Court claim from ex relatives

[Vitesse]

Hi, hoping to get some advice please.

I got divorced a few years ago and the ex inlaws turned nasty against me, leading me to block thier numbers from calling me, no contact in over a year

While married they gave my ex some money which she said they told her they were giving her but if she had it now she wouldnt have as much when they were gone, and that they would do the same for her brother in their will

During the divorce things got messy, poloce were involved at times and i was advised to record any bad arguements, during one conversation my ex said they wanted the money back, i said it was never a loan and she repeated 'well they gave me the money now they want it back' i asked when it was ever discussed as a loan and she couldnt answer, i have the recording of this

During the divorce settlememt the ex had it written into the settlement, my solicitor said it was clearly a gift and if there was no evidnce of a loan it should be removed form the comsent order, which was not contested and was removed from the documents

I recieved a MCOL claim a few months ago, from the ex inlaws, saying they lent us money to buy our house

I sent a defence stating i had never had a discussuion with them to borrow money, I have never taken a loan from them and that the house was purched using equity fomr sale of previous property plus additional mortgage borrowing (for which i have solicitors completion statement), also that i have had no contact with them in over a year

The next letter was the directions questionnaire, on this it advised that mediation was encouraged, so i ticked the box

I now have a mediation appoinment but is says I have to agree negotiate and compromise? How can I negotiate when I never borrwed any money? It also says I have to agree that i have enough information and require no more evidence, there has been no evidence sent to me (as there is none)

Any help or advise on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

[Vitesse]

Copy of letter

[des8]

So don't bother with mediation.

If there is no evidence of a loan they will have difficulty proving their claim

[Vitesse]

Thanks, however in the initial letter it said it may harm my defence if i do not agree to go through mediation?

[des8]

Notice the word "may"
The form is standard for all claims.
If you dispute the totality of the claim because you never borrowed money, presumably you will not be prepared to negotiate the amount to be repaid. (I wouldn't)
Also you have not been given any evidence.
Two reasons why mediation is not suitable as per that letter

[Vitesse]

Thanks, they called yesterday and confirmed it was not suitable for mediation

How far from the original claim can they deviate? The original statement clearly said they lent the money to buy the house, but I have the completion statement from the purchse that states it was covered in full from equity and mortgage, no other loans used, isnt this enough to get the claim cancelled?

[des8]

Based on the information you have posted it appears they have no proof of a loan to you.
However they may have bank records which indicate a payment to you/your ex/or both which they may claim was a loan for assisting in house purchase, albeit indirectly.
Whether or not a judge will believe such a scenario its impossible to say.

[Vitesse]

Thanks, it is worrying though that anyone can fabricate a claim for any money given in the hope they can persuade a judge that it was a loan? Is the law that vague that no evidence is required?

[des8]

Evidence is required from both parties.
It is submitted in the form of a witness statement

[Vitesse]

Hi, so, the mediation service called me to discuss and said that as I was disputing the loan it was not suitable for mediation (as this is only if willing to compromise on the value of claim)

i have now recieved the letter attached, 'Notice of transfer of proceedings' can someone advise please. It says it will be referred to the claimants court but I asked for it to be transferred to a court nearer to me (which it said in a previous letter i could ask for)

Does that mean I have to travel 150 miles to their court or will the re-allocate it to the court near me?

Thanks in advance

[Vitesse]

Also, for info, below is the defence I sent back originally -

I did not take out a loan from the claimant in xxxxx 20xx
The purchase of xxxx was made in full from the proceeds of the sale of a previous property together with a xxx mortgage, no loans were used
I have never been part of any discussion or arrangement of a loan with the claimant
I can have no responsibility to repay a 'loan' I did not take out
I have had no communication with the claimants in over a year

Does this sound reasonable as a defence?

[des8]

CPR26. 2A (https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...l/rules/part26) is clear that the case should be allocated to the defendants local court.
Write to court requesting transfer to your desired location

As for your defence, no comment as haven't seen the particulars of claim

[Vitesse]

Thank you DES8, the particulars of the claim are -

"On the date of the loan march 2018 we made a loan of £xxx pounds to the defendant for the purchase of a property jointly held the address of which was xxxxxxx
It was agreed at the time between us, the defendant and wife that the loan would be repaid on the sale of the property
The property was sold on xxxxx following that sale the defendants x-wife (our daughter) has repaid xxxx it was clear that the defendant himself had the responsibility to pay the balance himself
The defendant has not repaid the xxxx in spite of many reminders"

That is what I was sending my defence for as I have never asked them for any money or a loan. Also during the divorce my ex's solicitor included the paragraph attached below (quoting money 'given') in an initial letter, my solicitors reply is in the other attachment, as no written advice was ever done for the gift so it did not go any further in the divorce consent order, neither did the financial consent order detail anything about an outstanding loan - as there wasn't one


Any further advice would be hugely appreciated

Thank you again

[des8]

There's not much more to be said.

You will eventually have to submit your witness statement, so it might e worth starting to draft it now.
Saves panicking later!

As there appears to be no evidence of a loan (and the claimants need to convince the court there was a loan) IMO things look favourable for you

[Vitesse]

Thanks for that, so would the statement be a combination of the points I have put above, or is there a preferred way of presenting it?