Please help, my friend owes me money & won't pay it back. Legal action?

flammingstarr_2 · 29 October 2012 at 4:06PM

Hi,
I am hoping that you will be-able to help me.
My friend and myself have been friends for years and we have been on holiday together previously 5 years ago.
We decided to book a holiday for June 2013 to give us something to look forward to and give us time to save/pay the balance bit-by-bit.
At the time she was a little short of money and I had been working lots of hours so had a few very good wages so we booked the holiday and agreed that I would pay the deposit and some money off the holiday and she would pay me back at/around Christmas when I would be struggling.
Now we have fallen out and she is refusing to speak to me even though I have sent her several e-mails/texts trying to resolve things, I even sent a card and friendship bracelet in the hope we could sort things out.
She is now totally refusing to pay me any of my money back despite me threatening her with Small claims court.
I have just sent her a last e-mail saying she has 72 hours to pay the money back or I will be making a claim to SCC. I have evidence of all of the payments I have made and texts/e-mails to prove that she owes me the money.
I have paid a total of £400 of which £350 was the deposit. I have spoken to the holiday company and I stand to lose £350 of the balance, the deposit.
If I take this matter to SCC, I will be claiming the full amount that I have lost - £350.00 plus whatever it has cost me to bring the matter to court. Would I be allowed to do that or only claim a proportion of my losses? I don't know what to do, but it is clear that she is not going to pay me back and I can not afford to lose this money. My work hours have been cut, I am now working p/t and she is working full time, she earns more money than I do. Any advice would be much appreciated.

missile · 29 October 2012 at 5:07PM

You may have proof you paid the money, but can you prove she agreed to pay you back?

Wywth · 29 October 2012 at 5:22PM

flammingstarr wrote: »

Hi,
I am hoping that you will be-able to help me.
My friend and myself have been friends for years and we have been on holiday together previously 5 years ago.
We decided to book a holiday for June 2013 to give us something to look forward to and give us time to save/pay the balance bit-by-bit.
At the time she was a little short of money and I had been working lots of hours so had a few very good wages so we booked the holiday and agreed that I would pay the deposit and some money off the holiday and she would pay me back at/around Christmas when I would be struggling.
Now we have fallen out and she is refusing to speak to me even though I have sent her several e-mails/texts trying to resolve things, I even sent a card and friendship bracelet in the hope we could sort things out.
She is now totally refusing to pay me any of my money back despite me threatening her with Small claims court.
I have just sent her a last e-mail saying she has 72 hours to pay the money back or I will be making a claim to SCC. I have evidence of all of the payments I have made and texts/e-mails to prove that she owes me the money.
I have paid a total of £400 of which £350 was the deposit. I have spoken to the holiday company and I stand to lose £350 of the balance, the deposit.
If I take this matter to SCC, I will be claiming the full amount that I have lost - £350.00 plus whatever it has cost me to bring the matter to court. Would I be allowed to do that or only claim a proportion of my losses? I don't know what to do, but it is clear that she is not going to pay me back and I can not afford to lose this money. My work hours have been cut, I am now working p/t and she is working full time, she earns more money than I do. Any advice would be much appreciated.

It's still only October :cool:

flammingstarr_2 · 29 October 2012 at 5:37PM

Wywth wrote: »

It's still only October :cool:

What difference does the date/month make? We booked early to pay the balance off bit-by-bit?

I have texts saying "thank you for booking the holiday, that is fantastic, I can't wait, let me know when you need the money" etc and I have an e-mail from approx 4 weeks ago saying I will pay you £100 of what I owe you, then another one approx a week later saying I can't afford to pay you the money & I don't owe you that much.
Her name & DOB is on the booking form.

We fell out because she went back to her physically abusive 'husband', i have supported her and helped her loads over the last 6 years when he badly hurt her and had several affairs. When she returned to him I called her a fool and begged her to leave again. Now she won't talk to me. He is definately behind her behaviour because he is very controlling. He doesn't like me because I told him what I thought about him and called the police when he was threatening us one on occasion.

flammingstarr_2 · 29 October 2012 at 5:39PM

missile wrote: »

You may have proof you paid the money, but can you prove she agreed to pay you back?

I have texts saying "thank you for booking the holiday, that is fantastic, I can't wait, let me know when you need the money" etc and I have an e-mail from approx 4 weeks ago saying I will pay you £100 of what I owe you, then another one approx a week later saying I can't afford to pay you the money & I don't owe you that much.
Her name & DOB is on the booking form.

