What would you do

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paulineh

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Back in Feb I moved a so called friends horse to my yard because she had lost her job She had the horse on loan from another friend. She assured me that it would be only for 2-4 weeks. She also agreed to pay me livery.

The horse is an AA standing about 16hh.

When I went to pick him up she told me that his passport had been packed up with her other things and sent to her parents home (This is where she was saying while looking for a new job)so no passport to travel the horse.

After a number of reminders she said she had sent me the livery money and his passport.two weeks later there was still no money or passport.

I had 2-3 more txt messages saying that she would send me the livery money. I gave her my bank details so she could transfer the money, this she did but only a small amount (Not the full amount).

The owner contacted me about the horse and we arranged for a passport to be issue and also re vaccinate the horse, as we were not sure if this had been done.

I sent her a few more txt's but never a reply.

After about 8 weeks the owner decided to come and collect her horse.

As the upkeep was the responsibility of the first person I am now owed a large amount of money (Livery)

When I collected the horse originally I was given all the tack and rugs (Which I still have)

I sent the first person a recorded letter (Which I know was signed for)but still no reply or contact at all.

What would you do about recovering the livery money.

Along with a new passport and vaccinations (Which the owner paid for) we had the horses feet trimmed.
 
Ouch...some people! Thank goodness the original owner has the horse back!

This happened at one of the yards I was in...YO withheld the tack to cover costs, she had to sell saddle in the end...from what you've said this would not cover costs though!
 
I'm not sure of the legal route but any chance his real owner might cover it? A similar thing happened to a friend, she loaned out her horse, loanee lost job & dumped horse on yard owners, owing quite a bit for livery. My friend was so grateful the yo's had taken care of him well, (was on diy) she paid the outstanding bill when she collected him.
 
Couldn't work out who owns the rugs and tack from that post. If it is your friend, sell it.

Could you get a solicitor to send her a stern letter that may prompt her into some payment?

If not, think yourself lucky she has gone! My dad's friend let a livery rack up £2k of livery when she got divorced (Crazy I know!) and has finally kicked her off when she announced she was buying another horse (at £2k!).
 
Are you a member of BHS? If not then join tomorrow, their legal helpline will be more than worth the membership fee to you.
 
Do you want to hold out any hope of salvaging this friendship? If you do, then there isn't a whole lot you can do to make her pay up other than keep asking, ask her family if you have any contact with them, etc. If you don't, its reasonably easy to issue a court application for recovery of the money under the small claims track, which you can do online now. A strong letter before action from you or a solicitor should be sent first setting out the full amount claimed, what it is for and how it is broken down and giving her a time to respond before you issue a claim. This may prompt her to sort it out without court proceedings.

If you have legal cover with BHS/other membership, or on any of your household or car policies, then you should be able to discuss this with a professional for free first. If it is her tack that you are holding, don't sell it on without either her consent first or a court order as that will not help legally.
 
She is not really a friend so I'm not bothered.

She was sent an invoice with it all in.

I am about to send her a letter to say that I will take her to the Small Claims court or sell her saddle. I am also sending her mother a letter explaining the situation.

As I have all her things even thoses things she has not collected. I will do something with them (To my advantage)

I have enough rubbish of my own let alone all her stuff
 
Establish ownership of tack and rugs. If its the loaner, sell them. If it's the owner, you have no right to do so, obviously.

Pursue livery from loaner. The owner has no obligation to pay anything towards livery.
 
cinnamontoast

That is what I am doing. The owner had nothing with the horse,even bought their own head collar to collect it.

Everything I have on my yard belongs to the loanee, including a cheque book (which I found in the grooming kit) also the loanee said she had not got so could not give me anything when I collected the horse.

The lettersI have written were all regestered and to be signed for. They have arrived at the correct place and hgave ben signed for.
 
paulineh said:
As the upkeep was the responsibility of the first person I am now owed a large amount of money (Livery)

When I collected the horse originally I was given all the tack and rugs (Which I still have)

QUOTE]

i think your answer is there.... you are owed money, you have her tack and rugs simples :rolleyes: send a letter recorded delivery saying something allong the lines of:
dear ______
i am writing to notify you that i will be selling your tack and other possesions that have been left on my yard (adress) in leu of livery and care of the horse that you stabled on my premesis (description of horse)
you have 1/2/3 weeks/days from today (date)to come forward with a payment of (amount she owes) or your possesions will be sold and any remaining money will be claimed on the grounds of the touble caused/will be given back to you.
contact me by eaither of these methods (number/email/letter include adress)
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Just me being nosey, but how was she going to pay you livery (presumably full livery?) if she had no job...?

