private Loan

IanMinter59

My Ex wife asked me to lend her £2000 so that she could afford to get her husband cremated etc after his death from Cancer, she said she would repay the money withinn 2-3 months. She has since re-married and has now said that she doesn't have the money but will re-pay me when her husband has sold his house as they are living in the house she has from a housing association. This has now been going on for approx 18 months and i am still told the same. Though I have nothing in writing to say it was a loan I do have text messages from her saying that she will repay me when her husband has sold his house. Is there any time limit on how long I can pursue this debt, I would got to court but I dont want her offering a court to pay £50 a month which would take over 3 and a half years to repay the debt and frankly would be of no benefit to me at that rate. Any advice would be helpful .

[Deleted User]

Unless you have a written signed agreement your chances of getting the money back are negligible, there are many tales of woe on here about NOT lending money to friends, the advice usually is to forget the money and the so called "friendship"

Arleen

Her admitting to repay the money when her husband sells the house is proof enough that this was a loan, not a gift. Make sure not to delete those from your phone. You will then also need proof of how much money changed hands. Ideally, you did it via bank transfer and can pull out the statement.

As to how much will she repay. When she receives form from the court, she can there admit to owing the money, explain her financial circumstances and then the court will decide what instalments she will have to pay. At a later time, if you think that she can repay more, you can apply for redetermination.
In the end, it's better to get the 50 quid month, every month, than to not get the money back at all. And if that is all she can afford, well, you can't squeeze water out of a rock.

AnotherJoe

Take her to small claims court (money claim online) or forget about it and hope she sticks to her side of the deal.
£50 a month is a better than nothing.
After all, when husband sells his house, why would he give you money to pay off her debt when she can get away with it as she won't have any money?

steampowered

You have up to 6 years to bring a claim in court, though it could be more difficult if you leave it a long time.

Mojisola

IanMinter59 wrote: »

My Ex wife asked me to lend her £2000 so that she could afford to get her husband cremated etc after his death from Cancer

She has since re-married

The man has been dead long enough for her to get remarried but she still hasn't managed to arrange a funeral?

Tell her to contact the local authority where her husband died (or the hospital if he died in one) and say she can't afford a funeral. They will pay for a simple cremation. If the man had any assets when he died, the cost of the cremation will be reclaimed.

AliceBanned

I know someone who had to pay for a funeral out of their small life savings and they managed to claim back some of the costs from the local authority, though it took a few months. This was because they are on pension credits so it will depend on her circumstances.


Having borrowed the money from you I am not sure whether it would still apply but she should try to reclaim some of the costs through the local authority - I know they pay the costs of cremation when the deceased/immediate family did not have funds.

AnotherJoe

Mojisola wrote: »

The man has been dead long enough for her to get remarried but she still hasn't managed to arrange a funeral?

Tell her to contact the local authority where her husband died (or the hospital if he died in one) and say she can't afford a funeral. They will pay for a simple cremation. If the man had any assets when he died, the cost of the cremation will be reclaimed.

Read the OP again. The funeral is long past. At least 18 months.

Mojisola

AliceBanned wrote: »

I know someone who had to pay for a funeral out of their small life savings and they managed to claim back some of the costs from the local authority, though it took a few months. This was because they are on pension credits so it will depend on her circumstances.

Having borrowed the money from you I am not sure whether it would still apply but she should try to reclaim some of the costs through the local authority - I know they pay the costs of cremation when the deceased/immediate family did not have funds.

You can claim a Funeral Payment - https://www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/overview - if you qualify - maybe that's what you're thinking of.

I don't know of any way you can reclaim the cost of a funeral from the council.

AliceBanned

Mojisola wrote: »

You can claim a Funeral Payment - www.gov.uk/funeral-payments/overview - if you qualify - maybe that's what you're thinking of.

I don't know of any way you can reclaim the cost of a funeral from the council.

Ok from central government then - I thought it was local authority. In any case I know they got it but it took some effort and they were refused at first, which they appealed and then got about £2000.

Andybez38

I wouldn't. She's your your ex wife for a reason.