We fell out because she went back to her physically abusive 'husband', i have supported her and helped her loads over the last 6 years when he badly hurt her and had several affairs. When she returned to him I called her a fool and begged her to leave again. Now she won't talk to me. He is definately behind her behaviour because he is very controlling. He doesn't like me because I told him what I thought about him and called the police when he was threatening us one on occasion.

terryw · 29 October 2012 at 5:45PM

Is it possible to change her name on the booking and substitute another friend?

How much will it cost to alter the booking to remove her name and just go yourself?

flammingstarr_2 · 29 October 2012 at 6:48PM

terryw wrote: »

Is it possible to change her name on the booking and substitute another friend?

How much will it cost to alter the booking to remove her name and just go yourself?

I don't know, will have to look into it. I don't want to go on holiday on my own, would feel unsafe I think. All my other friends are married with young children so I don't think there is anyone else who could go.
Thank you for your advice and help though

Wywth · 29 October 2012 at 7:04PM

flammingstarr wrote: »

What difference does the date/month make? We booked early to pay the balance off bit-by-bit?

I have texts saying "thank you for booking the holiday, that is fantastic, I can't wait, let me know when you need the money" etc and I have an e-mail from approx 4 weeks ago saying I will pay you £100 of what I owe you, then another one approx a week later saying I can't afford to pay you the money & I don't owe you that much.
Her name & DOB is on the booking form.

We fell out because she went back to her physically abusive 'husband', i have supported her and helped her loads over the last 6 years when he badly hurt her and had several affairs. When she returned to him I called her a fool and begged her to leave again. Now she won't talk to me. He is definately behind her behaviour because he is very controlling. He doesn't like me because I told him what I thought about him and called the police when he was threatening us one on occasion.

Because, according to you, the agreement she had with you was to pay you back at/around Christmas.

flammingstarr_2 · 29 October 2012 at 7:13PM

Wywth wrote: »

Because, according to you, the agreement she had with you was to pay you back at/around Christmas.

That is correct, she was going to pay me back around Christmas because that is when I will be struggling financially, but now we have fallen out I have asked for my money back [I did give her 'more time' to give it back, she does work f/t, and earns more than me, but all I had is nasty and abusive messages when these are uncalled for and unnecessary] and she is refusing to give any of it back.

CAB_National_Representative · 30 October 2012 at 9:21AM

flammingstarr wrote: »

Hi,
I am hoping that you will be-able to help me.
My friend and myself have been friends for years and we have been on holiday together previously 5 years ago.
We decided to book a holiday for June 2013 to give us something to look forward to and give us time to save/pay the balance bit-by-bit.
At the time she was a little short of money and I had been working lots of hours so had a few very good wages so we booked the holiday and agreed that I would pay the deposit and some money off the holiday and she would pay me back at/around Christmas when I would be struggling.
Now we have fallen out and she is refusing to speak to me even though I have sent her several e-mails/texts trying to resolve things, I even sent a card and friendship bracelet in the hope we could sort things out.
She is now totally refusing to pay me any of my money back despite me threatening her with Small claims court.
I have just sent her a last e-mail saying she has 72 hours to pay the money back or I will be making a claim to SCC. I have evidence of all of the payments I have made and texts/e-mails to prove that she owes me the money.
I have paid a total of £400 of which £350 was the deposit. I have spoken to the holiday company and I stand to lose £350 of the balance, the deposit.
If I take this matter to SCC, I will be claiming the full amount that I have lost - £350.00 plus whatever it has cost me to bring the matter to court. Would I be allowed to do that or only claim a proportion of my losses? I don't know what to do, but it is clear that she is not going to pay me back and I can not afford to lose this money. My work hours have been cut, I am now working p/t and she is working full time, she earns more money than I do. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi Flammingstarr - we don't cover this on our Adviceguide website, but there is some basic information on Gov.uk (formerly Direct.gov) about taking court action to get money back that you're owed. We would recommend getting expert advice on this, and also looking into whether this could be settled by mediation - which would save on the costs of going to court. The Gov.uk information links through to information on finding a civil mediation provider.

dancingfairy · 30 October 2012 at 10:05AM

Hmmm. It's very tricky because you don't know whether she got your card/friendship bracelet and/or whether the texts are from her or her other half. He could be taking her money or controlling her phone or anything from what you've said or perhaps she is embarassed she doesn't have the money

It's so difficult.
Is she o.k? Maybe you need to tryand keep the channels of communication open and wait until Christmas, especially if she has panned to pay you back at Christmas.
Best of Luck
df

Please help, my friend owes me money & won't pay it back. Legal action?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free