'Putting it in writing'

[amistillsexy]

Can anyone with any legal understanding know if an email trail is classed as having the same standing, legally, as a signed letter (ie. a paper copy of the information 'in writing'?).

The situation I am in is that I have emailed someone asking for her to repay me some money she owes me. She has emailed back saying she wil pay me, but can I 'put it in writing' and sign it, then she will sign it and keep it for her own records.
I believe that if I asked for the money by email, and she replied that she would pay me, then that email trail plus the record of the payment being made out of the business account should be sufficient.

I think she's just being difficult, and that if she wants it 'in writing', then she should bloody well write to me , but I'm willling to be told I'm wrong (by you lot, but not by her! )

If she's acknowledged the debt in an email then that is enough to rely on.

However it can do no harm for you to write a letter if she wants that.

Thanks for your reply, Mendi.

I thought that too, and if she wants a copy she can print it out.

I've sent her a letter through the post, but she'll now have to sign it, and return it to me, so that I can have a copy for my records too .

Hi amistillsexy,

I am brand new here and just browsing. I saw your post and you have your admission in the emails as long as neither email is 'without prejudice' (i.e. privileged).

In the absence of this statement, the email exchange has the same legal standing as traditional mail (unless the other party can prove they did not produce the email response; burden of proof is on them if you have a previous exchange recorded).

How did you reply?

In all honesty, this reeks of an ignorant stalling tactic...you have your admission (technically).

Hope it all works out

Certainly the more documents confirming it the better so having a signed letter rather than an email which perhaps her cat or son sent is extremely helpful although not essential. Also it depends what the thing says - some documents must be on paper and signed. Sounds like this is some kind of loan rather than complex guarantee so email may be okay but get it in writing too.

Absolutely agree Xenia; you can never have too much evidence.

Yes, Xenia, it was a loan. She is certainly stalling, 2Retts (thanks for delurking for me ). I have an email trail now, where she has repeatedly insisted she has it 'in writing' (I posted the letter a while ago, but it's been a Bank Holiday).
She is definately stalling. She has now emailed to say she has recieved the letter, and has written to me to let me know what she wants me to do next. It's like being in a spy movie!
You are right, Xenia, that you can never have enough evidence. i shall bear that in mind as I jump through her hoops, and ensure I get evidence of my own collated, so that I can walk away without this issue coming back to bite me in the bum!

2Retts, would you mind explaining what is meant by 'without prejudice' (i.e. privileged)? I've seen 'without prejudice' written on documents before, but I don't really undertsand what it means, or when it might be used.

Amistillsexy, I wouldn't worry too much about without prejudice/privilege. If a letter/email is w/p it means you can't show it to a judge to rely on as evidence of the debt. Correspondence doesn't have to be actually marked 'without prejudice' to be without prejudice - the basic rule is just that if the content of the communication is genuinely aimed at settling the dispute, then it will be w/p. So, for instance if she was saying 'I know I owe you £5k but I can only afford to pay you £50 a week, so I offer to do that instead of paying £5k in one go', then that might be w/p.

Here, it sounds as though your correspondence so far is just establishing the debt, so very unlikely to be w/p.

Frankly if you are both unrepresented (by lawyers) and the correspondence isn't marked w/p, it is unlikely to come up as an issue.

I would add that you seem to be being very nice, and mention 'jumping through her hoops'. Why? If she owes you and it is a clear cut undisputed debt, YOU run HER, not the other way round. How much is the debt? She has now acknowledged it. You do not have to wait and take whatever she feels like offering. If the debt is more than £750 you can start bankruptcy proceedings by serving her with a statutory demand for the debt. You have to be careful to follow the rules about service and in brief, ideally you need to serve it personally, i.e. it needs to be given it to her rather than posted, and given by someone other than you. There is a lot of info online about stat. demands - just make sure you look at the rules for demands on an individual rather than a company.

I won't go into all the detail here in case the debt is less than £750 but in brief if a stat. demand is effectively served, the debt is not disputed (she would struggle to say it is disputed later if she has already acknowledged it), and the debtor does not have a genuine cross-claim (e.g. she owes you £5k but you owe her £6k), then after a short time you can present a bankruptcy petition against her.

Really you should have a solicitor do it all for you if you intended to rely on the demand to present a bankruptcy petition, as you would not want there to be any defects in the content or service of the demand. However, I would consider possibly just giving her a stat. demand to show you mean business. None of this 'jumping through her hoops'!

I agree with all that above. Good advice from Mendi.
If it's your mother then you may well not want to get her declared bankrupt but if it's a friend who could clearly afford to pay you might want to get on with getting the sum paid. For example she may be able to afford £100 a month repayments.

You can also go to moneyclaimsonline, register and sue someone. If she does not defend it you can then send in bailiffs once you win a judgment. They can seize her TV, car etc although much much better if you can just start getting repayments back from her amicably.

Thanks for all the advice.. The sum is less than £750 and is undisputed. The only dispute is how and when she will pay it.

Thankfully, it's not my mother!

I have today recieved her acknowledgement of my letter (in writing!), and so I can procede.

Thanks for all your advice.

When you loaned it to her did you and she agree when it would be paid back?

No, Xenia, but it was kind of time limited in another way. I can't really go into any more detail than that.
Anyway, it's been paid back today.
We have everything in writing, and signed in triplicate .
I am very relieved that it's all over, and I'll be much ore careful who I trust in future!

Thanks for all your advice.

I'm so glad you managed to reach a successful conclusion without it all getting messy amistillsexy...well done.

That's good news.
The old English saying - never a borrower nor a lender be or the advice never to lend to friends is probably wise for the future.