There are very few people or businesses that don't need to borrow money at some point.

Traditionally banks, building societies and credit unions would be the source of funds and the products they offered would require the borrower to agree to various terms and charges. However, this tradition is changing with borrowers frequently now looking towards family, friends and business partners as a loan source.

In fact Aviva's Family Finances Report found that loans from family members or friends had overtaken overdrafts as a source of debt held by 18 to 35 year olds.

Loaning money to someone in need can often be of great help to them. Especially if they are unable to gain credit elsewhere and it avoids them incurring high charges that are associated with payday or doorstep loans.

While you may trust the borrower, be able to afford to lend the money, and have every confidence that you'll be paid back, you should still formalise the arrangement with a written loan agreement.

Most loans between family, friends and even business acquaintances are made informally and without anything in writing. While this is less than ideal from a legal standpoint, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have no legal options should a debtor decide not to pay you back (see our guide on being owed money without a contract or agreement).

But having something in writing is almost always better than having nothing, so drawing up a loan agreement is the way to go.

A loan agreement doesn't have to be a lengthy or overly complex document but having down on paper what the lender and borrower have agreed will provide protection should the worst happen and the borrower defaults (doesn’t pay back) on the loan.

A starting point in creating a loan contract is to first have an open and frank discussion with the borrower about how and when you want to be paid back. There’s little point in dictating a payment schedule that's unachievable from the outset and both parties need to be comfortable with any arrangement. For example, you may consider:

• If the loan is to start a business, when is the business expected to be profitable to start paying back the loan?
• If a loan is to pay debts or bills, what is currently being paid off per month and how much can realistically be afforded?
• If a loan is to make a purchase, will it be shared or used by another person? Should they also be added as a borrower and responsible for the repayment?

When you've agreed the amount, how repayments are to be made and the length of the loan, you then need to discuss what happens if things go wrong. Can the borrower accept the potential legal consequences and costs if they can't make the payments?

If at any point you are struggling to find common ground on what the contract should contain, you may need to reconsider lending the money at all. As differing positions at the outset could be an early sign of a potential dispute.

However, if all terms and conditions have been agreed it is time to get them down on paper, ensuring some key legal clauses are included.

At this junction it's also worth considering if you should seek legal advice from a solicitor who can take your agreed instructions and professionally draft the document for you.
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​Parties Involved
At the very start of the agreement you should record the full name, address and contact details of the lender and the borrower. If there are multiple lenders and borrowers, all these should be detailed.

Amount to be Loaned
Clearly specify the amount that is being loaned, and to avoid any doubt or potential for error also record the amount in words as you would on a cheque. I.e.

£9,980.50 (nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty pounds and fifty pence)

Term of Loan
Define a period that the amount is being loaned over and when it needs to be paid back by. Even if you don't have a specific date or timeframe in mind, you should always specify a term (48 months) or a date (by 1 January 2022) when the loan should be fully paid back by.

Ideally this term needs to be no more than five and a half years from the date the loan is made to ensure that the debt doesn't become statute barred if you ever need to take legal action to recover your loan.
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Governing Law
The agreement should specify what law and jurisdiction it comes under (e.g. English Law, England and Wales). This will be important should legal proceedings ever be required.

Signatures
The agreement must be signed by both parties and ideally witnessed by an independent person.
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Once the agreement is drafted you should print two copies, sign them and each party keep one. Only when the agreement is signed should you then actually make the loan which ideally should be via cheque or bank transfer so that you have a record.
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All this may seem a little daunting, especially if your loan involves a significant amount or you are unfamiliar with the best way to execute the transaction. So, if you are in any doubt consider instructing a solicitor to draft your loan agreement to protect your position and provide piece of mind. 
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Being a business owner means that making agreements and signing contracts can be a regular occurrence. These formal agreements protect your business and ensure that suppliers, business partners and even customers uphold their end of the contract.

The clauses these contracts form the backbone of a business's operations, covering the supply of goods, delivery of services, timeframes for completion and when payments are due. As such not complying with any of the conditions in a contract will often lead to a dispute.

When a party fails to fulfil the terms and conditions in a written agreement, without a lawful or valid excuse, this is referred to as a breach of contract and you must decide how to deal with the breaking of the agreement.

But before you start filling out the court forms, a first step in dealing with a breach is to formally advise the other party with written notice, known as a 'Letter of Claim' or 'Letter Before Action'.

A Letter Before Action is the starting point of many forms of civil legal proceedings and basically sets out your legal claim. It's important to keep in mind that while a Letter Before Action is the first step in taking formal action, it should be the last step in trying to deal with the issue informally.

Calling in lawyers and involving the court at the first inkling of a problem usually won't be helpful. If an aspect of a contract hasn't been complied with or is outstanding, then a polite (but firm) enquiry to the other party on the reason and how they intend to resolve the should be your first act. 

Then if informal discussions don't start the process to resolve the issue, sending a Letter Before Action is often a low-cost route to opening a dialogue with the other side to achieve a resolution.
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Background and context
The letter should start by referencing the specific contract or agreement that has been breached, when it came into force and what it covers. You shouldn't assume that the person who deals with the letter is aware of the existing business relationship and that an agreement in place.

