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Thomas
Thomas, Solicitor
Category: Family Law
Satisfied Customers: 7676
Experience:  UK solicitor
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ex partner is not willing to pay me back money he borrowed

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ex partner is not willing to pay me back money he borrowed of me
Thomas
Hi,
Thanks for your question.
What were the circumstances of the borrowing please?
Kind regards,
Tom
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Customer: replied 3 years ago.

Hi,

Basically he claimed have no spending money and asked me to look after his needs till he is able to pay me back in full. In good faith I paid for his personal bills, hotel costs, clothing, repair bills, food and many other items - don't ask why.

All this was coming to a large sum of almost £5K when I alerted him to start paying me back. He has ever since ignored my calls and text messages. Unfortunately, the only prove I have are my bank statements. He was lying about being broke because I had seen that he has more than 50K cash in his bank account already and is also working, so it is not like he cant pay me back.

I am sure he is been doing this to other people as well, but I don't know if I have a strong case against him and on what grounds can I sue him? These were NOT gifts to him.

Thanks
Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
Do you have anything in writing (eg. text, emails etc) from him acknowledging that these are NOT gifts?
Kind regards,
Tom
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Customer: replied 3 years ago.

Hi Tom,

I have perhaps text messages asking for him to pay me back. Unfortunately, I don't have anything other than bank statements to prove that I have been paying his bills which are under his name etc.

How can I prove him wrong that these were not gifts which he is aware of but if I take him to court then how can I win this case still?

Thanks

Hi
Thank you for your question and patience, I’m Tom and I’ll try to help you.
Ideally, you would have some form of acknowledgement from him that the transfers were not gifts. However, such evidence is not fatal to your claim. The courts accept that some couples transfer such sums of money by way of gift, but they also accept that some couples do not transfer such sums by way of gift.
Ultimately, if you have never transferred similar sums by way of gift previously and your financial lives were generally kept separate during your relationship then a court is much more likely to accept that the transfers were not intended as a gift and were instead some form of loan, in which case your chances would be good. If there were no agreed repayment dates and your ex-partner does not have any money/assets though, then you can expect to receive a fairly small sum of money per week in terms of repayment initially
You should write a formal letter to him stating the details of the loan and that you require the money to be paid back (or a repayment plan suggested) within a reasonable time (eg 7-14 days). State that you are prepared to issue a claim at Court for the outstanding monies if necessary.
If this does not illicit a response you should ask a solicitor to draft a Letter Before Action to him. This will be cheap and may bring home your commitment to recovering the money.
If no response is received then you can issue a claim yourself through Her Majesty's Courts Service's online service www.moneyclaim.gov.uk . It's very straightforward to use and pretty cheap. Again, he may at this point relent and offer to repay the money. I would have thought that it would be worth doing even if you do not have any documentary evidence that is was in fact a loan since it is an inexpensive way forward and it may not actually go to Court if he see senses, acknowledges and suggested a form of repayment.
My goal is to provide you with a good service. If you feel you have received anything less, please reply back as I am happy to address follow-up issues specifically relating to your question.
Kind regards,
Tom
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