Thank you. I'll make sure he reads this & will post any updates.

The debt was for a laptop that he purchased on a business account. They never invoiced him for it, though.

I can't believe nobody here is unable to help someone who actually admits they are in the wrong & wants to fix it before baliffs are involved. I'm sorry if I'm being a impatient here, but my mate really could use the advice. Thanks

Hi, A friend of mine has just recieved a letter from the Northampton County Court, which is a Notice of issue of warrant of execution issued on behalf of Viking direct / Office depot international. He recieved the letter on Sat 10th May (it was dated the 8th May) & it states that he needs to pay the amount due (£700) before Monday 13th May, otherwise bailiff's may remove goods. Obviously he doesn't have £700 to pay this in full, but he has stated to me, that he can pay £80 a week as a minimum (he'd pay extra as & when he could to clear the debt). How does he go about putting this forward to viking direct or the court. He genuinely forgot that he the owed the money as no invoice's were ever sent. As I said before he is willing to pay what's owed & doesn't want to get the CCJ? Thanks

The ANPR van's rarely utilise the insurance Database. They also tend to ignore the DVLA no tax (as most people have renewed the VEL by the time the list is updated). Your insurance details are normally only checked if you have hit against another Database. The process is as follows: VRM is read & sent immediately to the Police National Computer where it is checked for anything illegal. (known drug dealer etc). It's also checked against any lists that are stored on the van. The local check is instant & the PNC check follows within a few seconds, but only if there is any relevant information. (ie you carry weapons or you are under surveilence or your a dealer etc). It does not just alert if your insurance details aren't held. A lot of the hits are recorded for statistical analysis rather then for pulling people over for minor issues.

How can I fnd out when the last payment was made if I don't have the paperwork anymore? Will Marlin give me the account / statement & other relevant information easily? Should I just send Letter 'M' or should I wait & send a letter requesting the details first? What is meant by the term "No Contact"? The reason I ask is that letters have been sent to my parents address previously a few (aprox 4) years ago, but I never saw them. Would that still be construed as contact?

I'm going to see if I can find any paperwork regarding this to see when any payments were last made. I think the payments may have been made by a paying in book (not my idea). The termination was with direct car finance as they agreed to take the car back & said that was it. I believe Credit Acceptance was then trying to chase us up. Eventually they passed this to a debt recovery agent who wrote to me at my mothers address. My step father told them where to go & that they did not know where I was living, (which was true at the time.) I presume they then passed the debt on to Marlin. Is it worth trying to get any of the account details first so that I can ensure it definately has been more then 6 years since they have recieved any form of payment or should I just send the 'M' letter & hope! I will definately take your advice about not signing or the acknowledging. Thanks

Unfortunately I didn't get anything in writing confirming it was terminated. Is it worth sending a letter of dispute as well as the letter 'M' from the link. Thanks BTW the company who sent the card was Marlin dca.

Hi, I have a little problem & hope someone may be able to offer advice. A few years ago (sometime in 2000 / 2001), I got a car on finance with my partner through direct car finance / Credit Acceptance. This is one of those companies that sits you in the office all day trying to get as much credit for you as they can & then show you a few cars that you can have in your credit range. Anyway we ended up with a Citroen Xantia, which was a pile of rubbish. after a few weeks we found the brakes were defective, suspension was knackered & steering wasn't right. We also believed the car to be a cut & shut due to the paint not matching in the door arch. We went back & complained as the car was supposed to have been MOT'd when we got it & obviously it wouldn't pass one with these faults. I believe they had a local garage just write one up. They accepted the car back agreed to terminate the agreement. There was no offer to repair or exchange the vehicle & I probably wouldn't have accepted those choices if they had been given. As far as we were aware this was the end of the issue. However today I recieved a card through the post, with the wording "Message Express Dept" & a phone & Ref number. I stupidly called to find out what it was about & they explained that they were acting on behalf of Credit Acceptance to chase the debt of (almost) £4000. I explained that the car had gone back & why & that I didn't know anything about the debt. They told me that the debt was for the interest as we had voluntarily cancelled the credit agreement, which meant we were still liable to pay. I have split up from the girl I was with at the time & don't have any contact details for her. I was told by the agency that I would have to pay the full debt as they had been unable to contact her & in order for us to split it we would need a solicitor involved to agree that both of us pay half. After explaining that the car wasn't fit for purpose & that it was possibly a cut & shut. The woman I spoke to checked through some notes on the account & stated it had mentioned problems with the brakes / steering etc. She reccomended that I write a letter explaining that I dispute the debt. I would very much apreciate it if someone could tell me what I should put in this letter. Any advice on where I may stand legally would also be a great help. I spoke to my step father today & he advised that they may end up writing off the debt as they will not want to go to court as this would look bad on the company who sold the car originally. Please help!