Small claims court

missp1982

Geoff1963 wrote: »

To missp1982, £800. Ouch.

It is always the ones we trust, who betray us ; no-one else gets close enough.

Imagine 10 years down the line, you are married with 2.4 kids and an alcoholic wife-beating husband. It's not nice what happened, but try to consider yourself lucky.

And he has past history of the "wife-beating" with a conviction for domestic assault. He obviously told me it was all her fault, she admitted it etc but was found guilty on a technicality. Again more evidence of how stupid I have been.

missp1982

Malthusian wrote: »

Good news as the fact that he paid some of it back is strong evidence in your favour that it was a debt, and not a gift from one partner to another.

Obviously this doesn't change the fact that he doesn't have the money. But he may one day win the lottery, or get an inheritance, or sort his life out, at which point he can pay it back. Personally I would pay the £60 and go to small claims court. But only if I could afford to write off £60.

I can only show just over £100 being transferred into my account though as the rest was cash. I can see that doesnt look good but with him being self-employed he did get a lot of cash jobs.


He does have the money, i'm sure of that. He is at the pub every night, his only expenses are his van, phone and maintenance he pays his ex. He gets probably £2,500 a month on average. But when his ex asked for more money he threatened to shut his business down so he didnt have to give her more!

Malthusian

missp1982 wrote: »

I can only show just over £100 being transferred into my account though as the rest was cash. I can see that doesnt look good but with him being self-employed he did get a lot of cash jobs.

Proof that he repaid £100 is almost as good as £900 - the important thing is that you can show he was repaying it and he can't claim it was a gift. There's no reason to worry about it not looking good, his cashflow and tax affairs are not your problem.

He does have the money, i'm sure of that. He is at the pub every night, his only expenses are his van, phone and maintenance he pays his ex. He gets probably £2,500 a month on average. But when his ex asked for more money he threatened to shut his business down so he didnt have to give her more!

Let him. I don't know about his ex but your debt is against him, not his business. If he winds his business down then the business' cash will have to go into his bank account and he'll still owe you the money.

Of course he could go completely off-grid and try to live like Robin Hood with no traceable assets so that the bailiffs can't claim anything from him. But if as you say he earns £2,500 a month then it would be a strange thing to do for the sake of £900.

Unless I needed the £60 to eat I would be calling his bluff and writing a letter before action, then going to small claims court.

missp1982

Malthusian wrote: »

Proof that he repaid £100 is almost as good as £900 - the important thing is that you can show he was repaying it and he can't claim it was a gift. There's no reason to worry about it not looking good, his cashflow and tax affairs are not your problem.



Let him. I don't know about his ex but your debt is against him, not his business. If he winds his business down then the business' cash will have to go into his bank account and he'll still owe you the money.

Of course he could go completely off-grid and try to live like Robin Hood with no traceable assets so that the bailiffs can't claim anything from him. But if as you say he earns £2,500 a month then it would be a strange thing to do for the sake of £900.

Unless I needed the £60 to eat I would be calling his bluff and writing a letter before action, then going to small claims court.

I cant imagine he would go completely off-grid as he has a child here. I will inform his mum as well about what i am going to do as he lives at her house and so if bailifs did turn up it would be at her property. I can afford to pay to do it, just need to bite the bullet!
Thanks for the advice.

TBagpuss

missp1982 wrote: »

It was in total a lot more than £800, was £1700 and some of it has been paid back. The £800 is what is outstanding.


I presumed he had acknowledged it because in the messages when he asked to borrow it he said he would pay it back. And since we have split he has also said he will pay it back but that he doesnt have the funds to do it all in one go.

Rather than messaging him, write (paper, ink, stamp)

Set out the original debt, the amounts paid, and the outstanding balance.

State that he has confirmed in his messages dated [whenever they were sent] that he will repay you but will have to do so in installments and ask him to respond within 7 days setting out what his proposals are for making those payments - in particular, how much is he offering to pay per week/month.

State that you will consider any proposal made but that if you so not hear from him with concrete proposals within the next 7 / 14 days you will be taking steps to pursue the debt including if necessary taking the matter to court.

Then follow through.

