Statutory Demand issued by family member

[LolaBee]

Hi everyone,

Hoping you may be able to reassure me in a rather horrible situation.

Without going into too much of the drama, a direct family member gifted me with £10k. This was not given personally but paid directly to various companies. There was then a separate loan agreement made due to extra funds being required and these terms were laid out in writing. Subsequently, an argument has occurred. The agreed loan has been fully paid but the family member is now demanding that the gift needs to be paid back as well and has issued a statutory demand. Families, huh?!

The person is claiming that they changed the mind regarding the gift at the time of it being given and added it to the loan, and that this was done so verbally. However, I have in writing the agreement of the loan and it was never included. I also have in writing the individual deciding to claim back the gift as part of the argument, which was about 18 months after the gift was given. These are all emails.

Am I right in thinking that this gift cannot be claimed back and that legally I am ok?

When applying to have the demand set aside, do I have to include all the evidence (such as emails) with my statement?

Can the court immediately set aside the demand either way with no further hearings? This person is violent (I have had to call the police previously) and I do not want to have to face them in court.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, I am very upset and stressed over the situation. My aim is to provide the courts with enough information in the hope that it is set aside straight away. Unfortunately time is not on my side (didn't see demand over Christmas) and I am unable to speak to a solicitor until Monday.

[EXC]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

I'll give [MENTION=2]Celestine[/MENTION] and [MENTION=6]Amethyst[/MENTION] a shout for you.

[LolaBee]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

Thank you!

[Diana M]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

What is the date on the Statutory Demand?

Di

[LolaBee]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

It's dated 22nd Dec, received 24th or 27th

[Amethyst]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

Oh goodness, how horrid for you. A statutory demand isn't a suitable process for a disputed claim so once you have had it set aside the claimant would need to go through the county court system if they wanted to keep trying to claim this money from you. It sounds like you have enough evidence to demonstrate the money was a gift and there was no agreement to repay - certainly enough to show the claim is disputed and this isn't suitable for the stat demand process. ( see para 27 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2007/1998.html for a bit of back up on that)

Have they put much detail of their claim on the stat demand ? (ie anything you need to counter - eg is the date of the 'verbal agreement' before the date of the written agreement etc). There's no need to drown them in the entire history just need to demonstrate that the debt isn't suitable for the stat demand process ie is in dispute for substantial reasons ( ie it was a gift/ the separate loan agreement is settled in full etc)

You have 18 days from service of the demand to get your set aside application in so you should be okay if you can see your solicitor and get the set aside in before Wednesday ( working on worst case scenario that it was served on the 24th )

[LolaBee]

Re: Statutory Demand issued by family member

Thank you for your reply, Amethyst.

I am surprised at this route too, I was expecting a county court claim so I have been caught on the back foot slightly. Only relieved I didn't open it before Christmas now, which I am guessing was their delightful aim.

They have included the statement of loan repayments, which is not in dispute. They have given a fair bit of pointless personal arguments and waffle (I feel for the poor solicitor having to write it out) but little in the way of detail. Their claim states the initial amount was a gift, they changed their mind for various reasons and verbally made it clear it was due to repaid but nothing was made in writing. However, I have a spreadsheet written by them stating the schedule of payments and agreed repayment amount - it even states the initial £10k as their "original liability" and is deducted from the total repayment amount. Will this alone be enough to show the demand is in enough dispute to be set aside?

I want to ensure I have collated all the correct evidence in time for the solicitor as I don't want to have to go through all my emails or rake over a load of unnecessary personal rubbish. Stewing over the weekend is also not an ideal situation! Thank you so much for your help, it is greatly appreciated x