Refusing to pay back a loan.
Discussion
I'm not necessarily sure this is the right place to post about this, but here goes anyway.
I'm looking for advice on behalf of my sister, who is having some trouble regarding her ex-Fiance refusing to pay back £500 which she loaned him back in March.
A bit of backstory. My sister, 18, had been seeing this guy (19) for well over 18 months. They had been engaged for almost 10 months, and he was actually living with her at my parents house for 6 months. All was absolutely fine, all-in-all, he seemed perfect for her, so for me no worries. He was bombing around in a Fiesta which in March of this year, he binned after running out of talent on a wet, twisty B-road on his way to work. He was fine but the car was a write off. Because he needed a car for work, he was desperate for a new motor as soon as possible, so my sister lent him £1500. This was a loan, on the understanding that when his insurance paid out for the Fiesta he'd pay her back. As far as anyone was aware, this was what happened.
Fast forward to July and he's lost his job, left my sister and moved out, and it turns out he'd kept back £500 because he claimed he couldn't afford it. My sister had initially agreed to this, on the understanding he WOULD pay her back for the entire amount. She'd kept quiet because she knows both myself, and my Dad would have insisted that he pay her back completely and she didn't want to cause issues in the family.
He still owes her the £500, but is repeatedly claiming he hasn't got anything to pay her back with. This is despite having a new, reasonably well paid job which he's had since mid-July. He's now moved back in with his parents, got a new bird, and I've seen him a few times driving about in the car (complete with new exhaust and alloys), and out and about in town, so he clearly has some money somewhere. My sister has asked repeatedly for the money back, but he just repeats the same thing over and over. He has no money, but he'll pay her back next week. This has been going for almost 2 months now.
My question is, how can we get this money back? Because it's clear to me he's not going to pay up willingly. I know it's only £500 but for my sister that's alot of money. My dad is all for going and GETTING it back. But this guy is a 6'4 rugby player-type and... well, me and my Dad getting our arses kicked is pointless.
So what can we do?
I'm looking for advice on behalf of my sister, who is having some trouble regarding her ex-Fiance refusing to pay back £500 which she loaned him back in March.
A bit of backstory. My sister, 18, had been seeing this guy (19) for well over 18 months. They had been engaged for almost 10 months, and he was actually living with her at my parents house for 6 months. All was absolutely fine, all-in-all, he seemed perfect for her, so for me no worries. He was bombing around in a Fiesta which in March of this year, he binned after running out of talent on a wet, twisty B-road on his way to work. He was fine but the car was a write off. Because he needed a car for work, he was desperate for a new motor as soon as possible, so my sister lent him £1500. This was a loan, on the understanding that when his insurance paid out for the Fiesta he'd pay her back. As far as anyone was aware, this was what happened.
Fast forward to July and he's lost his job, left my sister and moved out, and it turns out he'd kept back £500 because he claimed he couldn't afford it. My sister had initially agreed to this, on the understanding he WOULD pay her back for the entire amount. She'd kept quiet because she knows both myself, and my Dad would have insisted that he pay her back completely and she didn't want to cause issues in the family.
He still owes her the £500, but is repeatedly claiming he hasn't got anything to pay her back with. This is despite having a new, reasonably well paid job which he's had since mid-July. He's now moved back in with his parents, got a new bird, and I've seen him a few times driving about in the car (complete with new exhaust and alloys), and out and about in town, so he clearly has some money somewhere. My sister has asked repeatedly for the money back, but he just repeats the same thing over and over. He has no money, but he'll pay her back next week. This has been going for almost 2 months now.
My question is, how can we get this money back? Because it's clear to me he's not going to pay up willingly. I know it's only £500 but for my sister that's alot of money. My dad is all for going and GETTING it back. But this guy is a 6'4 rugby player-type and... well, me and my Dad getting our arses kicked is pointless.
So what can we do?
bad company said:
I can only suggest that your sister writes to him giving him 7 days to pay or she will sue. It's not difficult to do so through the County Court. Once he knows she means business he may well pay up.
Good luck.
This. not sure how far you will get with a 'he said, she said' argument like this if he choses to lie but if he isn't listening to the 'please pay me back' requests it might make him sit up and take a little more notice if it starts causing him more issues than the odd text or person to ignore.Good luck.
With any luck he'll be a real idiot and ignore it all, a CCJ will cost him a s
t load more than the £500 in st and hassle, not to mention he'll still owe her £500...sugerbear said:
Tell her to get on with her life.
£500 maybe a lot to her but how much time and money is she going to waste chasing him for it?
