Personal loan from friend - terms changed

mr_stripey

If you can now afford to make the £300 payments then it probably best to do that. Even if the other party invokes legal proceedings you will have nearly cleared it in any case

Loans between friends are very hard to enforce when they inevitably go wrong (even with a written agreement) - which is why they are usually a very bad idea.

Tucosalamanca

It sounds like your friend couldn't really afford to lend you the money but did so because they were a good friend.

You've fallen behind with payments, possibly creating problems for your friend and certainly now putting pressure on the friendship.
It's not unreasonable for them to ask for the money, by your own admission it should almost be paid back by now.

Perhaps suggest that you continue to pay £300 per month, with an extra payment at the end to cover the inconvenience caused?

You've saved 'hefty interest' and extended the loan, the right thing to do is offer to compensate your friend.

£4,000 would have earned around £300 interest in a savings account.
An extra month's payment would cover the inconvenience caused and possibly go some way towards rebuilding the friendship?

Grumpy_chap

phoenix1993 said:

A friend was able to loan me 4k about a year and a half ago so I could avoid hefty interest on a bank loan, we had a written agreement I would repay £300 a month, and all was fine. Recently things have broken down between this friend and I and they are demanding I repay the loan in full. I am not in a position to do that all in one go, I'm just wondering where my rights are on this - I feel they may take me to small claims court, though I've stated still I can only do the £300 a month as agreed. Any advice? Thank you 

Could it be that the threats of court action are really an arm-twist to ensure you actually pay down the remainder at the agreed £300 per month?

You had a loan of £4k.
You paid some back, then took a break in repayments.
You now owe £1.2k
You are repaying £300 per month
That means you will be clear within 4 months.

If you keep up with the £300 per month, it might encourage your friend to simply not start legal action. 
Even if the friend does start legal action, by the time it is heard, you will quite possibly have cleared the debt so court action becomes moot.
Either way, the swifter you repay this amount and close the matter the better.

phoenix1993

Thank you everyone  - the matter was able to be resolved between us thankfully with a payment plan put in place to swiftly get rid of it. Thanks again