Small claims :- loan or gift

[BLUEOTTER]

Hi,
wondering if anybody has advice here please, I was gifted a sum of money but the person who gifted it to me has now said it’s a loan. That wasn’t the understanding, I was explicitly told it was a gift to help pay rent. Four months after doing so I had a disagreement with the person concerned which manifested itself in them breaking off what was a very close relationship. They then demanded the gift back. The person concerned is very wealthy but I don’t think that’s the point.
I was quite upset when the friendship finished, our families shared many days out together, Christmas dinners. We have young children who they doted on but that’s all over now. I have many text messages and emails from them thanking me for gifts and me thanking them.

Out of the blue he demanded his money back, said there’d be consequences if I didn’t repay what he now termed a loan. I’m not disputing I received the money but it was a gift. He’s made a small claims case and I’ve defended it, there’s no loan agreement, no mention of loan on the bacs transfer , never any talk of paying it back.

I now find the claim can proceed but they want the judge to decide the case. I’m adamant in my defence, it was never a loan, I was informed it was a gift and no expectation to pay it back. It’s all very sad.
Really need some advice please, do I tick the mediation box , go along with the judge deciding or say I’d like it heard in court. No experience of this and don’t really know what to do. I’ll goto court if needs be, I suspect they don’t want to ad their claim contains minor inaccuracies and they know it wasn’t a loan.
Grateful for any advice please.

[atticus]

Gather together any extraneous evidence that at the time this was a gift. Look for letters, emails, text messages, WhatsApp messages etc. Are there any people present at any conversations about this.

Ttry to make it not just your word against his, but his word against yours plus such other material you can find. You want to give the judge reasons to say that your version is the one that is more likely to be correct.

[BLUEOTTER]

Thank you. I don’t have anything bar a lot of text msgs but I felt my defence was concise and it contained 15 txt msgs between us illustrating a close relationship between our families.
i think my main worry is how do I respond to the questionnaire claim form ? The claimant has ticked the box that they believe it’s suitable for determination without a hearing.
do I accept that a judge can determine both claim and defence and then accept their verdict ? Or should I reply that it’s not suitable for determination without a hearing. ?

I can tick a box seeking mediation but I have nothing to mediate, I’m not accepting it was a loan. They have ticked a box saying no to mediation.
I feel they don’t want to go to court as they know they gifted me the money and I will ask them to tell the truth.
thank you

[dslippy]

Consider whether the 15 text messages are your evidence, and the rest your surrounding evidence.

[BLUEOTTER]

They’re evidence of a very warm hearted relationship on both sides. To my mind they need to prove it was a loan and not a gift. They had opportunity to use the word loan as the bacs reference, opportunity to have some form of agreement, opportunity to set out repayment but then why would they, it was gifted to me with no expectation to pay back.

Hypothetically speaking would think that to be demanding the full amount of money back after 4 months doesn’t imply it’s a loan, more a move out of malice and spite because of a relationship breakdown.
It’s very upsetting to be going through this but I don’t think I should concede that it be determined without a hearing. Believe I should refuse and request a hearing in court as I’m reliant on the truth unless anybody can advise me different.