Lending money to friends & family

GloverR

The same thing happened to my wife recently and we tried many different avenues to firstly contact the person and then legal action , sadly to no success it is very difficult to get refunded unless the proper documentation was signed by the lender, but when you think about it, when would you ask a friend to sign legal binding papers. my advice trust no one!!!

printking

Hi
This post give me great info . Thanks for valuable view.

investor,

Never lend money to family or friends, it is not worth it

lingliu2012

I've lent to my flatmate who I share the house I rent £15000 in 2 years to pay for his court cases, rent, food, gas and electric bills and he has promised me he would pay me back but hasn't done so. I've borrowed 7 loans in total: 2 main loans Tesco and Lloyds TSB and 5 payday loans: The Money Shop, Wage Day Advance, Wonga, Peachy Loans and Provident Credit. I had to sell things in order to pay for some of the bills and I'm so sick and tired of it...I can't borrow from any more money from banks as I've made too many applications and have been declined to do so and in serious debts through no fault of my own...I want to take him to court to get my money back but after reading all the comments it's not going to help me...what am I suppose to do? Help me someone please, I'm in tears and very angry!

yankeesalu

If I this thing happened to me I would take legal actions ,fo r such people you cant stand them just do it

GDB2222

lingliu2012 wrote: »

I've lent to my flatmate who I share the house I rent £15000 in 2 years to pay for his court cases, rent, food, gas and electric bills and he has promised me he would pay me back but hasn't done so. I've borrowed 7 loans in total: 2 main loans Tesco and Lloyds TSB and 5 payday loans: The Money Shop, Wage Day Advance, Wonga, Peachy Loans and Provident Credit. I had to sell things in order to pay for some of the bills and I'm so sick and tired of it...I can't borrow from any more money from banks as I've made too many applications and have been declined to do so and in serious debts through no fault of my own...I want to take him to court to get my money back but after reading all the comments it's not going to help me...what am I suppose to do? Help me someone please, I'm in tears and very angry!

Do you think he has any money to pay you back with?

petal71

I know there have been lots of posts about how to get back money you have loaned to a friend, but my situation is slightly complicated & I'm hoping someone has some advice. I loaned money to a friend over a period of about 6 months which totals £4000. The money was all sent to her by direct bank transfer online and the requests from her were verbal so there is no paper trail. However, the last request she made was by text and I made a point of replying to her text mentioning how much I had loaned her in total - I have kept the texts. Our friendship has since ended & she is now implying that I gave her the money rather than lending it, so I have said that I have texts which say otherwise. My issue is that I live in Northern Ireland and she lives in England & I'm not sure what legal differences there are between the 2 countries. I plan to pursue this as far as I can, to get the money back as she won't just give it to me without a fight. If anyone has any suggestions or advice I would be really grateful - I hate the thought that I have been taken for a fool.

MOGGYMALONE

I'm no expert but if you have no written contract I am not sure how you can persue this. Not sure if text messages counts?? suppose it depends on the very specific content of the messages. Did she admit in the text she had loaned you the money? Or had she made any repayments at all? As i say i am no expert maybe someone else here can help more, or maybe worth seeking legal advice. It's a horrible thing for a "friend" to do to you. Hope you get it all back, Good luck, Moggy

GDB2222

petal71 wrote: »

I know there have been lots of posts about how to get back money you have loaned to a friend, but my situation is slightly complicated & I'm hoping someone has some advice. I loaned money to a friend over a period of about 6 months which totals £4000. The money was all sent to her by direct bank transfer online and the requests from her were verbal so there is no paper trail. However, the last request she made was by text and I made a point of replying to her text mentioning how much I had loaned her in total - I have kept the texts. Our friendship has since ended & she is now implying that I gave her the money rather than lending it, so I have said that I have texts which say otherwise. My issue is that I live in Northern Ireland and she lives in England & I'm not sure what legal differences there are between the 2 countries. I plan to pursue this as far as I can, to get the money back as she won't just give it to me without a fight. If anyone has any suggestions or advice I would be really grateful - I hate the thought that I have been taken for a fool.

I do not think that there are any significant legal differences between Northern Ireland and England. Scotland is different, by the way.

The really big question you need to ask yourself is whether it is worth your while serving proceedings? If your friend had to borrow money from you, the chances are that she has no means of paying you back. Consequently, even if you win your court case, it may not net you any money. Not many people know this, but a startlingly high proportion of County Court orders are never satisfied (something like 70%). I would strongly advise you not to bother to go any further with this matter unless you are quite sure that your friend will have enough money to repay you (plus the court fees). Otherwise, you will simply be wasting your time and throwing good money after bad.

The next question is whether you will win the case? In particular, what proof do you need to give that the £4000 was a loan, not a gift? I think that you will find that the law is on your side in this. In your case, the presumption is that the money has been loaned, and it is up to your former friend to show that that was not the case. That throws the burden of proof on your former friend. That is not to show that she may not be successful, but she has the uphill battle, not you. She might bring evidence that you were more than just friends, for example.

Ideally, anything that this is done in writing, but the courts will recognise legal agreements made verbally, as in your case. If this ever gets to court, the judge will listen to both of you and then make up his mind what he thinks actually happened. The text you sent is evidence of what you thought at that time, and it is admissible in court.

To sum up: you probably have a good case, but do not even consider litigation unless you are quite sure that your former friend has the means to pay you back.

sariebeth

GloverR wrote: »

but when you think about it, when would you ask a friend to sign legal binding papers. my advice trust no one!!!

I may sound stingy but... I lent my OH £3000 to do up his house that he rents out. Even though a)we've been together for 4 years, b)I trust him completely, c)I live and work with his family and d)I know how and when he will pay it back, I STILL made him sign a note with a breakdown of the amounts owed and a promise that he will pay it back.

He doesn't mind as he knows it doesn't mean I don't trust him, and he realises that it's simply the practical and right thing to do when lending money. It's a business transaction pure and simple, just because its to friends or family doesn't change that basic fact in fact it makes it even more important to remember!