Money Claim from HM Courts & Tribunals

monetxchange

Well, it's your choice, but I don't think you're doing yourself any favours in getting her to drop the court action by using terms that implicate she doesn't have compassion and not 'understanding'. She doesn't have to actually understand anything - you owe her money. You didn't pay her and now she wants paying. This is why it's so messy borrowing from friends. You wouldn't get anywhere talking to a bank that way.

Any reason why you've said to her the payments might be significantly reduced? You said earlier you intended to carry on paying the agreed £150 after this month. Don't get dragged into lashing out just because she's decided to go the legal route.

Anyway, good luck with it and I hope it works out.

sourcrates

monetxchange wrote: »

Any reason why you've said to her the payments might be significantly reduced? .

Because a court demands to see your full income and expenditure, and they won`t agree to preferential treatment, all creditors must be treated equally, so as the OP has been prioritizing payments to her friend, at the expense of her other creditors, that will stop and each will get a percentage of her disposable income, her friend obviously did not realise this when she filed the claim with MCOL.

shellzebs

Thank you so much, that's really helpful! I didn't realise you could change your response after you've submitted.

I said that in the hope she would want to settle outside of the claim - I will be offering her £150 per month as I said, and it's only if she declines this that the court will decide - based on my income and expenditure this would be significantly reduced as I'm already struggling with this amount.

I have my reasons for mentioning circumstances - there were reasons I cannot get a loan from a bank and this is why she stepped in - I've always said how grateful I am for it.

Also the only 2 payments I've missed were pre-arranged, otherwise I have been paying her back - to date I've paid back over £1500, so it's not that she's not getting her money back.

shellzebs

sourcrates wrote: »

Because a court demands to see your full income and expenditure, and they won`t agree to preferential treatment, all creditors must be treated equally, so as the OP has been prioritizing payments to her friend, at the expense of her other creditors, that will stop and each will get a percentage of her disposable income, her friend obviously did not realise this when she filed the claim with MCOL.

Exactly this - thank you, you put it much more eloquently than I did!

shellzebs

I was actually trying to do her a favour there in case she didn't accept the £150.

Alexis95

shellzebs wrote: »

Good Afternoon,
I'm just after a bit of advice.
In October 2018 after suddenly losing my job, a friend loaned me £3500 to tide me over.
We agreed repayments would start in January and I paid her back £150 per month. Unfortunately we fell out however of course I continued with the repayments. In November 2019, I asked to have 2 months off over Christmas as money was very tight - she didn't reply until Christmas Eve but begrudgingly agreed. I then said I would make up the £300 I missed over the next few months but didn't confirm exactly when - I didn't want to promise that it would be in January as I had a bit of a health scare and I didn't want to leave myself short if I had to go to the hospital for more appointments - as it was I did have to go back. I made sure I paid her the £150 for January on 24th January (a week early). She then emailed me saying she required me to pay an additional £50 before 31 January however I could not do this. Before I even had a chance to email her back, I received a Money Claim that she has made for the remainder of the balance.
My questions are -
Is the court likely to accept that I should just continue paying her £150 per month as I have been doing already?

With the understanding that we only have your side of the story here, and there are usually 2 if not more sides to every story, then yes, it is likely that the court will accept that

shellzebs wrote: »

Can she do this when I have been making the repayments? Granted I didn't reply to a couple of her emails last month but my mind was understandably elsewhere and I still made sure I made the payment.

Yes she can.
Whether she can convince a court there is any merit in her claim is another matter.

shellzebs wrote: »

Looking at the claim, it looks like I'm going to end up with a CCJ regardless as I don't dispute that I owe her money and never have done.
Any advice would be great,
Thanks!

Why do you think you will end up with a CCJ? :huh:

You may not dispute that you owe her the money, but according to you, you are repaying her as per your agreement, or at least as has become customary over the past 12 months.

Her claim for a full and immediate refund of the balance owed will likely fail, unless she can convince the court
(a) that there was no agreement to repay on a monthly basis, and has a good reason why she has not acted sooner whilst she has been accepting the £150 per month, as per the agreement you suggest existed. (and that, therefore, the balance is immediately owed)
or
(b) she can convince the court that your failure to pay the agreed amounts for 2 consecutive months amounts to a breach of the agreement between you, and she convinces the court she did not agree to that 'payment holiday' contrary to what you otherwise say

On point (b) above, it is not certain the court would issue a CCJ against you, even if the claimant was successful in convincing the court.

If you really are worried there is merit in her claim, and then if the worst comes to the worst and a CCJ is awarded against you, then have in place measures to beg, [STRIKE]steal[/STRIKE] or borrow the money owed to repay the judgement in full within 28 days, and no more will be said about it, nor any record placed on file .

It's going to take a good 3 months if not a lot onger before any court hearing, so plenty of time to consider matters, and make arrangements if you think appropriate.
Also, as advised by another above, I suspect an invitation to resolve this by mediation will occur. (so no CCJ whatever the outcome of that mediation, assuming parties agree to the mediated settlement)
In the meantime, carry on paying her £150pm

elsien

shellzebs wrote: »

Agreed! I wouldn't ever do it again but I was in a real tight spot at the time. It's a shame since I've never ignored her or the debt and have made all other payments a week early, including January's!

You did say you'd ignored a couple of her emails last month. And it's not unreasonable for her to have expected a bit extra in January given that you'd said you'd make the difference up at some point.
Sounds to me that communication has been a bit lacking on both sides.

Karonher

It could be that she is looking for a way to make sure you continue paying and don't miss anymore payments. She may think that if it becomes a legal matter there will not be a way for you to miss any more without being concerned about going to court

WhenIam64

Why not discuss a Tomlin Order with her. It appears that you want to pay the money back and she wants some kind of certainty that it will be.

It may just be what suits you both - but you will need to set it at a rate that you must be able to keep up with. It need not be £150

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomlin_order

monetxchange

sourcrates wrote: »

Because a court demands to see your full income and expenditure, and they won`t agree to preferential treatment, all creditors must be treated equally, so as the OP has been prioritizing payments to her friend, at the expense of her other creditors, that will stop and each will get a percentage of her disposable income, her friend obviously did not realise this when she filed the claim with MCOL.

Oh, I see. I misread that part as being an attempt at tit for tat. Hopefully things like this will make the friend see that she might be better off not going down the court route, unless the kind of payment plan they could impose is something the OP will find more manageable. Would there be court costs here that could also add to the debt/the amount the lender recovers, out of interest?