Why would you think I haven't done this already? Why would I guess the car has advisories? Of course I know 100% what the MOT certificate should actually say. I would never have started a thread without knowing this.

the car is a renault megane, 55 plate, 65,000 miles roughly, diesel. The MOT centre have 100% confirmed that this car has 9 advisories, including brake discs, leak in exhaust fumes, 3 issues with tyres, play in steering etc etc. The MOT centre have also 100% confirmed that they have stopped dealing with the garage after 3 complaints of forgery and they have also reported them to trading standards.

I want to really thank you for actually understanding what I mean. It is very infuriating when I am trying to complain t the garage, to trading standards or to the consumer action helpline and I am told that 'advisories are just advisories.' It's about exactly what you say, generating money from deceit, and this will cost m money by next MOT.

Of course I have the original MOT certificate. How would I know otherwise. Like I said, I am in contact with MOT centre, they provided me with a real copy and they have also told me that I have been the 3rd customer who's certificate has been altered in some way. I wouldn't have started this post by guessing, I am 100% sure this car has advisory items which I did not know about at sale.

It's not just an accusation, it's very true. The car garage took the MOT certificate given to them by the MOT centre, they took a blank piece of paper and put it over the advisory items before photocopying it and showing it to me to 'prove' the car had no advisories. I have them on tape recorder then trying to tell me that MOT centres always give out blank certificates first (which is false). The MOT centre have confirmed that is not the certificate that they issued, and have also informed me that they have stopped doing business with that garage as I was the third customer to contact them with a query about a forged document. The MOT centre has since reported them to trading standards and VOSA, as have I. There is a legal obligation for them not to be purposely misleading when selling me goods, and this includes showing me the appropriate and correct paperwork when asked for it surely. I have the fake certificate here right now, and have them admitting, on record, that they gave it to me. There is no trouble that I can get into.

In response to the p.s. post you just made....take a look at your car, is the damage 'deeper'/more pronounced at the back end (as it may be if the head of you car was pointing to the wall and the back end was still sticking out into the road slightly) a garage may be able to confirm this as the most likely story, it might even help to provide photographs of the scene and a very detailled diagram. A lot of the time, the person with the most clear, un-arguable diagram will win. If the other driver has accused you of being on the wrong side of the road, I would question your insurers at how the third party painted this picture, as surely they would have swerved to avoid you, in which case it would have been damage to the head of your car and the side of theirs? Where is the damage on their car?

I hope you gathered the tone of my last reply, that I do not agree with the way insurance companies work! However, unfortunately, the other insurance company are within their right to say that the statement from the other party does not mean much - they did not witness the crash. When you hear people say 'never admit fault' they mostly mean to the police, the insurers etc. Overall, a crash can unsettle anybody, and they may apologise automatically at the scene if that is their nature - even if it was clearly their fault. If this person told their insurers that it was not their fault, then that is what will be recorded. Similarly, you or your partner's statements that you heard the other party admit fault are of no value as you are both bias. I am telling you these things, although they are not very nice to hear, as at the moment it seems like you are focusing on the wrong things - none of these things will help you in this case. You need to be looking for evidence that can be used - CCTV, get a garage to look at your car and see if they can tell the position/speed etc of your car when it was hit. How much is the damage to your car? and how much is the damage to their car?

I took the car and the correct MOT certificate to my usual garage, they have given me a quote to repair the advisories (and the steering lock) and have stated that the total is £1400. However, some of that is for completely new parts (new tyres etc) so I have halved the price I am asking for (£700) in fairness to the garage who sold me the car as I understand that asI bought a used car, I would not expect the parts to be brand new. The other £100 is because they over charged me on the cost we agreed upon (what was written down and what I signed for). I have tried to retrieve this £100 by doing an indemnity claim with my bank. However, my bank will not do this as the only receipt I have for the car is handwritten. The bank will only accept a typed invoice to retrieve the money, so will not be able to get my £100 back (even though they acknowledge that the price signed for and the amount taken differ by £100). I have asked the car garage to type me an invoice but they have refused and are now stating that they changed the cam belt and charged me £100 for it (but they have not done this and this is not recorded on any of my paperwork)

I know what advisories are, it's just that they purposely hid them from me when selling me the car even though I asked them the direct question 'does the car have any advisories?' and they purposely forged a document to back this up. Can anyone honestly say that 9 advisory items would not cause them to bargin for a bit of money off the car? One of the advisory items has now broken completly (steering does not lock) and will cost me a couple of hundred to fix by next year. The car garage keep trying to tell me that they are 'just advisories'. If they are so small and insignificant then why bother trying to hid them and lying when asked about them? That is dishonest and not good business.I want to know the honest answers to questions when I ask them.