I would say this if we were talking about people who can afford to write this sort of sum off but I am guessing that £500 here is a significant wedge (not that it isn't to me but I could write it off as a bad deal without it affecting my plans other than not buying anymore toys for a few months!)£500 maybe a lot to her but how much time and money is she going to waste chasing him for it?
Even if it were me I would not like to think that I had just given up on it and would happily spend an evening on the net and form filling and throw another few pounds at it, even if only to stop them thinking that they might try it on the next...
catman said:
My first question would be, are there any witnesses to the loan and agreement to pay it back?
Any witnesses to withholding £500 and promising to pay it back?
Tim
As I understand it, my parents were present when she initially loaned him the £1500 for the car. They drove her to the bank to withdraw the cash, then dropped them both off at the sellers for the purchase to take place. He had said to me that my sister had loaned him the money, and it was common knowledge that that was the agreement.Any witnesses to withholding £500 and promising to pay it back?
Tim
As for withholding the £500, as far as I am aware that was an agreement between just the two of them. As I said, as far as anyone knew he'd paid her back entirely. She has got numerous text messages and emails in which he promises to pay her back.
There is not really an option for her to just led it slide. As I said, £500 is alot of money for her. She is just out of college and starting her first job.
Edited by akz0rrr on Wednesday 3rd September 15:25
If watching Judge Rinder (
) is of any consolation, he knows it's a loan, as he is saying that he will pay it back. I'd give him a letter in writing informing that if no payment is made within 7 days, you will be forced to start legal proceedings. Either he'll pay up pretty quickly, or take it to court. But it seems pretty clear cut to me.
) is of any consolation, he knows it's a loan, as he is saying that he will pay it back. I'd give him a letter in writing informing that if no payment is made within 7 days, you will be forced to start legal proceedings. Either he'll pay up pretty quickly, or take it to court. But it seems pretty clear cut to me.sugerbear said:
Tell her to get on with her life.
£500 maybe a lot to her but how much time and money is she going to waste chasing him for it?
Court fee £35 which is recoverable & all can be done very quickly online. I reckon there is a very good chance that he will pay on the 7 day letter or on receipt of the Court papers.£500 maybe a lot to her but how much time and money is she going to waste chasing him for it?
If it is a genuine case I would not let him get away with it.
akz0rrr said:
As for withholding the £500, as far as I am aware that was an agreement between just the two of them. As I said, as far as anyone knew he'd paid her back entirely.
This is where it could so easily start to get messy, if ever it comes to enforcing anything officially. All he needs to do is to say that he DID pay her back, after the date of those messages (or that they're fake) and it's straight to he-said-she-said.But I'd agree that the mere threat of getting legal is likely to be enough to put it up him.
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
Mr SFJ said:
bad company said:
What other sort of letter is there? 
Email? Which I think can still classify as a legal document (I think)Too many opportunities for missed communications for 1001 reasons.
TooMany2cvs said:
akz0rrr said:
As for withholding the £500, as far as I am aware that was an agreement between just the two of them. As I said, as far as anyone knew he'd paid her back entirely.
This is where it could so easily start to get messy, if ever it comes to enforcing anything officially. All he needs to do is to say that he DID pay her back, after the date of those messages (or that they're fake) and it's straight to he-said-she-said.But I'd agree that the mere threat of getting legal is likely to be enough to put it up him.
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
You are in cloud cuckoo land if you think you will get it back, it aint gonna happen
Even if you went down some kind of "official" route, then it will eat up your time and patience, he could always say he was gifted the money
Your sister should see it as a lesson, in fact now she's learnt the hard way in the future she might think twice before lending money or picking better blokes.
Suck it up and move on, or slog it out and get nowhere.
I dont want to sound harsh, just realistic .
If him and parents are a bit thick , then I would draft up a fake Court/bailiff letter on Word with a few juicy logos and post it to his parents, it might shock them into paying you asap , but could backfire if they dont...
Even if you went down some kind of "official" route, then it will eat up your time and patience, he could always say he was gifted the money
Your sister should see it as a lesson, in fact now she's learnt the hard way in the future she might think twice before lending money or picking better blokes.
Suck it up and move on, or slog it out and get nowhere.
I dont want to sound harsh, just realistic .
If him and parents are a bit thick , then I would draft up a fake Court/bailiff letter on Word with a few juicy logos and post it to his parents, it might shock them into paying you asap , but could backfire if they dont...
Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Wednesday 3rd September 17:25
Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Wednesday 3rd September 17:26
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