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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to decline £100 per month (small claims court)

82 replies

londonroad · 26/09/2018 11:11

I was sold a dodgy car by a private seller and took him to small claims court which went in my favor. I had to then take him back to court to get a statement about his income etc, as he didn't make any repayments.

He owes me nearly £4000. He has lied on examination (stated he lives alone etc, when i know for a fact he lives with a partner who works)
but officially he has stated his income is £350 per week, and that his outgoings are £2300 per month (clearly this does not add up).
He states he owns a mobile, tv, white goods and a car worth £600.

He has offered to pay me back via direct debit £100 a month.

AIBU to be swaying towards declining this offer?

My other options are bailiffs or freezing his bank account. He says he is self employed so I cannot order deduction of wages.

OP posts:
cathf · 26/09/2018 12:27

To those saying send the bailiffs in, you do realise that they have limited powers and anything the do take will be auctioned off at about 25% of the value? And the OP will have to pay to send them in?
OP, we were in a similar situation and ended up with nothing. We did not send inbailiffs because we were advised by the court that they would have to seize goods to the value of £16,000 to have any chance of getting my £4000 back.
In the end, we did nothing, because all of our options involved spending even more money, with no guarantee of getting anything back.
Honestly, I would maybe press for £200 s month and deal with the situation when the payments stop, if they do.
I know it's bloody annoying and I am still seething about our case 8 years later, but sometimes you the best thing to do is cut your losses, infuriating as it is.

BaronessEllaSaturday · 26/09/2018 12:35

Unfortunately I agree with cathf the bailiffs are unlikely to be the answer. You may be best advised to request a higher monthly amount but if he doesn't care about the ccj there isn't much you can really do.

HeckyPeck · 26/09/2018 12:42

she is also on the electoral roll at their address

Can you contact the court for guidance? I wonder if you could request another court hearing and bring the copy of the electoral role along.

You can also ask the sheriffs office to do a check for any property/vehicles he owns. thesheriffsoffice.com/services/pre-legal-and-tracing/tracing/debtor-tracing

If you can afford to, you could do the bank freezing see what that gets you then go for bailiffs.

I wouldn’t let him get away with it! Someone could have been killed.

Dungeondragon15 · 26/09/2018 12:43

He may well care about getting a CCJ though. I think most people would and he is probably lying about his financial status anyway. OP may not get anything back if she sends in Bailiffs but the threat may be enough to make him pay. I would insist on a downpayment and the rest to be paid back over no more than 18 months,

DarlingNikita · 26/09/2018 12:46

I could get an order for his bank to freeze his account on a certain date each month and transfer a certain amount to me. I'm not 100% on all the details.

Well, if you think he will have money coming into his account then this seems like a good option.

Is there any way to tell anyone (I don't know who) that you know he's lied about living alone and his work status? Surely this is very serious stuff that someone in the justice system would be very interested in hearing about?

Enko · 26/09/2018 12:47

OP post this in legal and see what they suggest to do. Some really good knowledgeable people posting there.

RedneckStumpy · 26/09/2018 12:59

What happened to the car you purchased from him?

I am surprised that courts have the power to do this, I thaught they were a toothless waste of time and money.

cathf · 26/09/2018 13:05

I honestly would not spend a penny more on this. If you got an order to freeze his bank account, what's to stop him emptying the account the day before?
Cut your losses, or you are just throwing good money after bad. How much have you spent so far with no return?

KatieMarieJ · 26/09/2018 13:05

How do you know the person living at the same address isn't his daughter or lodger?

Original poster
londonroad · 26/09/2018 13:12

He referred to her as his gf when we went to his address to buy the car.

The car is in my local garage (write off) collecting a holding fee which they are going to take him to court for. Judge ordered him to collect it via tow truck which of course he hasn't.

OP posts:
Original poster
londonroad · 26/09/2018 13:13

Also in his statement he wrote that no one else lived at the address - no daughter or longer.

OP posts:
CoffeeFountain · 26/09/2018 13:14

If you have any questions r.e. bailiff's - I can answer them as work in the sector.

