Advice needed - how to claim an outstanding debt

[Cazz2269]

Hi.

I would like some advice on how I can go about claiming money that is owed to my father by my ex-partner.

 

 

Whilst we were living together, my partner got into a lot of debt

which resulted in the house that we owed being threatened with repossession.

 

 

At that time, as I had already taken out loans to bail him out the first time

I was unable to extend my credit any further so rather than risk losing the roof over our heads,

my ex approached my father and asked to borrow approximately £9,600.

 

With the aim of keeping the background short -

when we broke up, I ended up writing off a lot of the outstanding money that he owed me personally.

 

 

However, apart from owing money to me, he owed creditors

who wanted to put an interim charging order against the house that was in his name

- the same house my father loaned him money to pay the mortgage.

 

As I had to go to court,

the solicitor acting on my behalf prepared a statement to demonstrate

that when we broke up my ex had no beneficial interest in the property.

In that statement

he also confirmed that the money he owed him was not included in the debt that he owed me.

 

I have now managed to secure a mortgage in my sole name

and have finally taken off my ex's name of the title deeds.

 

 

Over the years, I have reminded him that he owes my father the money

but until such time as the house situation was resolved I didn't want to risk anything.

We are no longer on speaking terms

 

 

recently my father approached him for the money.

My ex has acknowledged he owes the money

but says he will not pay it back as he feels I have been unreasonable.

 

The only reason my father loaned him the money was because of me

so as you can imagine I feel responsible.

Plus £9,600 is a lot of money.

 

I have approached a solicitor who has said that it will take approximately 2 hours

at a cost of £225 per hour for him to write a letter to my ex

- threatening him with court proceedings.

 

I don't know where he lives or where he works

so in order to try and find out it will costs approximately £300-£600 to hire a firm to try and get this information.

All this BEFORE we go to court.

 

 

My father is 75 so doesn't want to cause any trouble or fuss but he's content for me to act on his behalf.

 

QUESTION:

is there anything I can do to avoid this cost?

My ex and I have a daughter which he has every Sunday.

 

 

He drives a car which I don't know is in his name

but its not a cheap vehicle (brand new its approx £115,000)!!

All this and he doesn't pay maintenance either.

 

 

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO GET MY FATHERS MONEY BACK?

Do I have to go through solicitors or can I do a claim on my fathers behalf myself?

 

I look forward to receiving advice and happy to provide more info if required.

[martin2006]

Alarm bells are ringing already in my ears!!

 

First thing to ask yourself is this, you say he doesnt pay any maintenance, so what makes you think that even if you won a case against him, he would repay the debt?

 

Im not trying to be negative, just need to think about what the outcome might be if the claim is successful

[Cazz2269]

You're spot on! I know I can't force him to pay the money back but even if I could put a CCJ or something against his name that would affect his credit or something... would be better than doing nothing.

 

I don't see your comment as negative at all. Trust me I've thought this through but short of committing a crime by causing damage to his personal property (which I wouldn't) I feel that I should try and do something rather than just shrugging and saying hey ho...he owed my dad over £9k and I didn't do anything about it.

[martin2006]

Ok so you dont need a solicitor or anything to get moving with this.

 

Electoral records would be a good place to start, publicly available in your local library unless he opted otherwise.

 

Send a letter before action to his last known address, or his parents address, sometimes gets a good reponse!

[AndyOrch]

" My ex and I have a daughter which he has every Sunday."

 

And you dont know where he resides...is this access a court arrangement ?

 

Andy

[BankFodder]

Ok so you dont need a solicitor or anything to get moving with this.

 

Electoral records would be a good place to start, publicly available in your local library unless he opted otherwise.

 

Send a letter before action to his last known address, or his parents address, sometimes gets a good reponse!

 

I'm sorry but I disagree with using an LBA as merely a threat to provoke a response.

 

You should only threaten court action when you are ready to take it and you intended to follow through - not before.

 

You must get all the information you can about him, his whereabouts, his car, his other assets, his bank account etc.

 

You should only start moving forward on this once you have identified an asset which you can process against.

 

It is worth taking your time and carrying out careful preparation.

Get the number of the car and start making enquiries fro the DVLA as to the name and address of the owner. This might be a useful start.