The messages acknowledging the debt are relevant - in the event of a dispute it does show that he admits he woes the money and that he should pay it back, the issue is when and in what installments.

Malthusian

missp1982 wrote: »

I will inform his mum as well about what i am going to do as he lives at her house and so if bailifs did turn up it would be at her property.

I wouldn't. "She's just trying to blackmail me your honour, look at how she tried to intimidate my poor old mum who has nothing to do with this". It might never go as far as bailiffs, and it's nothing to do with her until the point they turn up on her doorstep, so why make it more complicated?

Candyapple

missp1982 wrote: »

It was in total a lot more than £800, was £1700 and some of it has been paid back. The £800 is what is outstanding.

I presumed he had acknowledged it because in the messages when he asked to borrow it he said he would pay it back. And since we have split he has also said he will pay it back but that he doesnt have the funds to do it all in one go.

If he's said he will pay you back in instalments, is there a reason why you didn't agree to this? Granted you want the £800 now and to be done with the situation, but if he can only afford to pay say £50pm, then surely that's better than nothing and paying for a court claim?

missp1982 wrote: »

And he has past history of the "wife-beating" with a conviction for domestic assault. He obviously told me it was all her fault, she admitted it etc but was found guilty on a technicality. Again more evidence of how stupid I have been.

I agree with the poster who said to count yourself lucky. Even if you never see the £800 again, be thankful it was only £800 and not £8k, or £80k. And I'm not joking, some women have been taken for fools for a lot more money than just £800. You may have to take this one as a life lesson if you can't come to an agreement.

missp1982 wrote: »

I cant imagine he would go completely off-grid as he has a child here. I will inform his mum as well about what i am going to do as he lives at her house and so if bailifs did turn up it would be at her property. I can afford to pay to do it, just need to bite the bullet!
Thanks for the advice.

Before you go down the court route, be sure to understand what the process involves. And also the additional costs. Even if you won, the bailiffs don't just get sent in. It costs you more money to try and enforce the debt - you may end up throwing more money after bad. Hence why I said think long and hard before going down this route as your costs may spiral, without any detriment to your ex.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-for-civil-and-family-courts/court-fees-for-the-high-court-county-court-and-family-court#enforcement-proceedings

missp1982

Candyapple wrote: »

If he's said he will pay you back in instalments, is there a reason why you didn't agree to this? Granted you want the £800 now and to be done with the situation, but if he can only afford to pay say £50pm, then surely that's better than nothing and paying for a court claim?



I agree with the poster who said to count yourself lucky. Even if you never see the £800 again, be thankful it was only £800 and not £8k, or £80k. And I'm not joking, some women have been taken for fools for a lot more money than just £800. You may have to take this one as a life lesson if you can't come to an agreement.




Before you go down the court route, be sure to understand what the process involves. And also the additional costs. Even if you won, the bailiffs don't just get sent in. It costs you more money to try and enforce the debt - you may end up throwing more money after bad. Hence why I said think long and hard before going down this route as your costs may spiral, without any detriment to your ex.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-for-civil-and-family-courts/court-fees-for-the-high-court-county-court-and-family-court#enforcement-proceedings

I would be more than happy to take it in installments, and have said as much to both him and his mum. Its the complete lack of response that is frustrating. Even if he turned round and said I would never ever get the money, at least it would make me see its not worth investing my time.


Maybe its all mind games, who knows. I need to have a think about things and how much more I can really take, after what has been a really difficult few months.

LandyAndy

missp1982 wrote: »

I have messaged him and told him i will take it further but he has not replied.


!

So take it further! The effectiveness of the court process is that the threat and, if necessary, the commencement of proceedings generally frightens the debtor into paying before the case goes to court.

One of my roles at work is as credit controller. I threaten people with court regularly. I rarely have to convert that to an actual claim, and even more rarely do I have to apply for judgement. I've actually attended court just twice in about 30 years.

As I said, only you can decide if it is worth £60 but I think you'll forever kick yourself for allowing yourself to be cheated and not being bothered to do something about it.

chesky

The court will want to be assured that you have done everything possible yourself before going to them. So write a LETTER BEFORE ACTION (write that at the top of the letter) do not send any more emails, do it by regular mail, recorded delivery, and keep a copy.