UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All,
I have a tenant who has messed we around for some time now and owes a lot of arrears. Why it's gone on this long is a long story and not important...

The original contract was a 12 month AST and the tenants friend signed on as the guarantor. I have done my research and found that I can evict my tenant with a section 8 notice giving only 2 weeks' notice as they owe so much rent on the grounds of 8, 10 and 11. I have served the notice and done it all officially by downloading the template from https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants. The tenant owes (roughly) 9 months worth of rent which is why I can evict them with such short notice. I have TONS of emails and text which show I have been very accommodating and tried to help. Each time we agree a new "term" she breaks it next month and I lower the payments yet again. These new terms have been broken about 5 times and its finally time to get rid.

The parts I am unsure of is the next steps if she does not leave after 2 weeks, which I think is a distinct possibility. I know I must apply for a possession order. However, when I read up on it here https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/standard-possession-orders it says you submit a claim to get them evicted AND claim your arears. But what if they do leave, how do I submit a claim to get my money only? Am I right in saying that there are two paths I can take here depending on whether they stay or not? I just want to make sure I am prepared and have read all the material so I can take the right action when the eviction date has passed.

The other part to this is the guarantor. She is also refusing to pay. Again, when I look at the above links I can't see how (if you can) I can take her to court too to force her to pay. Any advice or experience around this would be greatly appreciated. Btw, the 12 month contract does say that the guarantor is still responsible after the 12 month period so she is still liable I believe.

Thanks!