Loan
£3,200
Personal loans · England & Wales · Small claims under £10,000
Get your money back.
Even without a written contract.
Lent money to a friend, family member or acquaintance who won’t pay you back? A verbal loan is still a binding contract. CourtPilot drafts the letter, the particulars and walks you through Money Claim Online.
We help you prepare the documents and file them yourself — you’re always the claimant on the record. Not a law firm, no legal advice given.
✓ Verbal loans enforceable in court
✓ s.69 interest at 8% recoverable
✓ No solicitor required
£500–£10k typical claim ✓
£500–£10k
Typical personal-loan claim — inside the small-claims track, where the rules favour litigants in person.
6 years
Limitation period for a simple-contract debt under the Limitation Act 1980.
8%
Statutory interest under County Courts Act 1984 s.69 — recoverable from the date the money was due.
Can you take this to court?
Five checks.
If most are yes, you’ve got a claim.
Most personal-loan disputes are about evidence, not law. If you can show a bank transfer plus messages discussing repayment, you’ve usually got more than enough.
1
You lent money to someone who agreed — verbally or in writing — to pay it back.
2
The borrower has missed the agreed repayment date or is now ignoring you.
3
You have some evidence of the loan — bank transfer, messages, or a witness.
4
The amount owed is under £10,000.
5
You’ve asked for the money back at least once and been refused or ignored.
· Eligibility self-check
✓You lent money to someone who agreed — verbally or in writing — to pay it back.
✓The borrower has missed the agreed repayment date or is now ignoring you.
✓You have some evidence of the loan — bank transfer, messages, or a witness.
✓The amount owed is under £10,000.
What CourtPilot drafts for you
Pleaded to your facts.
Not a template.
Generic templates fall over the moment the borrower says “it was a gift”, “I already paid you back”, or “there was never a deadline”. CourtPilot drafts from your transfers, messages and dates.
1
Letter Before Action — Names the loan, the dates, the s.69 interest and the 30-day deadline required by the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.
2
Bank-transfer schedule — Itemised list of transfers with references and dates — the evidence the court will look at first.
3
Particulars of Claim — Pleaded to CPR Part 16 — sets out the agreement, the breach, the sum due and the interest claimed.
4
Witness statement & court bundle — Your version of events, with messages and transfers exhibited — indexed and paginated for the hearing.
9:415G
Re: Repayment of personal loan — £3,200
Dear Mr Atkinson,
I write before issuing a claim in the County Court Money Claims Centre. On 14 May 2025 I transferred £3,200 to your Lloyds account, ref “loan – April”. You agreed in writing on 12 May 2025 to repay this sum by 30 September 2025.
In accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, this letter affords you 30 days to settle…
Repayments
£0
Interest 8%
£21/mo
Deadline
30 days
Download Word doc →
The cost of being heard
Solicitors don’t scale to personal loans.
CourtPilot does.
In the small-claims track, legal costs aren’t recoverable beyond fixed costs. Spending £2,000 in solicitor fees to recover £3,000 isn’t a win.
What a solicitor charges
£1,000–£2,500
Plus their hourly rate after that
Typical solicitor fee for a small-claims debt case — and that’s before hourly extras if it actually goes to a hearing. Not recoverable on the small-claims track.
What CourtPilot charges
£97
One-off · the lot
LBA, particulars, transfer schedule, witness statement, MCOL walkthrough, court bundle. One-off — credited against the £9.97 if you sent the letter first.
What changes
Nothing
You’re still the claimant
Same court, same forms, same procedure. You sign and file. We draft, walk you through MCOL, and produce the bundle.
Pricing, in one breath
£9.97 today. £97 if it goes the distance.
Send the letter first. Most disputes settle once a proper LBA lands. If yours doesn’t, the £9.97 comes off the toolkit — same total either way.
01 · Today
£9.97
Letter Before Action
Drafted from your transfers and messages, names the sum, the s.69 interest and the 30-day deadline. A surprising number of borrowers find the money once a proper LBA lands.
02 · If they don’t settle
£97
£87.03
Upgrade to the full toolkit
MCOL walkthrough, particulars, transfer schedule, witness statement, court bundle, hearing script. £9.97 credited automatically.
03 · Included
Free
Interest calculator
Built in. Drop in the dates and the amount — we produce the running s.69 figure for the LBA and the particulars.
The questions people ask
The bits people always ask.
Can I sue without a written contract?+
Yes. A verbal agreement to lend and repay money is a legally binding contract. Bank transfers, text messages discussing the loan, and witnesses can all prove the agreement existed. A single bank transfer with a reference like “loan” is often strong evidence.
What evidence do I need?+
Bank statements showing the transfer, messages or emails discussing the loan, any written acknowledgement of the debt, and records of any repayment attempts. The court is far more interested in contemporaneous messages than in what either of you say now.
Can I charge interest on money owed?+
Yes. The court can award interest at 8% per year under County Courts Act 1984 s.69 from the date the money was due to be repaid. Always include it in your claim — it quietly tops the figure up.
What if they say it was a gift, not a loan?+
It’s the most common defence. You’ll need to show repayment was expected — messages discussing when they’d pay you back, any partial repayments they made, or witnesses who heard the agreement. CourtPilot drafts the reply addressing this directly.
How long does the process take?+
Most small-claims cases resolve in 3–6 months. Many settle after the borrower receives the Letter Before Action and realises you’re serious. If it does go to a hearing, you’re generally looking at one short session in person or by video.
Two minutes · No card
Find out if your loan is recoverable.
Free case check tells you whether the evidence stacks up, what to value it at including s.69 interest, and the exact next step. No card required.