Aibu to go to small claims court for £2,000

[iwantmymoney]

I lent a “friend” £2,000 2 years ago and they agreed to pay me back after a couple of months but I still haven’t received anything since then. Every time I asked I was told “I will give you soon”. These days though, I just get blanked, no response to my messages, just nothing.
Now I know £2k isn’t a lot of money to a lot of people but it is to me. This has obviously affected our friendship hence the inverted commas when I say friend. I don’t know what else to do. Wibu to take my “friend” to small claims court over £2k? Is it too little that the court won’t hear it or will hear it but after fees I will be left with nothing anyway? If you’ve gone through similar, please share your experiences.

Not sure how to edit the poll but question is,
AIBU to take my friend to small claims court over £2k?
Responses - YABU, it’s not worth doing for such a small amount, or,
YANBU - if you can’t resolve this amicably, that’s what courts are for!

It costs 80 quid. You claim the debt plus 10%.... This covers the court costs in your case.. I am a cleaner.. An ex customer owes me £1200... Wish I had the balls to take her to court... She works a top job and would likely lie she didn't owe me anything.. Bitch..

I think you should use the small claims court. You may not be the only person she has done this to.

Yes do it, I'm not sure she can be forced to pay, but she will get a ccj if she dosent.
Don't lend money to people.

Did she agree to pay you back in writing, email etc or was it verbal?

I’ve done small claims court successfully and it is quite straightforward and not expensive - but do you have proof of the loan? Mine was a business matter so there was paperwork but not sure how it would work without that. Maybe a bank statement?

I took an ex to the small claims court for £700, so I’d say it’s not petty at all! It’s all done online and very straightforward. They’ll be sent a copy of your claim, the date they need to pay it by and an explanation of the consequences if they fail to repay you. It only ends up in a ‘real’ court that you’d need to attend if they dispute it. You need to be able to show a timeline of the debt not being repaid, which from your description you have with all the instances of them not responding to you.

I took my ex to small claims and won for the £1250 he stole from the joint account - was worth doing for me as it was another extension of his abuse towards me. The telling off he got from the judge was worth more than the money lol.

It’s not easy. Have you got written confirmation that it was a loan - email, text messages?? If not it will be very difficult/impossible.
You can claim back the loan plus interest and court fees but you have to follow the procedures to the T - letter before action etc.

Yes but put some time and effort into the form. Make it clear what the agreed terms were, how you have tried to get it back, enclose a copy of the transfer as proof. If you get an order it doesn’t mean your friend has to pay, you’d need to then enforce it with bailiffs etc but a ccj on their record will affect future credit so hopefully is enough to get them to take you seriously

It’s worth it providing you have proof to back up the loan. I would suggest sending a recorded delivery letter (send electronic copy for good measure) with a deadline date. If this doesn’t prompt payment & you issue a summons (when completing a summons be factual, leave emotion out of it) & are granted a CCJ do not use a Court Bailiff for enforcement, use a High Court Enforcement Agency (can recommend Wilson & Roe). Good luck 🤞

Make sure you send her a formal pre action letter of claim. There are free precedents online and keep proof of postage.

Thank you all so much for your responses. It sounds like it’s worth doing. To those who are asking, I can definitely find the bank statement from when I transferred the cash. The agreement, I can’t remember if it was just verbal or via text but I can try to fish for it in my messages.
I guess my other question is, should I warn her that I’m taking this step and give her the last opportunity (which may also be perceived as a threat) to pay?

Yes, do it. £2,000 is a huge amount to write off and it’s also the principle.
My friend did this and it cost around £75iirc
if she doesn’t pay she then gets a CCJ

Thisbis exactly the sort of thing the small claims court is for

Yes do it so long as you have evidence of the loan, preferably an agreement on paper, WhatsApp or email or at least some reference to it in writing; and a bank statement showing the transfer.
This kind of thing is exactly what the Small Claims court is for, so go for it.

From what I remember Friend sent a notice of action letter first.

Yeah. You should send a 7day warning letter first, wait for her response or lack of, then drop the hammer. Remember to allocate the costs to her as well.

If you don't have proof that it was a loan, there's no point.

Have you actually got evidence of her agreement to pay?

I'm doing this at the moment for work that wasn't finished for same amount.
It's not that l can't afford to loose the money.. it's the principle that the work wasn't finished and was bodged.. but there is a few of us in the same boat with the same cowboys... I'm a disabled pensioner .. so I'm standing up for myself..
Yes I'd go ahead and do it.. " freind" if can't afford it will be made to pay in instalments.. first you must send her a letter of intend .. giving her 14 days to repay before going to small claims court.. Gov Web site will tell you everything you need to know.. also the CAB has advice on theirs. Good luck.

I've been forced to take people to the small claims court too OP. It is straightforward and it worked for me, in that I got back what I was owed. I'd say you have nothing to lose, and to go for it, provided you have the evidence to back up your claim.

If you have texts asking when she will repay it and her replying that she will "give it back soon", that could be proof of intent to pay

Yes I have some texts that I can screenshot to evidence my attempts at recovering the debt. Of course sometimes I would ask verbally but I definitely have something in text. Thank you very much everyone for your help and reassurance that it’s worth doing. The gvt website seems to have a new system and I’ve provisionally entered all the details, super easy. I think I now just need to let her know and give her 7 days to act and if I get nothing, I will press submit.

Sorry I don’t want to hijack but have a question about small
claims court. If someone is paying back anything even a small amount can they still be taken to small claims to amend the amount or is it just to establish liability for the debt then arrange payment ?

Too right its worth doing.
She's a scam artist and no friend.

You should still be able to if you disagree with the amount they're paying. Check with Citizens Advice