Small claims court for dog maintenance?

myfairlady

Wow guys, thank you all so much for the information/thoughts provided here. 

We split up in 2016, I've been paying monthly ever since. I agreed to pay initially to help him out....I continued to pay because the dog always seemed to have medical issues every time I discussed stopping the contribution. I asked for a copy of the insurance documents and was fobbed off. He complained a vet bill had cost him £600, when I asked why he didn't use insurance he said he didn't want the policy to increase.  I started to doubt he had insurance after that. 
I asked to see the dog a couple of times last year and was fobbed off because of covid, but since found out he'd been on holiday abroad (not so worried about covid then!). 

After doing a much needed revamp of my finances I stopped the standing order. I have no idea if he has the whatsapp/text messages from 2016 (I doubt he has), but those messages would have been me agreeing to contribute, I have no memory of saying I would pay indefinitely. 

I've received an email for the claim, so will type my defense and see what happens. 

Really appreciate all of your thoughts here. 

stig

There doesn’t appear to be any contract here, but a gift, albeit one paid over a period of time rather in one lump sum.

OP, did you get anything in exchange for the payments, or were you in exactly the same position as you would have been if you hadn’t made the payments? 

your ex can’t force you to keep giving him money, but if you stop doing so there are two possibilities. 

Either the payments were in consideration for something under a binding contract, and he can reclaim that ‘something’ or the value of it through the legal process.

however, for this to be the case he would have had to give you something in exchange for the payments, otherwise no contract exists for you to break. A contract requires value to be exchanged both ways.

Or the payments were in the nature of a gift, in which case contract law has no effect at all, and he can’t demand the rest of the ‘gift’ from you - gifts can’t be enforced in this way.

So work out exactly what the payments were for and what you got in exchange for them. If the answer is nothing, then there may be an agreement but there’s no contract - a valid contract requires consideration  to be given in exchange for something. 

This site is full of people complaining that they haven’t received a gift they were promised and being told that’s tough luck, the gift giver is entitled to change their mind. If your payments are genuinely a gift t9 your ex, you’re entitled to change your mind about any future gifts too! 

Jenni_D

myfairlady said:

I've received an email for the claim, so will type my defense and see what happens. 

What precisely do you mean by that? What exactly have you received?

Official claim forms from the CCBC are sent by post. (I'm assuming this is in England/Wales).

PS - we're in the UK. Defence has a C not an S.

myfairlady

stig said:

There doesn’t appear to be any contract here, but a gift, albeit one paid over a period of time rather in one lump sum.

OP, did you get anything in exchange for the payments, or were you in exactly the same position as you would have been if you hadn’t made the payments? 

your ex can’t force you to keep giving him money, but if you stop doing so there are two possibilities. 

Either the payments were in consideration for something under a binding contract, and he can reclaim that ‘something’ or the value of it through the legal process.

however, for this to be the case he would have had to give you something in exchange for the payments, otherwise no contract exists for you to break. A contract requires value to be exchanged both ways.

Or the payments were in the nature of a gift, in which case contract law has no effect at all, and he can’t demand the rest of the ‘gift’ from you - gifts can’t be enforced in this way.

So work out exactly what the payments were for and what you got in exchange for them. If the answer is nothing, then there may be an agreement but there’s no contract - a valid contract requires consideration  to be given in exchange for something. 

This site is full of people complaining that they haven’t received a gift they were promised and being told that’s tough luck, the gift giver is entitled to change their mind. If your payments are genuinely a gift t9 your ex, you’re entitled to change your mind about any future gifts too! 

I received nothing in exchange for the money, was simply a gift to help him out. Thank you for the detailed explanation Stig, much appreciated. 

myfairlady

Jenni_D said:

myfairlady said:

I've received an email for the claim, so will type my defense and see what happens. 

What precisely do you mean by that? What exactly have you received?

Official claim forms from the CCBC are sent by post. (I'm assuming this is in England/Wales).

PS - we're in the UK. Defence has a C not an S.

I received an email from Gov.uk informing me that a claim has been made against me. I was directed to a gov website where I entered the claim number and one time password. I assume the paperwork is also in the post. I've never dealt with anything like this before, so I guess I'll wait for the paperwork to arrive. 

Apologies for the DefenCe blunder....a misspent youth in the USA!  

Jenni_D

Maybe the CCBC (County Court Business Centre in Northampton, who process court claims filed on Money Claim Online - MCOL) send the claim to a defendant's email address if one is supplied by the claimant, but the official serving of the claim is via post as a name and address can be verified - an email address cannot (until the defendant confirms it).

MobileSaver

stig said:

So work out exactly what the payments were for and what you got in exchange for them. If the answer is nothing, then there may be an agreement but there’s no contract - a valid contract requires consideration  to be given in exchange for something.

Obviously only the OP and the Ex know exactly what the agreement was (and unfortunately the OP admits they can't remember) so it'll be down to the two of them each telling their own version and seeing which version the judge believes to be more plausible.

Playing devil's advocate, the Ex may claim (and/or even believe) that the pet insurance payment was in lieu of an unofficial "clean break" financial settlement and that in itself would of course be sufficient consideration for a contract to have been formed.

ThumbRemote

Ask for proof the insurance was purchased. When he is unable to supply this, counter-claim for a full refund of all the money you paid.

Manxman_in_exile

myfairlady said:

stig said:

There doesn’t appear to be any contract here, but a gift, albeit one paid over a period of time rather in one lump sum.

OP, did you get anything in exchange for the payments, or were you in exactly the same position as you would have been if you hadn’t made the payments? 

your ex can’t force you to keep giving him money, but if you stop doing so there are two possibilities. 

Either the payments were in consideration for something under a binding contract, and he can reclaim that ‘something’ or the value of it through the legal process.

however, for this to be the case he would have had to give you something in exchange for the payments, otherwise no contract exists for you to break. A contract requires value to be exchanged both ways.

Or the payments were in the nature of a gift, in which case contract law has no effect at all, and he can’t demand the rest of the ‘gift’ from you - gifts can’t be enforced in this way.

So work out exactly what the payments were for and what you got in exchange for them. If the answer is nothing, then there may be an agreement but there’s no contract - a valid contract requires consideration  to be given in exchange for something. 

This site is full of people complaining that they haven’t received a gift they were promised and being told that’s tough luck, the gift giver is entitled to change their mind. If your payments are genuinely a gift t9 your ex, you’re entitled to change your mind about any future gifts too! 

I received nothing in exchange for the money, was simply a gift to help him out. Thank you for the detailed explanation Stig, much appreciated. 

If that's the case, I don't see how the OP's ex can enforce this in court as there is no contract or agreement, is there?  What consideration has the ex given in return for the payment?  Him keeping the dog?!?!

Manxman_in_exile

ThumbRemote said:

Ask for proof the insurance was purchased. When he is unable to supply this, counter-claim for a full refund of all the money you paid.

That would be a good one!