ex owes me 5k..worried i won't get it back

aygotaclue

hi


My ex owes me 5k and I'm starting to get concerned that I won't get it back despite his promises.


So I guess what I'm asking is what would be the best route to take to try and recover my money if he stops playing ball? Can a non-business person take court action to recover a debt?


He did get his dad to write up an agreement when we split up that he owes me 5k, but is this worth the paper it's written on?

double_mummy

small claims court https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/overview

the paper is always handy if signed

any other evidence you have will be helpful

is there any way it could be claimed to be a gift by the other person?

aygotaclue

Thanks double mummy


Yes he did sign the paperwork along with my mom as a witness.


Only other evidence is a couple of txt's to my mom from him saying 'don't worry ***** will get her money back' although he never mentions amounts in the txt's.


Don't think he could claim it was a gift?


It's quite early days yet since we split up (2 1/2 months), but I've just this week had a sense of panic strike me that I may not get the money back!


I don't txt/call him myself I find it all to stressful and we decided that my mom would be the go between (this may sound juvenile but he can get verbally aggressive with me so I prefer no contact in any way, he was happy enough to do it that way, and so was my mom because they got on really well) However, this last week he has been ignoring my mom and I suppose this is what has caused me to panic.

thorsoak

If you don't get it back - just tell yourself that at least you haven't still got him hanging around you like a bad smell!

But seriously, Small Claims Court is the way to go. x

aygotaclue

ok guys I'll look into small claims court just in case, thank you.

wine_night

If you do decide to go down the legal route, the court will need to satisfied that you have given the debtor every opportunity to make the payment.

Therefore you may want to write to your ex formally requesting full payment of the outstanding amount by x date (suggest 7-14 days from the date of the letter). If payment is not made by that date then you may wish to send a final letter indicating that court action will be taken if the payment is not received by you within says 7 days. Keep copies of the letters, and it may be an idea to send the final letter by registered post, in order to prove that your ex has received it.

Good luck!

DUTR

wine_night wrote: »

If you do decide to go down the legal route, the court will need to satisfied that you have given the debtor every opportunity to make the payment.

Therefore you may want to write to your ex formally requesting full payment of the outstanding amount by x date (suggest 7-14 days from the date of the letter). If payment is not made by that date then you may wish to send a final letter indicating that court action will be taken if the payment is not received by you within says 7 days. Keep copies of the letters, and it may be an idea to send the final letter by registered post, in order to prove that your ex has received it.

Good luck!

What if the debtor offers something measly like £1/week it maybe a defence that he is paying it back. The registered post will only indicate that somebody signed for it upon delivery.
As the poster above indicates, it maybe £5k lost but a lesson learned

wine_night

DUTR wrote: »

What if the debtor offers something measly like £1/week it maybe a defence that he is paying it back. The registered post will only indicate that somebody signed for it upon delivery.
As the poster above indicates, it maybe £5k lost but a lesson learned

£5k is not an insignificant amount of money. Surely it is worth at least writing a couple of letters to the debtor for such a sum?

Ultimately the OP may eventually decide to write the debt off but for the sake of £5K I would certainly be doing everything I could (within economic reason) to recover part if not all of the debt.

aygotaclue

Yes 5k is a lot of money and I have already written off 3k to him and said I would accept the 5k...


Like I said it is early days (since we split) and I'm just weighing up my options in case he decides to play silly !!!!!!s and do a runner!


I'm reluctant to contact him myself because I don't think I can cope with it at the moment, but I want to make sure I in someway secure what he owes me.

DUTR

wine_night wrote: »

£5k is not an insignificant amount of money. Surely it is worth at least writing a couple of letters to the debtor for such a sum?

Ultimately the OP may eventually decide to write the debt off but for the sake of £5K I would certainly be doing everything I could (within economic reason) to recover part if not all of the debt.

There has been posts on this topic already and both genders have got 'stung' and didn't recover their monies, no harm in trying though as some are succesful.
I agree it's no small sum, but the OP has to be realistic about what the final outcome may be.

Beckyy

Do you have a copy of the agreement he signed?