Unreasonable creditor?

closey

Please let me know if this is covered elsewhere but I have had a good search and can't find anything that's quite relevant to our situation.


So my bosses owe £20,000 to one of their (now ex) partners, it was a business loan paid into the business account from her personal one, no formal agreement was made, no repayment schedule in writing. We have proposed a repayment schedule of £2,000 per month and signed a very simple settlement agreement to that affect. She is refusing to counter sign the agreement and is sending legal letters (through her own solicitors) stating she wants £2,500 per month. She considers this a personal loan to them both and won't accept that the business can't afford to repay any more than we have offered & she is threatening legal action by means of requesting a court order for repayment in full if we don't agree. This seems incredibly petty and I am wondering if a court would agree?


To be clear we are not denying the debt, and are not in default since no schedule was agreed, we have signed an agreement to say the amount will be repaid and already made the initial repayment.
I suppose my question is, would a civil court agree that she is being unreasonable under the circumstances and considering we are willing debtors. I don't want to call her bluff and have the court decide it must be repaid in full along with her costs!


Any advice would be gratefully received.

Pixie5740

Who paid the money into the business account? Your boss or his/her ex?

closey

His ex partner directly to the business.

Pixie5740

I am not a legal expert but I would think that if this goes to court and she wins then you'd be ordered to set up a repayment plan if you can't repay the full £20k in one go. Which is what you are offering her now.

Oakdene

Meet in the middle with £2250 a month

closey

Thanks, that's what I thought...
I suppose it's the added complication of whether the court considers it a business loan or a personal one, if they view the books then they would agree a payment plan, if personal, then they would want to see their individual financial situation and one of the partners could be viewed as being capable of paying in full. It just seems unfair that he should be personally liable for this when it was lent to the business.

closey

We could offer to meet in the middle but I don't actually think she would agree, she's being really aggressive, it's like she's got this figure in her head and is not willing to deviate! We have worked £2k into the cashflow but to commit to any more would leave us at risk.

Pixie5740

She was a bit of a tit lending someone £20k without having any kind of repayment plan drawn up. I doubt that by dragging this to court she will get much better than £2k a month.

closey

Well yeh there is that, I thought she was smarter than that tbh! It was actually £50k to start with but over the past few years they've paid £30k back. She is pretty wealthy and has her own solicitors (ambulance chasing). Drop in the ocean for her but since they're not together anymore (very bitter separation) she seems to be using this as her opportunity to vent.

MEM62

This is highly confidential information. You must have a close relationship with your boss.

She would first have to prove that it was a loan and what the terms of the original loan were. Very difficult if there was no formal written agreement drawn up at the time. Both she and her legal representative will know full well that they are in a weak position if this went to court. This is why they are blowing hard now in the hope that they can intimidate your boss into settlement. In his shoes I would inform them, without formal acknowledgement of the debt, what level of payments they company can afford and invite them to proceed with litigation if this proves to be unacceptable. I may also include a warning that when their case fails no further payments will be made and I may even see redress for my legal fees and other costs.

closey

MEM62 wrote: »

This is highly confidential information. You must have a close relationship with your boss.

She would first have to prove that it was a loan and what the terms of the original loan were. Very difficult if there was no formal written agreement drawn up at the time. Both she and her legal representative will know full well that they are in a weak position if this went to court. This is why they are blowing hard now in the hope that they can intimidate your boss into settlement. In his shoes I would inform them what level of payments they company can afford and invite them to proceed with litigation. I may also include a warning that when their case fails no further payments will be made and I may even see redress for my legal fees and other costs.

Thanks, you would be surprised what has been shared with me over the years! haha they turn to me when they're not sure what to do and I've turned to you nice people


I did think as much but needed a little reassurance on our position, I have already advised them this is all the business can afford & that applying to court remained her prerogative, but they are still applying pressure for the sake of settling 2 months earlier than we are proposing - ludicrous!


I'm going to respond again now to restate their position.


Thanks to all for your comments.