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Original poster

What's the largest amount of money you've lost from lending?

26 replies

mouldyhousemouldylife · 24/05/2019 19:02

Just inspired by the fact I've been waiting for under £50 for the past month. Four excuses later tells me I'm not getting it.

I'm sure others will have lost much more, what happened?

OP posts:
spiderlight · 24/05/2019 19:35

£200. Friend who lives at the opposite end of the country and was having an awful time couldn't pay her rent. I sent her the money and a week or so later she was declared bankrupt. I had to sign something to say I'd write off the debt, but she swore she'd pay me back as soon as she got back on her feet. Unfortunately she never did get back on her feet and it must be about 12 years now - she drifted out of touch and I've long since written it off.

IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece · 24/05/2019 19:41

£2k.

I was young and fucking stupid. It still gives me the rage occasionally

rslsys · 24/05/2019 21:24

£14K

Rufusthebewilderedreindeer · 24/05/2019 21:26

Ive lent someone in the family 3k...which we should get back eventually

And 2k which i will never get back

HerRoyalNotness · 24/05/2019 21:27

5k. Started off at 10k (was for a car we said they could pay off interest free). For some reason they decided they didn’t want to pay the rest of it. Then it got “stolen” and burnt out. We didn’t see any of the insurance money, fair enough they’d need it to buy a car. But no, decided to use it for a wedding now renewal with white dress, bridesmaids and party because they didn’t have a wedding when they first wed. Which we didn’t get invited to. Bit awkward when it’s your BIL.

GrandmaSharksDentures · 24/05/2019 22:30

£60 - think I got off lightly...! Although she did recently "invite" by to be a guarantor for a loan for her. I declined

CatsMother66 · 25/05/2019 00:15

£7K to ex Sil. Spendaholic who told me they were in big trouble and as DB was too proud to ask for help, could I give the money to her and she would give it to DH saying she’d taken out a loan for him. Well DB never got the money and within the fortnight she had a new car! The saga continued and I gave her another £2.5K over the years so £9.5K in total.

OldAndWornOut · 25/05/2019 00:28

£600 I can ill afford.
Still, they're off on holiday this month, so it seems they've found the cash for that.

BlueCornishPixie · 25/05/2019 00:33

Cats why did you give her another 2.5k after she'd already nicked your original 5k Shock that's madness!

I think mines probably only about 20. I wouldn't ever lend someone money I couldn't afford to lose, the only person would be to my brother in dire situations (and i'd still go in with the view I might not get it back). I don't have enough money to lend much more anyway Grin

DramaRamaLlama · 25/05/2019 00:40

A couple of thousand. Family. I strongly suspected I'd not get it back and I didn't. When a second loan was requested I declined.

MrTumblePulledAKnifeOnMe · 25/05/2019 00:50

£18k 😭😭😭

OneRingToRuleThemAll · 25/05/2019 04:42

Nothing from lending. But I 'lost' £32k when exH racked up loads of debt and it reduced our marital assets on divorce.

Cailleach · 25/05/2019 04:51

£600 for a friend to mend her roof. Never got it back. First and last time I leant money out.

Sweetdisposition91 · 25/05/2019 05:43

£1500 to an ex boyfriend. Never getting it back - lesson learnt!

CatsMother66 · 25/05/2019 12:24

BlueCornishPixie its a long story. DB and SIL were separated, four kids involved who mostly lived with DB. Loads of debt and tremendous pressure on DB, self employed working everyday with no hols who we were all worried about health wise. It wasn’t done lightly but it was the best solution at the time and took a bit of pressure of DB.
I had just sold my house to move in with DH and so had the money to give. I fully accepted that I would never see it again!!
5 years later, post divorce, my brother looks happy and healthy again and his lovely girlfriend has confided in me that he would never have coped without my help, therefore it was worth every penny. x

BlueCornishPixie · 25/05/2019 16:16

Fair enough Cats sounds like you did the right thing, glad everything is better for your DB now!

CurcubitaPepo · 25/05/2019 16:51

@CatsMother66 that’s a very good way of looking at it. Seems like the right thing to do.

The most I lost was £80. Was a student living in a house share. I rented at tv from radio rentals (back in the day!) and everyone was supposed to pay me monthly. Except one. This built up and then he buggered off. Lesson learned.

SquatBetty · 25/05/2019 18:16

£3k from a very risky investment years ago (so not lending as such). But I was also young and stupid.

ZippyBungleandGeorge · 25/05/2019 18:21

I don't think I've ever loaned money and not had it back. I'd not thought about it before. I have been asked for small amounts as loans before (£20 etc) and just said no if I didn't have it, or just gave it without the need to repay if I did, unless it was DB who had his card cloned when we were early twenties and it was just until he could get to an actual bank the next day. I've never been asked to loan anyone more than £50.

Praiseyou · 25/05/2019 19:20

Lending money is a thing I only see on MN.

I have never asked or been asked for a lend. I would find it excruciatingly embarassing to ask my friend for a loan.

OldAndWornOut · 25/05/2019 19:46

It's excruciating to ask people to pay back, too.
I knew this before I gave someone a loan, and I'm kicking myself now.

Mum2jenny · 25/05/2019 19:49

About £400, although when I lent it, I didn't really expect it back and didn't receive it.

And I'd do it again, for the right reasons ( my decision, obviously!!).

Fluffycloudland77 · 25/05/2019 19:58

We’ve been asked for money, we declined.

If we’d loaned it we wouldn’t have been able to afford our house.

3boysandabump · 25/05/2019 20:03

£30 and I've never lent anybody a single penny ever since

Peacocking · 25/05/2019 20:04

A friend lost 55k to a boyfriend who just needed it short term during a house sale/purchase. Was never heard from again. Turned out to have conned a whole string of lonely women.