When a 'friend' does a runner with your money

Energize said:
Never lend money with the expectation of getting it back. Cause of all the worlds problems.
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Very true. And another rule to live by: never ever lend money to friends. Im not talking about the odd £5. But never ever big numbers. Just dont ever mix friends & ££££.
 
JonJ678 said:
He was a close friend. He's buggered off with £600. Let it go- the guy's clearly not having a great time at the moment. Sending debt collectors after him, whether via small claims or not, seems a very cruel thing to do.
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Remind him occasionally, if you get the chance but basically ..... write it off and learn your lesson.

He MAY pay you back eventually but who knows .....be kind and learn from this.

You are a good person and he's in trouble (there but for the grace of God) so write it off and move on..... and hope he's an honourable guy in the long run.
 
ring some other "friends" to go round and "warn" him, that not paying it back will be seriously bad for his health..

Other than doing that I'd just forget it and move on, never enter into another conversation with the tea wat
 
HAz said:
Wow he dumps all of his friends over £600 what a scum loser.
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More likely down to guilt/embarrassment over the realisation he's not in a position to pay it back when he said he would. My opinion anyway, given how close the OP was to him. I doubt people would knowingly sacrifice a good friendship for such a relatively small amount of money.

Pride, it's a powerful emotion. Still, it's no excuse for that kind of behaviour. A good friend would come cap in hand to explain him or herself, then set the expectation of when it could be paid back.

Alternatively he could have spent it all on smack and is currently tripping balls in a Japanese family's rec room.
 
As the more knowledgable people have said in this thread, take him to small claims court.

As long as you have his address (to get the paperwork served) you are ok to go ahead with it.

Just remember that you need to send him 2 letters (make it recorded delivery to ensure he gets them) where you give him sufficient notice of your intention and some time for him to pay you back. He will not pay you back of course, but that will make a world of a difference in the magistrates decision making process, as it will prove he is guilty by not responding and you will prove you did everything possible to retrieve your money before resorting to the small claims court.

You will get to recoup your court fees as well through it.

If he still doesn't pay you have a number of options, such as CCJs and even taking the money from his bank account etc.

Do not let it go, the cost for the SMC is about £50-£75, so it's worth a try.
 
Dj_Jestar said:
Permanently depriving the OP of the cash.. theft in anyway you look at it.

edit: snappish..

He dishonestly acquired the money by falsely agreeing to repay, and has now done a runner. Theft.
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Its not theft and never in a million years could you ever prove it to be theft. How can you prove he ever had the intent to deprive the owner from the start. The money was leant on the basis of an informal loan agreement. The money was handed over willingly therefore negating the crime of theft. If anything its fraud however again proving that is another matter. S

peaking from a Police point of view if I was sent to an incident like this I'd say exactly what I've just said, perhaps give the guy a call so as to try and scare him into giving it back. Failing that give as much advice as possible and let them deal with it as a civil matter.

You could always just give the police a call, it may get filtered by the call centre however you might end up with a couple of decent coppers that might give you some good advice or be willing to call the guy. Unfortunately more of then than not the police can't do a great deal in these situations.
 
My take on it is only lend money you dont mind losing completely, take it on the chin and accept its gone, if he turns up with your money then great, if not you've found out that he was a waste of space and £600 quid is cheap in the long run.

KaHn
 
More hassle than it is worth to follow it up. Would just chalk it up to experience and try not to lend anyone money again - unless you really have to AND can afford not to get it back.

Why take the stress for £600?
 
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