Loan to a friend - sufficient for court?

Simon86UK

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread.

Around 4 years ago, I loaned a "friend" the sum of £1,500 in cash when she was in desperate need. I told her to get herself sorted and repay me when able. Over the following 2 years we stopped talking as much and she kept making out was still on the breadline, it turns out however that she had actually inherited a sizeable sum of £70,000 and still never offered any repayment.

Strangely she recently contacted me on Facebook and admitted the debt in full, stated She always planned on repaying me, yet still has not done so. I have all these messages of admission from her. I've now been promised repayment twice over a period of weeks yet still, nothing, not even £1.

Will these messages from her admitting the amount I lent her, be sufficient to stand up if I was to now proceed to the small claim as court for the amount plus 4 years interest and court costs? I think I've been patient enough.

Thank you

Pixie5740

Simon86UK wrote: »

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread.

Around 4 years ago, I loaned a "friend" the sum of £1,500 in cash when she was in desperate need. I told her to get herself sorted and repay me when able. Over the following 2 years we stopped talking as much and she kept making out was still on the breadline, it turns out however that she had actually inherited a sizeable sum of £70,000 and still never offered any repayment.

Strangely she recently contacted me on Facebook and admitted the debt in full, stated She always planned on repaying me, yet still has not done so. I have all these messages of admission from her. I've now been promised repayment twice over a period of weeks yet still, nothing, not even £1.

Will these messages from her admitting the amount I lent her, be sufficient to stand up if I was to now proceed to the small claim as court for the amount plus 4 years interest and court costs? I think I've been patient enough.

Thank you

What evidence do you have that the loan would attract interest? Do you have a written loan agreement or was it just some woolly agreement between friends to repay when she could?

It sounds as if there is sufficient evidence to convince a court that the money was a loan only because she has admitted she owes the money. You need to send her a Letter Before Action giving her X days to repay the money. If she doesn't then file a Money Claim Online. If it goes to court and you are successful then court costs can be awarded against her.

However, winning a judgement and enforcing a judgement are two separate things. Hopefully if your friend has the money she will just cough up.

Brock_and_Roll

I think you have a good chance of convincing a court of the existence of a loan...but that is the easy part!

The big problem is whether friend actually has any money to repay you - you can get all the judgements you like but if there's no spare cash, you ain't going to get paid!

foxy-stoat

Doubt you will get any interest - court costs will be £90ish which you can add to the debt.

glennstar

You have plainly not encountered the old adage about never lending friends or family money. If I were you I would chalk this up as a moderately expensive lesson, block your "friend" on facebook and push on with your life, a little bit life smarter and a little cash poorer.

unforeseen

repay me when able

What do you have in writing to define this point? Since there is probably no definition then she can keep saying that she is not able and therefore the loan is not yet repayable.

In effect this is a loan with no repayment schedule. I would think it would be difficult to enforce.

BrassicWoman

there's a long gap between someone dying and money in your hand. Are you sure she has it?

System

Unless there was an agreement stating interest was to be added you can't add it retrospectively. An agreement without a set date for repayment is effectively open ended and unenforceable.

You are missing several key factors that would be required to make it enforceable in court TBH and loans to friends and family are incredibly hard to enforce as it is believed that when you lend the money there is no intention to create legal relations, that is that at the time you lend the money you do it with no intention of taking them to court if they don't pay.

Exodi

Whilst it may not seem it, you are on the back foot in this situation hence the age old adage of not lending friends/family money. Due to the nature of the loan, you have no grounds to enforce accruement of interest as this had not been agreed and as no term has been attached to the loan, there is nothing stopping the 'friend' from simply stating they're not able to pay the loan yet in line with your (vague) agreement of "when able" - this could massively leave you out of pocket should you take this to court... The final issue is, should your friend incriminate themselves and accept that payment is due, if they don't have any money to settle you're in the same position as now but you've added on court charges to their debt and can fully expect to sever your relationship with them (think £1 a month payment plan proposal for infinity years). Inheritances do take a very long time to settle, if the friend has stated they acknowledge the debt and do fully intend to pay you, best to leave it at that, I don't think they would have said this if they had £70,000 sat in the bank. Personally, do your best to bite your tongue and maintain a civil relationship with your friend, it's the most sensible way to get your money back, perhaps state that you really need it for something coming up soon? Should you want to cut ties with them after repayment is your decision.

43722

Loan and Friend is an oxymoron.

sourcrates

Similar post`s to this crop up every so many weeks, they are getting more common strangely, lots of questions, lots of answers, in the end the OP has to come to the same conclusion every time, they are not going to see there money again.

In the last year we have had about 3/4 similar posts, not one has come back to tell us they got there money back, there are just to many variables involved, for arguments sake, say you managed to obtain a judgement against her in court, she ignores you, then what do you do ?

A CCJ is just a first step, each further stage of enforcement action costs a further fee, you could engage a bailiff, but all she has to do is keep the door locked...........then you could try an attachment to her earnings, but be aware, this is payable at a rate she can afford, so could potentially take a long time, that`s if she`s working..........if she has a house, you could put a charging order on it, but again, no guarantee of getting anything, certainly not soon.

It is fairly easy to ignore county court judgements and not suffer any further consequences for doing so, if she dosen`t work, or own a property, and keeps ignoring you, your stuffed basically.