Circumstances and facts
Briefly explain what has occurred and how it is considered to be a breach of the agreement. Ideally point to a specific obligation or clause in the contract and how this obligation hasn't been met. If the failure has resulted in a loss or damage that can be calculated, then this should also be included.

Remedy and resolution 
State how the breach can be remedied and how the matter can be resolved to your satisfaction. This resolution will be down to the type of agreement and specifics of the breach, but could involve immediate payment of an outstanding amount, the return of a supplied product, cancelling of a service/contract or a monetary payment to cover a loss.

Timeframe and response
A reasonable period should be given for the other party to comply or at least acknowledge and respond to the letter. A timeframe of at least 14 days would be a minimum, and you also need to comply with any reasonable requests for additional information.

Consequences and legal action 
Finally, the whole point of the Letter Before Action is to set out your claim and place the other party on notice that a failure to act could lead to you starting legal proceedings. This should be stated in the letter along with highlighting that you will also be looking to recover any additional costs that are involved with court action from them as well.
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Before starting down the path of court action, it's always advisable to seek some initial legal advice. While the breach may be an obvious one, a contract dispute lawyer will be able to advise you on your prospects, how any damages would be calculated and what legal proceedings may cost.

Importantly they can also draft your Letter Before Action ensuring it accurately represents your claim and that it complies with the court's Civil Procedure Rules and Pre-action Protocols.

A well-researched and professionally drafted Letter Before Action is your best chance of achieving an early and cost-effective resolution to a contract dispute, so it's well worth getting a solicitor involved from the outset.
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When you are owed money, hindsight can be a wonderful thing.

All too often in the rush to complete a business transaction or lending money to a friend in need, you won't think to put in place a legally binding agreement that formalises the arrangement beforehand. After all, you have every intention of holding up your end of the deal and so assume the other party will too.

But if payment doesn't happen and your deal starts turning into a dispute over what is owed, you may need to consider what legal avenues are open to you to get your money back.

The success of any legal action will then depend on what evidence you can provide to show that the debt is owed.

Yes, but the 'burden of proof' will be on you as the Claimant to show that the amount you are claiming is due. Court should be your last resort in attempting to recover your money and so you should be confident that you have a strong case, sufficient evidence and follow the set pre-action procedure prior to issuing a claim (e.g. sending a letter before action, attempting mediation etc.)

Ultimately the decision on who owes what will be down to a judge's ruling based on:

1. The applicable law (i.e. breach of contract)
2. The evidence that you can provide
3. The evidence supplied by the defendant/debtor
4. The balance of probabilities

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In the absence of a written contract or agreement being in place, there are various other pieces of information that you may be able to secure which can provide evidence that the money is due.

Bounced cheque or returned direct debit
While the use of cheques is diminishing, hundreds of millions of cheques are still issued every year. If your debtor has sent you a cheque that bounced or agreed to a direct debit that has been returned, it is often all the evidence that you need to prove a debt is owed.

In law a cheque is considered a 'promise to pay' and so can be used as a clear admission that money is due.

Unpaid invoices
Most businesses use invoices to request payment so providing copies and proof of them being issued to a customer or supplier will go a long way in proving that a debt is owed, even if they aren’t directly attached to Terms of Business or a contract.

Furthermore, if you provided regular statements of the amounts owed and showing overdue, then these will also be useful evidence.

Evidence of chasing debts
Once a payment is overdue you will have hopefully contacted the person or company to chase the debt.

Emails, letters, texts or messages exchanged on social media (Facebook, Twitter etc.) can all be used to help prove a debt is owed and overdue.

If the other party has responded to you apologising or asking for more time, then this admission will be extremely valuable in proving that they don't dispute that they actually owe the debt. So, it's important that you save or screenshot these messages in the event they are needed.

Loaned money without a contract
Without an I.O.U. or a loan agreement in place, proving that money provided to someone was a loan that needs to be repaid can be difficult. This is because often money given to friends or family is considered a gift and so isn't required to be paid back.

Enforcing a verbal agreement that money is owed will hinge around providing evidence to show that the cash was transferred as a loan along with any repayments e.g.

• A bank statement showing a transfer or cheque to the person's bank account
• Repayments received into your account that stopped
• Your account history that large cash gifts are not made to the person on a regular basis
• Evidence of your income, outgoings and savings showing it's unlikely that you could afford to give the amount as a gift

Witnesses to the arrangement
When little or no documentation exists to prove a debt, having an independent witness to a verbal contract can be invaluable.

For example - with a business transaction, did an employee take the order over the phone, deliver goods or perform a service where payment was verbally agreed with the customer? If money was lent to a friend, was another person present to witness the agreement of how/when they were going to pay you back?

But even if an independent witness isn't available, you as a claimant can also present your version of events to the court in a written witness statement. Any witnesses may then need to attend court should the claim go all the way to a hearing.
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Without a written agreement, there should still be plenty of information that you can pull together to prove what you are owed. However, if the other party disputes the amount, or that any debt is owed at all, then you may have a fight on your hands that needs to be settled in court.
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It will then be down to the evidence you can gather and how your claim is pleaded to convince a judge that you are entitled to the money owed in the absence of a legally binding written contract. So, obtaining legal advice on the evidence needed for a debt recovery claim and your prospects should be your starting point.
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