I lived with my ex for almost two years. He was unemployed or unable to cover all his expenses for most of the time. I paid his bills, rent, food, traveling expenses and bought his clothes. We agreed that I it was not a gift and I kept a record of what I lent him either in cash, in the form of paid bills etc. and that he was going to return the money when he is better off. That never happened and we broke up but before he disappeared he signed an un-witnessed loan agreement for 3000, he had 3 years to pay it off. I agreed for him to pay my car insurance to pay some of the money back and after the policy had expired he said he was going to set up a standing order to pay the money back. He didn't and he did not reply to emails or texts either. Now he finally got back to me and originally mentioned paying the money back but suddenly he wants a detailed list of everything that he ever received from me. I had a record but it was lost when my computer died. I sent him a few bank statements which cover about a third of the loan but actually most of it was either in cash or me paying his shares of bills and rent. However, he had signed the agreement and also sent some emails in which he had sounded like he wanted to return the money, only now he seems to have changed his mind and calls the loan "what I think he owes me". I hope he will pay it back but it seems like he is trying to avoid it. So finally my question is: do I stand a chance in small claims court with the loan agreement which summarizes money lent over 2 years in smaller (maybe impossible to track down) amounts and the history of emails about the loan? I would like to avoid court but I also need the money back.

With the loan agreement and the records you kept, I think you have a good chance of winning a judgment against him. But that's less than half the battle. You will then need to find where he works or banks to execute a writ against his salary or assets.