You are correct in that they can not remove white goods and furniture. We also would not consider removing a vehicle worth £600 however it could be clamped.

RedneckStumpy · 26/09/2018 13:14

So you wrote it off?? And are chasing him for it?

AhoyDelBoy · 26/09/2018 13:16

It literally says in the first line of the OP the car was dodgy Hmm

RedneckStumpy · 26/09/2018 13:21

AhoyDelBoy

I read that, but surely OP checked out the car before buying it, and should have been aware of any serious problem.

Original poster
londonroad · 26/09/2018 13:26

Redneck not sure why you're being shirty - I could post a long detailed account of the sale and the car faults but presumed that people would assume the seller was at fault seeing as the judge found in my favour!

He lied about the car , when I asked him pointed questions. I had proof via text messages that
he had lied and subsequent statements from mechanic I showed in court also. I rejected the car the same evening and he was a complete twat about it and told me to do one basically.
Judge told him he was lucky he wasn't in a criminal court for illegally selling an unroadworthy car. There are laws in place .

OP posts:
PiperPublickOccurrences · 26/09/2018 13:28

You need to get the "can't pay we'll take it away" lot onto it. No excuse for wriggling out of what the court has ordered.

AhoyDelBoy · 26/09/2018 13:29

RedneckStumpy
I did think the same to be fair. I was just wondering why you thought the OP had written off the car?

MyBrexitGoesOnHoliday · 26/09/2018 13:35

I wouldnt accept that.
He is a liar, has made very hard for you to get your money back. He inst going to comply with paying £100 a month for the next 4 years.

If you are sure he isnt living alone and his wages are actually higher than he said, then I wouod go for it.
You can’t rip people off and then think you can get away with not repaying them etc.... Nir shouod he be able to lie in court like this.

RedneckStumpy · 26/09/2018 13:38

RedneckStumpy

Op stated at 13:12 that it was in the garage as a write off.

viques · 26/09/2018 13:39

Unfortunately sending in the bailiffs won't get your money back as he will claim everything is in his partners name, and getting £4K from the sale of someone's household. goods is unlikely.

You need to insist that at least half the debt be repaid immediately and the rest at a rate that clears it within 6 months. Does this guy really want his credit rating to be buggered up for the next six or seven years? He's a fool if he does.

RedneckStumpy · 26/09/2018 13:41

OP, not being shirty at all. There are two sides to every story, and having been in a similar situation to the guy who sold you the car I was just wondering what the issue was with the car.

HeckyPeck · 26/09/2018 13:44

If you got an order to freeze his bank account, what's to stop him emptying the account the day before?

They don’t want people that their bank accounts are going to be frozen luckily so it is worth doing.

The poster who said he’d claim everything was in his partner’s name, he can’t do that for the car, which they could clamp.

HeckyPeck · 26/09/2018 13:45

Judge told him he was lucky he wasn't in a criminal court for illegally selling an unroadworthy car. There are laws in place

Can you report it to the police? (If you haven’t already?) He should be facing criminal charges as he broke the law.

Original poster
londonroad · 26/09/2018 13:48

Redneck I put it in my local garage within 48 hours of the sale and they assessed it and advised me not to drive it. It's been there ever since.

The engine cuts out repeatedly when driving. Every time you slow at a roundabout/junction.
Unfortunately this didn't happen when I test drove it but did happen on the two hour drive home.
The engine idled erratically when I was looking at it at his address, he lied about the fault , said it would be a £80 fix and was the air flow sensor and caused no problems when driving. I had also asked him if there were any issues with the car before I went to look at it and he lied via text. I told him I'd be using it to transport my kids "perfect for that" he said.

When I got home I text him immediately and he then admitted that the engine did cut out when he drove it. But "a sale is a sale" he said.

He actually said in court "well I did use it to drive to work every day and I'm still alive, so."

Judge couldn't believe it. It's illegal to knowingly sell an unroadworthy car without making it known and asking the buyer to tow it and not drive it etc.

He put mine and my children's lives at risk plus other drivers and pedestrians . When engine cuts out you lose power steering, breaks etc.

OP posts:
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