Good afternoon bingo1155-ga and thank you for posting your question.
I am getting ready to head out of town for the 4th of July weekend her
in the States and wanted to post this answer before I left.
I hope you will find the following information useful in answering
your question, "...Is there anything I can do to either get my money
back legally from him..."
In the UK, Small Claims Court is for claims for £5,000 or less. You
can only issue a claim in the High Court if your claim is for more
than £15,000. Since you claim he owes you £65,000, you would have to
sue him in a higher court.
Most people involved in court actions acting for themselves will
choose to issue in a county court.
County Court address:
( http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/ )
= = = = = = = = = = =
FORMS FOR FILING A CLAIM:
To begin your own claim for monies owed, you need to fill out a claim
form, which you can find at:
( http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n1_eng.pdf )
- OR -
You can make a claim online by visiting (
https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp )
You cannot use the online claim service if you are a minor (under the
age of 18), a child or patient within Part 21 of the Civil Procedure
Rules or are being legally assisted within the meaning of the Legal
Aid Act 1988.
Along with this form, you will need the Defendant?s Notes for
Guidance, which you can find at:
( http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/defend_claim/n1c.htm )
You can claim interest on the money the defendant owes you. To see
the details of how to calculate interest, please visit:
( http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/howclaim/interest.htm )
= = = = = = = = = =
FILING FEE:
The filing fee is quite high, however, considerably less than what a
lawyer would charge. For your case, in which you are seeking the owed
sum of £65,000, if I understand the fee schedule correctly, the filing
fee would be £700.
Source: Her Majesty?s Court Service ? County Court Fees
(http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm )
= = = = = = = = = =
WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FORM:
Once you have filled in the Form N1, you need to send it and a copy of
the Defendant?s Notes for Guidance to the court along with a copy for
each defendant you are claiming from. Be sure to keep a copy for
yourself.
After the forms are completed, the court will send a 'response pack'
to the defendant by first class mail. The response pack contains an
admission form, a defense form, and an acknowledgment of service.
These are the forms which the defendant can use to reply to your
claim.
The Defendant then has14 days after the defendant receives your claim
forms. You must wait until after this date before you can take any
action.
= = = = = = = = = =
WHAT TO DO IF THE CLAIM FORMS ARE NOT SERVED:
If the claim forms are returned by the Post Office, you will be sent a
Form N216 (notice of non-service) telling you the reason why the Post
Office returned the documents. It will also give you the steps that
you must take to serve the claim form yourself including different
ways your claim can be served.
*NOTE* - The claim form must be served on the defendant WITHIN FOUR
MONTHS of the date it was issued. This date will be on the Form N205
(notice of issue) given or sent to you when your claim was issued. If
you need longer than four months, you must apply for an extension of
time before the four-month period ends; however, you may have to pay
another fee.
= = = = = = = = = =
WHAT TO DO IF THE DEFENDANT DOES NOT RESPOND:
If the defendant does not reply to your claim, you can ask the court
to enter judgment 'by default'. that simply means the court will make
an order that the defendant pay you the amount you have claimed
because no reply has been received. You should do this as soon as
possible after the 14 days have passed. Until the court receives your
request to enter judgment, the defendant can still reply to your
claim. If the court receives the defendant's reply before your
request, that reply will have priority even though it has been filed
late.
If you do not request judgment within six months of the end of the
period for filing a defendant your claim will be 'stayed' (stopped or
halted) and the only action you could take would be to apply to a
judge for an order lifting the stay.
= = = = = = = = = =
WHAT TO DO IF THE DEFENDANT DOES NOT PAY:
If the defendant does not pay, it is up to you to ask the court to
take further action, called 'enforcing the judgment'. THE COURT WILL
NOT DO ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ASK IT TO.
Information on the different ways you can try to enforce the judgment
is available in the guidance on Enforcing Judgment, found at:
( http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/enforcement/index.htm )
Please be aware that you may have to pay another fee, however, the
court will add this fee to the money the defendant already owes you.
= = = = = = = = = = =
LOCATING THE DEFENDANT:
Locating your individual can be hard to do, but not impossible. One
of the techniques I use in conducting skip searches is pretty easy to
do and a lot of times produce results. Of course, I live in the US so
I don?t know how the mail system in the UK works but if they forward
mail the same way, you can certainly try this:
Mail an empty envelope with the subject's last known address and a
return address. On the envelope write:
DO NOT FORWARD. ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
After a week or so, you will receive the envelope back to the return
address you specified with a yellow sticker on the envelope containing
the forwarding address your subject filed with the post office. Of
course, there is always the possibility that your subject did not file
a change of address.
I am also listing a directory of private investigators located in the
UK that might be able to help you in locating the person who owes you
money.
Association of British Investigators is a searchable database of
private investigators
( http://www.theabi.org.uk/directory.htm )
French Private Investigators:
France - Private Investigators and Private Investigation Agencies
( http://www.einvestigator.com/pi_directory/france.htm )
Switzerland - Private Investigators:
Association of British Investigators:
( http://www.theabi.org.uk/switzerl.htm )
= = = = = = = = = = =
LEGAL ADVICE:
For more legal advise, please refer to one of the following links:
Advice Guide is a public information website that has notes on a wide
range of legal subjects.
( http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/ )
Citizens Advice Bureaux is a UK wide directory of offices where you
may be able to get some free legal advice.
( http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ )
Just Ask is a legal advice portal run by the Legal Services Commission
( http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/index.jsp )
Law Society (England & Wales) is a searchable database of legal firms
and solicitors
( http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law )
Law Society (Scotland) is a searchable database of legal firms and solicitors
( http://www.lawscot.org.uk/ )
Law Society (Northern Ireland) is a searchable database of legal firms
and solicitors
( http://www.lawsoc-ni.org/ )
= = = = = = = = = = =
I hope this answers your question. If I have wrongly assumed you're
in the UK, I'll clarify for you depending on your place of residence.
Nenna-GA
Google Researcher
Google Search Terms:
UK Court
France Private Investigators
Switzerland Private Investigators
Private Investigators UK
UK Money Collections |
