Unpaid debt coming up to third anniversary

[FlintVending]

I sold some shares in a business I part owned in January 2008.
This transaction was all done propley through solicitors. The other remaining partner bought all my shares but offered me a not insignicant amount of £3300 outside of the written solicitors agreement as an extra final payment when the share tranaction was completed.
none of this extra £3300 has been paid as the other party has claimed he paid too much for my shares and the Business has been badly affected by the recesstion!
Whilst this may very well be the case, I maintain that a deal is a deal and feel somewhat aggrevied!
I have a hand written agreement signed and dated 25/ 01 /2008 by the other party which acknowledges the debt of £3300 to me is still unpaid.
Is it worth going legal with the other party as he said on the phone that he has no intention of paying the debt even though he knows I have a signed agreement.
I am worried because I have heard that if I do not act within three years that I cannot persue the debt via the legal route.
Is this true??

Thanks
Nigel

 

[The Legal Mango Team]

Hi Nigel,

Does the written document say when the £3k it is / was to be paid? Depending on what was said / done at the time and the wording of the written document, it may be that the contract will be made up of more than one source (eg written & oral). As always, any oral terms will be more difficult to prove than the written ones, so you'll have to think about what evidence you can put together to substantiate them.

Our understanding is that you'll have 6 years from the date of breach of the contract (eg when payment failed to be made by the due date) to bring your claim, although the sooner the better - worth checking this out with a solicitor though.

However, rather than worrying about breach of contract claims, have you considered a stautory demand? They can be a useful tool in securing payment of overdue debts (assuming the debtor has the money to pay, which is ultimately the crux of the matter!), but the surrounding facts should be considered carefully before issuing one - we recommend that you seek advice from a solicitor first.

Hope this helps.

We're not a firm of solicitors and the above is intended as general guidance only.