A loan between friends is still a loan. Speak to Kestrel.
Money you handed over is recoverable if it was a loan rather than a gift, and the evidence usually already exists: the bank transfer, the messages around it, any part-repayments. The route is a formal letter before claim, then the small claims court if needed. You have six years, and the process is designed for ordinary people, not just lawyers.
The whole case turns on one question: loan or gift. Courts look at what was said and done at the time, not what anyone claims later. A transfer with 'loan' in the reference, messages discussing paying it back, a part-repayment, or the sheer size of the sum against your means all point the same way.
If no repayment date was ever agreed, the law treats the money as repayable on demand. Your formal demand starts the clock, so even a loose family arrangement becomes an enforceable debt once you ask for it back in writing.
For a debt against an individual, the pre-action protocol gives them 30 days to respond to a letter before claim, with a reply form and an invitation to propose instalments. Ignoring the letter counts against them later, and most people do not ignore it.
Guide edition: August 2026. General information for England and Wales. Current law and your particular facts require assessment before action.
Bank statements showing the transfer, the messages before and after, and any repayments made. Screenshots are fine; keep the originals.
A formal letter setting out the loan, the sum outstanding and a deadline, with the protocol reply form. This alone resolves many family and friend loans.
No response or a refusal: issue the claim online. Under £10,000 it goes to the small claims track, where hearings are short and informal.
The court can order payment in full or by instalments. If they still will not pay, enforcement options follow, and a judgment sits on their credit record.
Tell Kestrel what happened. The AI legal assistant gathers the facts and prepares a summary for you to check. Request lawyer review from your Legal Centre.
Speak to Kestrel nowSix years from when repayment fell due. If no date was agreed, the six years generally runs from your demand, and a part-payment or written acknowledgement can restart it.
This guide concerns Money & debt recovery. It forms part of our reference library. Kestrel is preparing for SRA authorisation. See practice details for the proposed service and current availability.
Yes, though it is harder. Withdrawals matching the loan, messages referring to it and any repayments become your evidence. Courts decide on the balance of probabilities, not certainty.
That is the standard defence, and it is judged on the evidence from the time. People rarely discuss repayment terms for a gift, and rarely repay part of one.
A formal letter is serious but civil, and it often clears the fog that months of awkward hints created. It also shows you are ready to follow through, which is usually what produces the repayment plan.
A judgment can be paid by affordable instalments and is enforceable for years, so it protects your position while they get back on their feet. Lending more hope against no plan protects nothing.
Start with the AI legal assistant, then follow the case, messages and lawyer review in your Legal Centre.
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