I split with my ex last year after 4 years. We didnt live together, partly because i never wanted that (i said from the very start) and also because my teen daughter couldnt stand him. We bought a campervan together, I invested £7k. When we split I wanted to sell but he wanted to keep it and i assumed he'd give me my money back.
He had done some work on my house while we were together. At the start I gave him £100 a day until he told me to stop and he would do some sat mornings instead. He did a great job, there's no denying it and he was never out of pocket for materials.
He said after we split he expected me to offer the van as a thanks for doing the work and if I had he would have paid me the full amount back. As I didn't offer, he was only going to pay me half. He's paid me £2750 so far.
I see this as an injustice, he's dictating what's happening and I don't have a say. I just can't seem to let it go and would like £5k back and let him keep £2k as goodwill. I feel that's more fair.
There is emotional stuff too. He was an alpha angry ex army man when I met him but I encouraged him to seek therapy, introduced him to good people, music and festivals - he ended up more of a hippy and much happier in himself. He was often very angry with me that i didnt love him enough, accused me of having an attachment disorder and went completely ballistic when I said we should end yelling all kinds of horrible shit. I was the love of his life apparantly, brought out the best and worst of him. Six weeks later and he's off with a hippy chick loving life and I'm left feeling broken nearly a year later with no notion of looking for someone else, I don't think I can do relationships now.
I'm not a woman scorned, I felt so much relief when we ended, I was very unhappy for a long while, the criticism was a lot. I'd love to be happy for him and just let this go but I'm actually scared of him, despite the new hippy persona he's still intimidating. We know the same people now, his gf does too but if I saw him out I'd go home.
I want a total of £5k back and would give him £2k as good will, i see that as fair. He's not replied to my message saying this.
I wish I could write it off but I can't get the injustice out of my head. I think mostly because there was no discussion, he just told me what was happening, I don't think that was right.
Do I take him to the small claims court and ask for the full amount? Or is that a stressful drawn out process? Am I likely to win?
I really wish I could just let it go but I can't.