Advice on taking someone to the Scottish small claims court

[pmjd]

Hello all,

wondered if anyone had any experience, hints or tips about this?

The situation is that an ex owes me £570, as I had to cover her share of the flat we rented together because her work messed up her wages one month. Shortly after this we split up but stayed in the flat and gave notice to move out. She moved out two weeks earlier than I did. I have contacted her via text and email, detailing final bills etc and what she owed me. It's been a month and I have heard nothing from her.

I am going to contact her directly by phone. If she refuses to repay what she owes me I was considering taking her to the small claims court to recover this.

So is this a reasonable course of action to take or am I doomed to fail? What sort of evidence would I need, as we rented the flat together but had no actual contract, though I can get statements from our former joint account indicating we payed all bills equally and sure that our former landlord would confirm it was a joint tenancy.

So folks what do you think I should do?

[batnurse]

Go for it! I've taken three people to the small claims court, two in Scotland and one in England, and won each time. My solicitor advised me to do it years ago, he said people never expect you to go through with it, and often don't even turn up to defend the claim.
The first time I did it was in a similar situation to yours - an ex borrowed £400 off me and refused to give it back when we split up. To cut a long story short... I won, and got £400 costs too. When he still didn't pay I had his wages arrested
The courts make it very easy - check out the website.

Re evidence: From memory, I think the important thing is for her to admit the debt, the onus is then on her to prove she has paid, not on you to prove she hasn't. If I were you I'd sent her a recorded delivery letter, stating all the facts, and giving her a set date to reply. Keep copies of everything. Get witness statements (I had letters from friends and a witness came with me to court).

Best of luck!

[Isis]

£570 is a lot of money and it's the principle of the thing too! I would go for it but go for the recorded delivery letter first as Batnurse suggested. Best to show you tried everything you could to resolve the issue before taking it to Court.

[philsmove]

My 3 experiences ( in England)

1, I took some to to some to court who dropped a ships container on my Portacabin . I won

2. I took someone to court who bounced a cheque , they turned out be a "professional non payer " I gave up, after they used innumerable delay tactics

3. Someone took my company to court, they booked a balloon flight and did not turn up and wanted a refund. we won

Unless you think you ex is a "professional no payer" I would go for it, it's an interesting experience, your evidence seems reasonable

[Martin]

Hello all,

wondered if anyone had any experience, hints or tips about this?

The situation is that an ex owes me £570, as I had to cover her share of the flat we rented together because her work messed up her wages one month. Shortly after this we split up but stayed in the flat and gave notice to move out. She moved out two weeks earlier than I did. I have contacted her via text and email, detailing final bills etc and what she owed me. It's been a month and I have heard nothing from her.

I am going to contact her directly by phone. If she refuses to repay what she owes me I was considering taking her to the small claims court to recover this.

So is this a reasonable course of action to take or am I doomed to fail? What sort of evidence would I need, as we rented the flat together but had no actual contract, though I can get statements from our former joint account indicating we payed all bills equally and sure that our former landlord would confirm it was a joint tenancy.

So folks what do you think I should do?

I am an expert... as I have watched lots of Judge Judy shows...

If 570 was a half share of a months rent, and then you stayed 2 weeks there after she left... Put it down to experience and move on...

Next case...

[ Can you get a hit on her for 570?, or a bit of a roughing up? ]