay me back after 3 weeks. since i lent them the money, theyve bought a transit van minibus, taxed it and insured it, theyve bought 2 horses and 3 motor cross motorbike but no money for me.........ive dent a final txt saying i needed the money back asap but now they wont answer the phone to me or reply to my txt.
what is the 1st thing i should do....in fact is there a check list of things i need to do before starting down the legal route. ive been told i must write a final letter to them giving them a date to pay by or ill be taking legal action against them...........is this true ?? if so is there a template i can use to draft the letter ?
im disabled and i only lent them the money because we were close friends...
please please please i need good advice. who can help me

Dear Mr & Mrs Xyz,

Letter Before Action

On dd mmm yyyy I lent you £700.00 and you agreed to repay me after three weeks. Ten months have now passed with no sign of the repayment.

Please send me this money, pay into the account of Craig Leahy - sort code nn-nn-nn - acct#12345678, within the next 14 days.

If you do not pay me the money owed within the timescale mentioned, I will have no hesitation in starting court action to recovery my money. If that is necessary then the debt will increase to include court costs.

Yours etc, Craig Leahy

Send this as a real letter and get a 'proof of posting' from the Post Office.

The above assumes you have some sort of proof that these people owe you any money.
You can still send that letter if you have no proof of the debt - it may frighten them into paying - but do not go to court without any evidence.

Keep those text messages, and any emails etc, that give any indication that they acknowledge the debt - they may be useful later.

Why have you mentioned that you are disabled? Is that relevant?

richjp2

Hello everyone,


I initiated a claim via the MCOL service three days ago and as a courtesy to the defendant I emailed a PDF copy of the claim to him.


He has acknowledged receipt of my email and attachment but has said that his residential address shown is incorrect therefore the hard copy will not reach him and has advised me of his current address (I was actually surprised that he revealed his current address). I want to ensure that the hard copy goes to his current address so that the legal process is correct. It would seem that the easiest method would be for me to cancel the claim I have already submitted and create a new one, rather than try to get the existing claim amended. I realise that either way there will be an additional court fee however I am prepared to accept that.


Any suggestions will be appreciated.

wealdroam

richjp2 wrote: »

Hello everyone,


I initiated a claim via the MCOL service three days ago and as a courtesy to the defendant I emailed a PDF copy of the claim to him.


He has acknowledged receipt of my email and attachment but has said that his residential address shown is incorrect therefore the hard copy will not reach him and has advised me of his current address (I was actually surprised that he revealed his current address). I want to ensure that the hard copy goes to his current address so that the legal process is correct. It would seem that the easiest method would be for me to cancel the claim I have already submitted and create a new one, rather than try to get the existing claim amended. I realise that either way there will be an additional court fee however I am prepared to accept that.


Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I too am surprised at the defendant's apparent honesty.

The first thing to do is to be absolutely sure that the newly supplied address is in fact the one that should be used.

richjp2

wealdroom, Thank you for your reply. I suspect that it may cause him some embarrassment for some reason if court papers go to his old address, which is why he may have given me a new one.


The MCOL guidelines say that the address on the claim should be the usual or "last known residential address". As he himself has given me a new address by email I think that should be more than good enough to meet the requirement. I do not think I can do much more other than go round to the new address and stake him out, however even if I did do that, it would not prove anything as he could just be visiting temporarily.

Auldgit

Hi all, in 2001 we contracted a chimney lining firm to install a lightweight concrete lining in our chimney, at a cost of £750. The stove is little used, and the chimney has only needed sweeping twice in the intervening years. Recently I asked a sweep to clean the chimney and she couldn't get the brush up it- further CCTV investigation showed a large stone had fallen and blocked the chimney. Once this was removed, CCTV revealed that the bottom and top 2 meters of the chimney had been lined, but that the middle section- some 3 meters- had not been. Hence the stone eventually dropping. I wrote to the firm who carried out the original work and he rang me to say that it was out of guarantee (10 years) and that he wasn't prepared to help. I've just had a new lining installed at a cost of £878. My question is this: can I make a claim under the small claims procedure on the grounds that the work that was paid for was never carried out, even after an interval of 14 years??

naedanger

Auldgit wrote: »

Hi all, in 2001 we contracted a chimney lining firm to install a lightweight concrete lining in our chimney, at a cost of £750. The stove is little used, and the chimney has only needed sweeping twice in the intervening years. Recently I asked a sweep to clean the chimney and she couldn't get the brush up it- further CCTV investigation showed a large stone had fallen and blocked the chimney. Once this was removed, CCTV revealed that the bottom and top 2 meters of the chimney had been lined, but that the middle section- some 3 meters- had not been. Hence the stone eventually dropping. I wrote to the firm who carried out the original work and he rang me to say that it was out of guarantee (10 years) and that he wasn't prepared to help. I've just had a new lining installed at a cost of £878. My question is this: can I make a claim under the small claims procedure on the grounds that the work that was paid for was never carried out, even after an interval of 14 years??

I don't think it would be successful. I think you would had to have brought the claim within 6 years (5 in Scotland) of the problem i.e. 6 years of when they didn't do the initial work.

If you were claiming because the item failed after 9.5 years, but were only now bringing the case, then that may be a permissible legal argument (but I am don't know for sure). I think in practice such a case would be very difficult to win.

Auldgit

naedanger wrote: »

I don't think it would be successful. I think you would had to have brought the claim within 6 years (5 in Scotland) of the problem i.e. 6 years of when they didn't do the initial work.

If you were claiming because the item failed after 9.5 years, but were only now bringing the case, then that may be a permissible legal argument (but I am don't know for sure). I think in practice such a case would be very difficult to win.

Yes I've a feeling you're right, hence the post. If the lining had failed after 14 years I wouldn't even be asking the question, but the thing that really niggles is that the work was never carried out, at least in part, and we've been conned. Hate being conned........!

naedanger

Auldgit wrote: »

Yes I've a feeling you're right, hence the post. If the lining had failed after 14 years I wouldn't even be asking the question, but the thing that really niggles is that the work was never carried out, at least in part, and we've been conned. Hate being conned........!

I know how you feel. (And I appreciated your argument was based on the fact the work was never carried out properly rather than it hadn't been durable enough.)

Hopefully someone will be along to say there is more to it than I thought, and you can make a claim that has a reasonable chance of success.