ProperCharlie

quick legal type question:

someone owes me money. now i know full well that the person in question doesn't have any money and therefore can't pay me back, but he has taken the p*ss and i don't want to just let him walk off with no payback. aside from kneecapping etc, how do i go about getting a ccj or whatever against this guy for failing to give me my money back? do i just apply to the small claims court? do i have to give him a certain amount of time to pay the money or can i just go straight in with a court claim?

tia

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

If he lives nearby I'd try the annoying approach myself..

Like car breaks down outside his house at 2am and when you take the backbox off it starts.. oh and the next night the same thing happens with the motorcycle..

Knock on his door late at night, ring him etc..

Probably won't work mind but would make you feel better?

How has he taken the P1ss?

JGM

WRX Wannabe

Small claims court for £30 to recover upto £500 i think

ProperCharlie

it's more than £500. what is the next step after small claims court?

JGM - basically he has taken the p*ss by abusing trust, trying to be clever etc. if he had told me what the situation was, i would have tried to sort it out as best as possible, but he elected to **** off and do his own thing. i don't really give a sh*t about him anymore, i certainly don't want to see him again if i can avoid it, but i don't want set a precedent of people walking off with debts without any come back. if all i get out of it is a CCJ against him, that'll do me.

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

If it is that much money then worth going about it via law then but you don't really want to have to spend out more money to do it..

Does he not own a house, TV, Car, Sofa.. they would be removed and sold by balifs etc..

Do you have proof of what he owes you?

JGM

ProperCharlie

AFAIK he doesn't own a house or a car. he probably has a telly. maybe a video as well. I have a reasonably good proof as to what he owes. as i said before, i regard the chances of recouping the money as being close to zero - i just want to do something that will be a PITA for him, and so it can be seen that he didn't just "get away with it".

milo

not accurate. small claims will hear up to £5000, unless its for personal injury, or compensation from a landlord.. and then its £1000. so for a loan it will be £5000.

ProperCharlie

cheers milo - small claims court it is then.

how do i go about putting the claim in? do i need a soliciotr or can i do it myself?

davegtt

There should be a county court office you can pop in pick up all the paper work etc etc...

be warned though, it can be expensive, if the guy cant afford a solicitor you may have to pay for his legal advice if you lose it can cost a pritty penny if you aint 100% sure you'll have the judge on ya side

milo

are u sure about that?

the point about small claims is that you are supposed to represent yourself. if u choose to have a solicitor represent you, you cannot claim your legal expenses should you win.

ask your local county court for a claims form. you will have to pay a court fee of.. i think £120 if its £1k-£5k which i assume your amount is. you will be able to claim the court fee back as fixed costs should u win however.

thats how i understand it all anyway

davegtt

Ive been to the small claims court after I bought a car off a garage and his cr@p after service and the car caught fire and burnt out. I claimed for about 3500, reading paper work if I lost and he had legal advice I would have had to pay for his representative... fact!!! (well it was about 4 years ago)

it does cost a fair bit to get there etc, then you'll find he cant pay you back anyways and you'll hae to pay £50 to go back to court for him to show how much he owes etc then you'll have to pay £50 to action the county courts bayliffs

it does get expensive but if your gonna do it you mite aswell do it properly

GaryK

PC,

Yes its tricky you can file a claim which I think is 10% of the amount you are trying to claim. He will get a judgement if he doesnt pay but there will be no enforcement to pay the debt. You then need to send in bailiffs, useless in my view as they cant force entry and they cant take anything the defendant doesnt own so he can tell them he doesnt own anything! Then you can push for an oral examination where he will be grilled about income and expenditure but still not forced to pay.

It took me two years to get back £500 I was owed once thru small claims, the most important thing is you can end up throwing more and more money at something, if the guy hasnt got any money you could be on a hiding to nothing.

Good Luck

Gary

andrewdelvard

Having been through the same, reading this just reiterates a rule I firmly hold in life. Give your time, advice, support to a mate..But never lend them money. It's the biggest shortcut to one less mate no matter how long you've known each other. Very sad but true.

[Edited by andrewdelvard - 1/29/2004 10:36:47 AM]