Legal advice on recovering debt from neighbour

fatbelly

A friend once asked me to lend him some money. I thought it through, gave him the money and told him it was a gift and I didn't want it back.

We never fell out about it or even mentioned it again. I suspect he never told his wife.

However, on some level it may have had an effect as we drifted apart.

Sea_Shell

Lu222 said:

Please if someone can help, can I go to the small claims court to get back money I am owed from a neighbour. I lent the couple momey as they said they were struggling, I withdrew cash from the cashpoint, so I have messages online for the requests via messenger asking me, and these tally with me withdrawing the cash amounts , as they thanked me via messaging each time I gave the money.
But then they kept saying they didnt have it til next week, then the next and in the end all the excuses , I have now got to 4 months since lending it, I have photo shot/ saved all the correspondence between us, I know they do cash in hand work and do not declare it, as something was mentioned by one of them in a past conversation, and they also claim UC, I do not work as have a disabality, so I want to know with the evidence of correspondence with the messages saved one after another which is me repeatedly asking for the money and the amount, and them admitting they owe it by saying they will pay it back but havent, could I get legal aid to take them to a small claims court and do I have enough evidence with my bank withdrawals on the same dates of them requesting it on messaging and then thanking me for the amounts. What can I do? 

How many times have you lent money to them?   If they didn't pay you back the first time, why lend again, and again?

I hope you're talking small amounts here...£20-£50 a time, and not £100s

Only you can decide if the stress (and cost) of trying to reclaim the money, via legal channels, is worth it, along with further damage to your relationship.  

Whatever you decide, don't fall for their sob stories again, and if they ask for another "loan", the answer is a firm "NO".

Albermarle

Grumpy_chap said:

Lu222 said:

Please if someone can help, can I go to the small claims court to get back money I am owed from a neighbour. I lent the couple momey as they said they were struggling, I withdrew cash from the cashpoint, so I have messages online for the requests via messenger asking me, and these tally with me withdrawing the cash amounts , as they thanked me via messaging each time I gave the money.
But then they kept saying they didnt have it til next week, then the next and in the end all the excuses , I have now got to 4 months since lending it, I have photo shot/ saved all the correspondence between us, I know they do cash in hand work and do not declare it, as something was mentioned by one of them in a past conversation, and they also claim UC, I do not work as have a disabality, so I want to know with the evidence of correspondence with the messages saved one after another which is me repeatedly asking for the money and the amount, and them admitting they owe it by saying they will pay it back but havent, could I get legal aid to take them to a small claims court and do I have enough evidence with my bank withdrawals on the same dates of them requesting it on messaging and then thanking me for the amounts. What can I do? 

You won't get this money back.
Don't give them any more.

I am afraid I have to agree with this.

pmlindyloo

I accept that most people have said 'forget it' but I imagine that it must be extremely annoying that they have taken advantage of you.

I do not know the amounts involved but if they are substantial then have you considered writing a letter to them giving them a date to repay or some kind of repayment plan laid out?

At the end of the letter you can add that if you do receive payment by such and such a date then you will commence legal proceedings.

Sometimes the threat is just enough to make them cough up and 'at least' you will tried.

Good luck!

pmlindyloo

This link may be useful:

Making a small claim - Citizens Advice

HillStreetBlues

Lu222 said:

Please if someone can help, can I go to the small claims court to get back money I am owed from a neighbour. I lent the couple momey as they said they were struggling, I withdrew cash from the cashpoint, so I have messages online for the requests via messenger asking me, and these tally with me withdrawing the cash amounts , as they thanked me via messaging each time I gave the money.
But then they kept saying they didnt have it til next week, then the next and in the end all the excuses , I have now got to 4 months since lending it, I have photo shot/ saved all the correspondence between us, I know they do cash in hand work and do not declare it, as something was mentioned by one of them in a past conversation, and they also claim UC, I do not work as have a disabality, so I want to know with the evidence of correspondence with the messages saved one after another which is me repeatedly asking for the money and the amount, and them admitting they owe it by saying they will pay it back but havent, could I get legal aid to take them to a small claims court and do I have enough evidence with my bank withdrawals on the same dates of them requesting it on messaging and then thanking me for the amounts. What can I do? 

Right it off and move on.

HillStreetBlues

eddddy said:

If you go to court, the court will look at whether an agreement (or contract) has been broken.

So, as a starting point, what was the agreement you made with your neighbour - specifically about paying back the loan?

Has the neighbour broken whatever repayment terms were agreed? Do you have any evidence of the repayment terms agreed?



For example, if the agreement was that the neighbour should repay the loan when they can afford to, they might simply say they can't afford to at the moment. So the court is likely to say that the agreement (or contract) hasn't been broken.

The OP kept lending money even though it wasn't paid back, by doing that it shows that contract was never intended to be enforced.

RHemmings

I agree in general with: write it off and don't lend money to them ever again. 

If you want to take things further, then instead of going to court now, you could try to establish a more formal basis. You could, in writing, summarise the amount owed and then propose a slightly generous clearly stated payment plan. Be very understanding and maybe even apologetic. Don't even give a hint of a legal route. If they agree to this, then you have better evidence of the debt and that they (eventually) have broken it. Or, if they don't break it, even better. 

FreeBear

fatbelly said:

Another thing to consider is that even supposing your claim is successful, and you got a ccj against them, could you enforce it?

They are not employed so you could not do attachment of earnings.

You can still apply for an attachment of earnings order, and the money would be deducted from benefit payments. It may only be a nominal amount, so could take a very long time for the CCJ to be settled.

ChirpyChicken

fatbelly said:

Another thing to consider is that even supposing your claim is successful, and you got a ccj against them, could you enforce it?

They are not employed so you could not do attachment of earnings.

They do not own property (I assume) so no Charging Order

You do not know their bank account? So no 3pdo

That leaves you with bailiffs and contrary to media propaganda they are easy to deal with if you know what to do, and they might. If this sum is less than £600 you could not use High Court 

even HCEO are easy to deal with