I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

[Mike Y]

Hi everyone

I am in quite a predicament. 2 years ago I sold a couple who were really close friends a van for their dog breeding business, As I had found the van to be not suitable for my needs and had bought another van.

We agreed a price of £2500 they paid £1000 immediately however despite
numerous requests for the outstanding amount and numerous promises by them to pay we are still waiting. We have fallen on quite hard times and I am now of the impression they have no intention of paying the £1500 owed. They have stopped socialising with us and never email txt or call like they used to.

How do I go about legally requesting payment or the van back? What is my legal position?

Any help is much appreciated

Cheers Mike

[Amy]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

How far have you taken this? Have you sued them for repayment?

[Mike Y]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

I have not taken any action apart from calling at their house and asking them when they are going to pay but they just keep saying in a couple of months.

Now when I call at their house they pretend they are not at home and do not answer the door, they also do not answer the telephone either. This is my first step towards taking legal steps.

Mike

[seduraed]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

do you by any chance have anyhting in writing , a receipt stating that the £1000 was a part payment . I think you can take then to the small claims court without too much cost .

However I would write to them making a formal demand to pay and giving them 28 days to apy. I would then send a further letter before action which states unless they pay by x date you will take them to court .
Then Go to court . You should win .

If you have legal advice atttached to your home insurance policy it might be worth a claim to them .
Whatever you do do it in writing and keep copies , deliver all the post personally or better get it signed for .

I'm sure someone more knowledgable will be along shortly to help.

[Guest]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

The first step is a formal letter before action. This sets out what you want to be paid and what your next steps will be should they still fail to pay you. Typically you should give fourteen days to pay, but given that you have been waiting some considerable time already, you may choose to reduce this to seven days. There are plenty of examples of such letters on the site.

Once you have sent them this and provided that they have not paid, you may issue a claim against them in your local County Court. This is sometimes called the Small Claims Court. You may do this online or by post, or in person at the court. There is a simple form to complete, which can be downloaded and printed, or should you choose to file your claim online, you should visit MCOL - Money Claim Online - Welcome

Once filed, they have a certain amount of time to either defend the claim, admit it and pay it, or admit part of it. Should they choose to defend it, they will have to file a defence to your claim.

If they do not pay, or successfully defend and, based on what you have written, it is difficult to see how they could have any defence to the claim, then you will have obtained a County Court Judgment against them and they will be ordered by the Court to pay you the amount of your claim, plus interest and costs. This order may take one of several forms although the most common of which will be either a "forthwith order" or an "instalment order."

At this point you will need to enforce the judgment, because they may still choose to ignore the order and there is nothing the court will do without you driving your claim forward.

You may do this in a number of ways, some of the most effective are set out below.

Obtain a Warrant of Execution.
Seek a Third Party Debt Order.
Seek a Charging Order.
Seek an Attachment of Earngins.
Issue a Statutory Demand.

By far the most effective and indeed the cheapest for you, is to issue a Statutory Demand. This only works once the debt is crystallised however, which it would be, if you have obtained a county court judgment. This gives them 21 days to pay, or you can follow with a bankruptcy petition.

[Mike Y]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Thanks for the replies.

Would there be any way of demanding the money owed or taking the van off them as I think the threat of loosing the van might put more pressure on them to pay, as they invested £1200 in fitting the van out as a dog van with cages weeks after getting the van.

Cheers Mike

[ioan]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Sorry to slightly bump this thread but I'm in a virtually identical situation and like the OP want to know if there is any way of refunding and repossessing the vehicle?

I too don't think they have any intention of paying, they already have CCJs and don't work so I think my chances of getting a payment larger than a few quid a week is slim to none.

Thanks

[Amy]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Post #5 details what you need to do.

[ioan]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Thanks for the reply

However I'm concerned that since they have no (proveable - but different story) income then any attachment of earnings or orders to pay installments will be ineffective so would prefer to regain the item. If it is removed by bailiffs would I get it back?

[Amy]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Do you own the vehicle?

[ioan]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

I don't know, that was my question to you

I've taken part payment for it, it was collected from premises while I was away (which I was unhappy about but didn't make much fuss as I thought I was getting the balance at the time) and the V5 has been applied for by them. Is it mine until full payment is made? Or by not making a complaint about it being removed have I admitted it's not mine?

[WendyB]

Re: I sold my friend a car. 2yrs ago Still waiting for balance payment

Ioan, can you start a new thread, then detail exactly what has happened, from the beginning, please? I'm sorry but it doesn't make much sense tome.

Who did you sell the car to?
When?
What arrangement did you make for payment?
Did you know they were going to take the car?

etc etc.

Once we have a clear picture we may be ale to advise further.