County court money claim

[Vonny71]

Was really unsure where to post this one, hopefully this will reach the right area.

I'm going to try and be as direct, clear and concise as I can be, not been on any forum like this before and am really hoping for some help.

During March 2013 I was looking for a car, I was looking for an older vehicle to buy outright... I was then made the offer by my business partner of 20 years that he would have finance in his name so I could have a "new" car, he suggested that I use the money I had as the deposit ... I explained that I was reluctant to do this as I was concerned that the monthly payments would be too much .... Yet he offered to take on and pay the monthly payments and that when and if I was able I could take the payments over in the future ... in the first 12 months since that agreement was taken out I was not in a position financially to do this, and no pressure was put upon me by him to do so.


I am a single mother and have been for the last 8 years, 12 months ago I met some new and from the minute I told my business partner about my new relationship everything changed, over the last 12 months he has threatened me, harassed me, slagged me off to anyone who will listen, and around 7/8 months ago he started to "demand" that I take the payments over for the vehicle or he would repossess the car, I replied that I would try and sort something but explained that I was still not in a position financially ..... there would then be no contact for 3/4 weeks from him but then the demanding/court threatening emails would start again, this has gone on since February 2015, he has also started harassing me business wise, such as blocking me from the business bank accounts & also threatened my job several times.


I had not heard anything for 2/3 months, then 2 days before Christmas (23rd) I received a "county court money claim" from him and his solicitors, it states that I have made a "repudiatory breach" of the oral contract and as a result he has suffered loss and damage.


The claim is for:


£14,019.79 in full to him for the car or directly to Fiat to end the HP agreement.


Also interest on those damages under section 35a of the senior courts act 1981 to be assessed.


One thing I want to state is that following one of his previous demand emails I spoke to my father and told him everything, he offered to take the payments on for me, which I was massively grateful for and enormously relieved ... he setup a direct debit, however as soon as the direct debit was setup and the first payment hit his account he returned it to my father, cancelled the direct debit and sent me an email stating that I and I only was to settle this debt !! ... I am terrified of ending up in court, I'm scared I could lose my home, but I just don't have this money, I am currently over drawn !!


The facts in short if it helps are:


No paper work is in my name.


I signed nothing.


His "county court money claim" is based on a verbal agreement.


I am happy to return the car to him or fiat.


My father setup a direct debit to fulfil his demands yet he returned it, cancelled it and stated that only I was to pay.


I have 12th January to make a response.


Any help or advice would be massively appreciated.


Thank you

Sent from my iPhone

[PlanB]

Re: County court money claim

Hello Vonny and

What a sorry mess. It's always sad when a business relationship turns sour especially after 20 years.

It does sound as if the arrival of a new man in your life has triggered this angry reaction in your business partner which is such a shame. He should be happy for you. I am. Maybe there are Male Ego issues behind all this spitefulness

Anyway there's a court claim which needs dealing with so let's see what we can do to help.

This is an unusual claim because it's not from a creditor, and from what you say you don't owe anyone any money except possibly the 'value' of the HP payments he's made so far but only if he can prove there was a verbal agreement between you both to pay them to him. A judge would prefer to see a written agreement unless there was any witness to the verbal agreement or follow-up emails confirming it etc.

He's a grown man and he entered into a credit agreement with a credit provider with his eyes wide open. You didn't hold a gun to his head.

I don't care what he says he can't "repossess" the car because he doesn't own it. At the moment it's owned by the finance company so only they can repossess it and then only in line with their Terms & Conditions on missed payments etc. (They can't repossess without a court order if one third of the total repayments have been made.) If he stops making payments then it's his credit file that will get damaged (not yours) which I'm sure he won't want that because it could have a negative impact on his business in future.

There's lots to explore here once we have got the full story.

Can I ask you to start a new thread in this section so we can take things from there http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post461134

Try not to worry

Plan B x

[Vonny71]

Re: County court money claim

Thanks so much for your reply, I'm totally new to all this so when you say "start a new thread" in the link you provided should I simply repost my initial thread in the link given ?

[PlanB]

Re: County court money claim

I'm totally new to all this so when you say "start a new thread" in the link you provided should I simply repost my initial thread in the link given ?

Don't worry, I'm relatively new to the technical side of things too as will become apparent

Your new thread continues in the legal section here > http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post546274

Plan B x