Loaned £5,500 to a friend, ignored for months, what are my options

arichmond64

venison wrote: »

erm just turn up and tell the court she repaid you in cash on xxx date, you'd find it impossible to argue with that wouldn't you.? You have made a massive mistake, learn from it and move on is my advice, but don't feel to daft as people make the same one day after day and then suddenly appear on here seeking advice after the event.

ermmmmm, so what would be the difference if you had a contract? What would stop her doing the same thing?

arichmond64

Candyapple wrote: »

How long has she been your girlfriend's best friend?

What is your girlfriend doing about the situation?

Aside from express shock, has she tried contacting the parents again to see if they would be willing to help further as in try and get her to sit down with you both or act as mediator to arrange a payment plan? Given that she is still living with parents, that means at least she is not paying rent/mortgage so should be able to pay you back (in theory) however I imagine she probably won't. Who needs enemies with best friends like that!

My girlfriend is trying to help get it back, but the girl herself is stone walling.

We thought her parents would help, we actually went and spoke to them in person and found out they were in the dark about it, so naturally her mum was horrified, yet she has done nothing.

She owns a business as a sole trader and is actually doing work now off the back off my money, unbelievable.

We're talking best friend, like imagine a person you are huge friends with, and you would actually consider lending money to, who you would never expect to do something like this.

Geoff1963

a withdrawal of cash for example.

She could :
a) Withdraw a large sum from the bank, even make a big show of explaining what it was for.
b) In parallel agrees to meet with you, and says whatever : I deny the loan, I can't pay yet, anything.
Then we have a large cash withdrawal, followed by a meeting with you ; and if it comes to court, she asks the judge to put 2 + 2 together.

shortcrust

Geoff1963 wrote: »

She could :
a) Withdraw a large sum from the bank, even make a big show of explaining what it was for.
b) In parallel agrees to meet with you, and says whatever : I deny the loan, I can't pay yet, anything.
Then we have a large cash withdrawal, followed by a meeting with you ; and if it comes to court, she asks the judge to put 2 + 2 together.

A withdrawal would obviously need to be historical, not done once action's been started. It's incredibly unlikely that this woman has been carefully creating that kind of evidence in case she gets taken to court. People just don't.

Batman2017

I wonder how wealthy is the op that they can afford to lend £5500 to a friend? Its hardly a small amount, if anyone asked me to lend that to them id reply that im not a barclays branch.

Some of the above posts state they will not lend money to a friend? I wonder if this includes smaller amounts. I'd be happy to lend £50-100 to a friend in need and hope that i got back fairly quickly but ultimately I could afford to lose the money and the friend if it came to that.

Candyapple

arichmond64 wrote: »

My girlfriend is trying to help get it back, but the girl herself is stone walling.

We thought her parents would help, we actually went and spoke to them in person and found out they were in the dark about it, so naturally her mum was horrified, yet she has done nothing.

She owns a business as a sole trader and is actually doing work now off the back off my money, unbelievable.

We're talking best friend, like imagine a person you are huge friends with, and you would actually consider lending money to, who you would never expect to do something like this.

Is the best friend quite young?

Seems odd that she would risk her friendship by doing something like this, especially if her intent was to not pay it back.

Do you think something else may be going on - gambling? Drugs?

Has you girlfriend actually physically seen her (ex) best friend in person since all this and confronted her as to why she hasn't paid you back?

arichmond64

Candyapple wrote: »

Is the best friend quite young?

Seems odd that she would risk her friendship by doing something like this, especially if her intent was to not pay it back.

Do you think something else may be going on - gambling? Drugs?

Has you girlfriend actually physically seen her (ex) best friend in person since all this and confronted her as to why she hasn't paid you back?

No she is 30, honestly no one could see this coming, and it's absolutely baffled everyone we've told who knows the girl in question.

It's plain to see now that she doesn't really care about "friendship" and she's probably in more trouble than we think.

She hasn't seen her since, even when we went to her house she wasn't in and we believed her parents would help out at this point. Her parents are very "well off" I really can't get my head around them not paying us the money back, unless they've got some sort of dispute between her and them.

She simply used the money to fund her business, she has a business page on facebook and is currently doing weddings at the moment (venue stylist) and we also know from a mutual friend that she's got work on.

The reason I was able to send her the money was because we trusted her and she knew we had a certain amount as we were about to purchase our own franchise (Same as she as in a different area) Of course she knew this and took full advantage.

pelirocco

A statutory demand needs to be backed up with 110% prrof of debt , the court looks very dimly on spurious claims . best advice is not to proceed with that but to go down the small claims route and persevere ( you have to keep on top of the claim and its deadlines ) Hopefully she has some assetts that miht encourage to concentrate on repaying the debt

amfan

arichmond64 wrote: »

She hasn't seen her since, even when we went to her house she wasn't in and we believed her parents would help out at this point. Her parents are very "well off" I really can't get my head around them not paying us the money back, unless they've got some sort of dispute between her and them.

However cross at her you may be, and however much you want your money back, it is not her parents responsibility and it is not their debt to repay. They most likely are shocked, and they probably feel very sorry for you. But them being "well off" does not mean they have to repay her debt. Sadly you have learned the hard way why you never lend what you aren't prepared to never see again.

arichmond64

pelirocco wrote: »

A statutory demand needs to be backed up with 110% prrof of debt , the court looks very dimly on spurious claims . best advice is not to proceed with that but to go down the small claims route and persevere ( you have to keep on top of the claim and its deadlines ) Hopefully she has some assetts that miht encourage to concentrate on repaying the debt

This is my plan now, I realise the advice I was given wasn't great for the situation and a Stat demand wasn't the best course of action.

I'll be doing it via small claims court as you say.