Friend Won't Pay Back Loan

pvt

Mary,

It may seem like a horrible thing to do: to take a friend to court, but nowhere near as horrible as asking a friend for a loan and then never paying it back.

In a civil court you only have to persuade a judge that "on the balance of probabilities" you did lend this money to your friend and that it was a loan and not a gift.

If you have an email from your friend acknowledging the loan then that is a huge step. And if you can show that your friend did make some repayments to you, that would probably convince a judge it was a loan and not a gift. So I would suggest you have a strong case.

Taking out the court case will only cost you about £50-£100 I believe. Even if your friend has little to their name, you will likely get at least that much back.

Don't let it rest or, as others have said, you will lose the ability to pursue it, and never see it again.

greenface

mary whats your "Friends " position now ? are they in a better position to pay .

mary-harp

Thank you for all of these posts. In answer to some of the questions - my friend is a semi-retired gentleman who is surviving on a small income. He doesn't own his own property, and has moved twice in the last year. I can appreciate that he has problems of his own, and this always makes me feel bad when reminding him of the outstanding debt. Nevertheless, he did borrow the money, and it was never supposed to be a long-standing arrangement. He assures me that in the event of his death, I will be able to get the money from his pension fund, but somehow I don't want to wait for this to happen!

Gaz83

mary-harp wrote: »

Thank you for all of these posts. In answer to some of the questions - my friend is a semi-retired gentleman who is surviving on a small income. He doesn't own his own property, and has moved twice in the last year. I can appreciate that he has problems of his own, and this always makes me feel bad when reminding him of the outstanding debt. Nevertheless, he did borrow the money, and it was never supposed to be a long-standing arrangement. He assures me that in the event of his death, I will be able to get the money from his pension fund, but somehow I don't want to wait for this to happen!

As has been said, you would have the option of taking him to court as he has acknowledged it is a loan - but if he doesn't have the means, then the court can't force him to pay what he doesn't have.

bargainbetty

Do you intend to force him to request a payment from his pension fund? Unless his pension system is an asset-based fund that permits him to bequeath his remaining funds, and if he has made a will to that effect, you won't see a penny on his death.

You can ask him to start repaying you at a fixed sum per month. Even £20 or so. There is a minimum he will get as a retired person from the government, and he should be able to make a small allowance from it to you. However, it won't be much, and it will take years.

I think you need to recognise the fact that you won't see the money again. Sorry, it's one of those things we face sometimes.

BillJones

mary-harp wrote: »

He assures me that in the event of his death, I will be able to get the money from his pension fund, but somehow I don't want to wait for this to happen!

I was once harassed on holiday by time-share touts, who insisted that even if I did not want to buy, I'd still get a "prize" from a booth at the airport on departure.

Not being stupid, I realised that this was the perfect way to stop anyone coming back to complain when the prize was not real.

Your "friend" is taking this to the next level.

If it were me, I'd tell your "friend" that you are going to tout the debt round the local pubs, and sell it on to whoever bids the highest. You may only get a few hundred to a thousand this way, but it;s better than nothing, and your "friend" will understand the effect of having you over in this way.

I suspect that you'll find that they raise the funds reasonably rapidly when they realise who'll come calling for it.

redpete

mary-harp wrote: »

He assures me that in the event of his death, I will be able to get the money from his pension fund, but somehow I don't want to wait for this to happen!

How will this work? If he is single (no hint of a partner in the posts so far) then chances are he's got an annuity that pays a regular amount until he dies - when he dies there won't be a lump-sum made available to pay any random person who claims they are owed money, or even a genuine person who can prove that they made a loan; it's not a debt that the pension fund takes responsibility for.

-taff

mary-harp wrote: »

I can appreciate that he has problems of his own, and this always makes me feel bad when reminding him of the outstanding debt.

Don't feel bad. He's not feeling terribly bad about taking your money and not paying you back is he?