Is it possible that there has been a misunderstanding and that actually that person thought you were giving free livery?
 
paulineh said:
She is not really a friend so I'm not bothered.

She was sent an invoice with it all in.

I am about to send her a letter to say that I will take her to the Small Claims court or sell her saddle. I am also sending her mother a letter explaining the situation.

As I have all her things even thoses things she has not collected. I will do something with them (To my advantage)

I have enough rubbish of my own let alone all her stuff
Click to expand...

Why would you send her mother a letter about it all? I mean, what on earth has it got to do with her? Or is your friend under 18yrs?

Do the tack and rugs belong to the owner or your friend?

If the friend is under 18yrs (only reason I can think you'd be writing to her mother too) then any livery agreement is likely to be totally void - 16 in Scotland I *think*... If the friend is a minor, you could be on dodgy legal grounds selling the tack/rugs if they belong to her...

If she's of majority and they are hers, yes, you can probably sell them to recoup some costs but I'd get legal advice regarding notification and time scales...

But how did you expect her to pay livery if she had no job? :confused:
 
She is an adult.

About paying livery.

She wanted to have the horse in my area as she was looking for a job here. If she had taken the horse up to where her mother lives she would have had to pay livery up there. So livery charges would have to have been payed anyway and I'm sure a livery yard would not have stod for not being payed.

Livery charges were agreed before I took the horse. What did she expect ,that I kept the horse for nothing all through the winter.

I have four of my own plus a very good friend's horse (on livery) I wished I had never taken the horse now.

The rugs and tack belong to the so called friend. When the owner came to collect the horse they bought their own head collar .

The so called friend has a number of rugs,a saddle and two bridles, a grooming kit and a number of other things in a big box. All cluttering up my tack room(which is not very big) the saddle is at home as I do not want it stolen .
 
Whereas you are clearly entitled to expect payment, having agreed livery charges, I personally would be inclined to forget rental charges and ask for a reduced amount to reflect actual costs incurred. This person could be genuinely unable to afford the fees.
 
I would be inclined to ask her family politely if everything is okay with missing person...she may be in hospital and relatives signed for her post! Then you could let her family know the situation gently either way - it isn't their fault, after all. Maybe she hasn't told them about the horse or her finances?
 
felixlight said:
Whereas you are clearly entitled to expect payment, having agreed livery charges, I personally would be inclined to forget rental charges and ask for a reduced amount to reflect actual costs incurred. This person could be genuinely unable to afford the fees.
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I think she has probably got into financial difficulty, too.

Legal advice and take it from there.
 
Arizahn said:
I would be inclined to ask her family politely if everything is okay with missing person...she may be in hospital and relatives signed for her post! Then you could let her family know the situation gently either way - it isn't their fault, after all. Maybe she hasn't told them about the horse or her finances?
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Same here. With any luck her parents might give her the boot up the backside she needs or even, if they feel benelovent, to pay you what is due. After all to ignore all contact is rude and ignorant and I personally would like to know the reason behind someone not paying me what was decided upon so at least I could either make some allowances or raise Holy stink about it. The longer she ignores it the worse it will be and the OP will fester the longer this goes on (at least I know I would!)

Good luck OP, hope you get it sorted and your money too.
 
I would simply take her to the small claims court and see what happens.
You can do this on-line.
If you get a positive court judgment then she is obliged to pay you back which she may or may not do.
If she does not pay you back then you can go back to the courts and ask for the money to be deducted from her future salary (a bit a month) etc.
Be aware that you may still have problems getting money from her. If someone has no money then they can not pay! If they don't want to pay then they can still fail to pay you.
However the court judgment will show up on any credit search.
 
Just wanted to add - well done to you for looking after the horse though. I know you are in a bad position now but I'm a firm believer in kalma ! what goes around comes around
 
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