Private loan not being repaid.

BigDunc

Before he died, my grandfather made a loan to a friend of his for nine thousand pounds. When his estate was settled, the amount of the loan took the total over the then IT threshold of £240,000(?) so £3,600 tax was paid as a result. This loan has never been repaid. Furthermore there is no document specifically stating that the loan was for £9,000 although a loan is alluded to in some correspondance. My father has recently attempted to contact the loanee but has been ignored. We have evidence that he has received our claim, a letter that was sent by recorded delivery has been signed for. A futher letter by standard post has also been ignored.

Can anyone help us with the following questions?

1. Is there a time limit before which we need to reclaim the loan?
2. Does the lack of evidence of the loan amount stop us from legally pursuing this matter?
3. What would be the result if the matter went to a small claims court? We believe the loanee owns his own house, we are not sure about his financial situation otherwise.

newfunk

I have a feeling, you wont be able to get this back, unless they had some kind of written agreement

daveboy

Courts require evidence. No evidence means you can't do anything at all.

Just because you have proof of a completed recorded delivery means nothing. I could send an empty envelope to someone by recorded delivery and they'd sign for it before realising it was empty. So that doesn't mean much either.

You should consult a solicitor but as the above poster suggests, it seems there are no grounds to get the money back.

withabix

My advice:

Tell as many of the people who know the bloke that he has £9000 of your late grandfather's money.

Preferably tell them in front of the bloke.

Tell all his mates in the pub.

Embarrass and shame the bloke.

jonesMUFCforever

iainkirk wrote:

My advice:

Tell as many of the people who know the bloke that he has £9000 of your late grandfather's money.

Preferably tell them in front of the bloke.

Tell all his mates in the pub.

Embarrass and shame the bloke.

IMO This is not a good idea. If the OP cannot prove that the loan exists then slandering him in front of anyone could land you in court!

withabix

True, however the other bloke would have to prove that he had been wronged (ie hadn't received the £9000 loan) and truly swear an oath, otherwise he could be guilty of the same as Jeffrey Archer - Perjury.

Bossyboots

iainkirk wrote:

True, however the other bloke would have to prove that he had been wronged (ie hadn't received the £9000 loan) and truly swear an oath, otherwise he could be guilty of the same as Jeffrey Archer - Perjury.

He could argue it was a gift or indeed that it was never for that much. I think the risk to the OP of slander is too great a risk to consider the advice given. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, who is going to prove the perjury anyway?

newfunk

Bossyboots wrote:

He could argue it was a gift or indeed that it was never for that much. I think the risk to the OP of slander is too great a risk to consider the advice given. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, who is going to prove the perjury anyway?

I agree thats a dangerous path to take

mountainofdebt

I know this sounds totally naive but how come the executor 'knew' that £9000 had either been loaned or gifted so that IT could be paid.

Surely if proof was available for that purpose that it can be used as a starting block in an action that the OP's family decided to take?

Xbigman

Did you not talk to the man and find out the situation before declaring this for IT? Is this guy struggling with debts and unable to pay, so you take his house? You seem to have gone about this in a very impersonal way in sending recorded delivery letters as a first step. Was it for £9000, or was this only talked about in a letter. You don't seem to know exactly what was agreed over this loan. I've lent people money in the past on a 'pay me back if you can' basis and this could have been the same.
You should have found out the exact situation before delaring the IT. Unless there is written evidence of a loan giving details of the amount, dates, repayment, etc, I think you have almost no chance of getting this back. As executor I would have found out if this was ever repayable and if not written it off and saved the IT.

As for slander. Is he down the pub with his mates now saying how his mates kids are grasping b*stards trying to take his home. There's two sides to every dispute.

I'm not on this guys side, he could have decided to screw you and not pay anything exactly because nothing is in writing. But you don't *know* that.
Regards



X

BigDunc

To fill in some of the missing gaps, my father did telephone the person before sending the recorded letter. There was mention of paying off the sum at £50 a month but the loanee never set this up. I believe that the executor of my grandfather's will was told about the loan from my father, there was no documentation to support this. He was trying to do what he thought was right by declaring it but incurred a tax bill in the process.