Legal advice/solicitor

[Prez]

Id be grateful for anyone who might be able to point in the right direction on this matter. Long story short, a "friend" owes me over 10k. Its got to the point now where im sick to death of his excuses and ghosting me on texts. He has just escaped a prison sentence after doing an exaggerated VAT return, and claimed HRMC had froze his bank accounts, however 2 week after his court appearance he has continued to as i say "play me"

I do have 3 contracts wrote up (the money was paid in 3 installments by me last year) countless text messages and several witnesses.

I have had a brief look online regarding taking him to court, and possible steps to take, but if anyone has had any first hand experience  and can advise me and/or point me in the direction of a solicitor in the local area, (any free consultation would be bonus! but im willing to pay) i would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks

Martin

[tyke1962]

It might be worth contacting a debt collection agency .

I take the point it will cost money to recover the money owed to you but these people are professional and know the law and have lawful powers to recover the money for you .

[Nudga]

I've had a similar issue, but nowhere near 10k.

A bloke wrote my car off, no insurance and gave me false address.

Found him cleaning his new car so long story short, took him to court and they made him pay me back £5 a month.

After two months he stopped paying so I paid him a visit.
I cleaned him out in his kitchen in front of his wife and kids.
Two weeks later I caught him selling pills in a nightclub so I filled him in again and stole his pills.

Violence sorts what the courts don't.

[Dagenham Rover]

This may help .Gov website   Even at 10k it can be taken to court cost £455 though

https://www.gov.uk/options-if-youre-owed-money

[Colin C No.3]

Sorry prez but I can’t see a ‘good outcome’ for you & your £10k on this being brutally honest.

Seems your ‘good heart’ got conned by a ‘bad un’.

HMRC will have first call on any debt he owes. They have the resources to ‘chase him down’ that you will never have.

It’s a lot of money but, if you can afford to’ write it off’ financially then my advice is to do that for your own sanity.

Sorry to come over so cold hearted but at the end of the day, if you have your health, then life’s too short. As difficult mentally as it might be for you ‘short term’ (relatively speaking), move on my friend.

[Prez]

Cheers guys. The frustrating thing is he lives in Barnsley in house worth over 400k with no mortgage. He was talking about downsizing last summer, but that might be one of his other lies.

[SydneyRover]

Hey Prez a bit late on this one but I've used the courts and mediation to win quite a few times when I haven't received what I paid for or what was advertised or promised. I wouldn't think the systems in  the uk are much different. When an order is made to pay there is usually a deadline if that deadline is missed you notify the court straight away and in my case they just kept loading up the amount with penalties, it's surprising how this works.

If unsure maybe talk to someone at the courts to better understand how things work and the likely success rates.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Was the money lent to him personally, or to a business entity?

[Prez]

It was personally lent to him. He said it was to help his business, but he later admitted that he had robbed Peter to pay Paul.

Sorry for the late reply. I have contacted a solicitor, and have a meeting with them on Friday.

[Glyn_Wigley]

It was personally lent to him. He said it was to help his business, but he later admitted that he had robbed Peter to pay Paul.

Sorry for the late reply. I have contacted a solicitor, and have a meeting with them on Friday.

Right, if he has a business that owes VAT then HMRC would freeze the business bank accounts, not his personal ones, unless he has a sole proprietorship and the business doesn't have limited liability - and even then, the business would have its own accounts separate to his personal bank account. The business will owe VAT, not him.

Even then, HMRC can only freeze a bank account under certain circumstances and only with a court order, which should be a matter of public record somewhere.

The 'frozen bank account' sounds like BS to me.

[Prez]

I appreciate the response Glyn thankyou. It could well be BS because that’s all he ever talks . He has proposed paying me back £500 a week starting Wednesday, however I’ve heard his proposals all before, and nothing has ever materialised. If nothing Wednesday it’s the legal route, as I have said I’ve had a brief discussion with a solicitor already.

Many thanks for all advice.

[Monkcaster_Rover]

If all else fails, get him locked in a room with CLH for 5 minutes. You’ll get 20k back just to get him out of there.


All jokes aside, I hope you get it sorted. The man’s a shit bag for taking advantage of your kind nature.