Additionally, I have stated that if they give me the £800 for the advisories, I will also forget about the £100 they over charged me. I cannot claim it back from my bank as the garage hand wrote the reciept and are refusing to give me a typed one.

My boyfriend has changed the fuel filter and air fiter and the AA has changed the fuel line (as the pump was broken and I couldn't restart the car when I ran out of fuel). The windscreen cost me £30. The wiring part will cost £1200 plus a big chunk of labour (they reckon about £2000 in total). Additionally, the repairs for the advisorys comes to £1400 for new parts, but I have told the garage I am willing to accept £800 for this as I will get old parts. The car cost £4750 when I bought it.

Hi everyone, I really need advice on this subject as I do not want to make the wrong choice here. I bought a car a few months ago and to cut a long story short, I have found that the the car garage have forged the MOT certificate (not forged by the MOT centre itself, but the garage has put a blank square of paper over the advisory items and photocopied it) showing me the car had no advisories, when it actually had 9. When I got it home I realised it was leaking diesel (which I didn't notice when I picked it up as they kindly left the tank empty for me) and the windscreen had a crack (didn't notice because it was raining). Since then, I have found out the hard way that the fuel gauge was incorrect (they had put the fuel sender in backwards which was causing the leak also) and the car has been kangarooing and bouncing down the road (very expensive wiring fault which has been caused by someone trying to force a part into the car which is not the right one). Now it only drives in limp mode - fabulous! They have also taken £100 more out of my account than agreed. I have reported the garage to everyone - VOSA, DVLA, Citizens advice, trading standards, the MOT centre etc.. and I have written them 3 letters asking them to pay for the repairs to be done elsewhere (I live a 45 min drive from them) and threatening court. They have responded staing they will fix the major problems but will not fix the advisories. Firstly, I do not want them to touch my car as I do not trust them, secondy, why should I accept that I have overpaid for a car I was told was in excellent condition, but later find it has 9 issues that will need addressing soon. Now consumer advice says I have done enough to take them to court but I had better ensure that I have enough proof. My question is: photos of the parts they said they changed (but obviously hadn't), a copy of the forged MOT certificate, an email from the MOT centre stating that they have stopped doing business with the garage as other customers have reported faked MOT's also, a recorded telephone conversation with the salesman yelling at me that I don't understand how MOT's work and all MOT certificates are printed out blank first (that they come in 2 parts and I must have looked at the wrong one when I bought the car - which is not true at all), a conversation with the previous owner who says she traded it in with no problems (to a different garage), a letter from the car garage stating that they charged me £100 extra for a cam belt change (when I have the service reciept which stated all they did was change the brake disc pads and oil filter) - Is this enough to risk taking them to court without giving them the chance to fix the car first, as I do not trust them to fix the car properly or safely! I cannot take the car back here, they are not agreeing to do all of the work i am requesting and I shudder to think of the job they will do. Thanks so much for your replies and experiences

I believe the 6 year rule is this - if the debt is inactive for 6 years then it is erased from your file. I think the issue that you have is that you have been paying it, so i think (don't quote me on this) that the debt will disappear 6 years from the last payment. You can check this by going onto your credit file (like equifax) and selecting the account. It should say a date that this account will be on your file until. The second issue you have is Apex. If egg have passed the debt on under the name apex, then this may start a new marker/creditor name on your file - which will begin a new 6 years. Additionally, this will be the case if the debt is passed to a collector. If a company is not conatcting you and you have the guts to sit and wait it out, then good for you - as even paying them will still mean it will take 6 years + for the bad credit to come off your file. However, if a company is beginning to contact you, I would seriously think about paying as they can take you to court. You could call them and ask for a payment plan. Take a good long look at your credit file to try to get your head around it! Hope this helps?

Whether it was low impact or not, the other driver could still falsly claim for whiplash type injuries (I believe this can be done even after the claim for the accident damage has been settled). You need to be aware of this as if the fault was to go down as a 50/50 split, even if you both agreed to pay for your own damage, he/she could still claim for whiplash. Insurance companies do not bother to look into whether this is a true claim or not as it is easier for them just to pay out. The bottom line is this...if the insurers have no proof that the accident was not your fault, rather than go to court (which will cost them a lot more money if the judge deems 50/50 split or at fault) they will just settle it 50/50 as it is cheaper for them (or they will even admit fault in some cases if they are threatened to be taken to court by the other party insurers). The insurance company have full and final say about what the settlement will be (fault, non fault, 50/50). They will not be swayed by what you want/think. Also, don't get fooled into thinking the insurance companies are concerned about criminal offence either. Look at it this way, if you hit an un-insured driver - you pay! It doesn't matter that he broke the law. All the insurance company is concerned about is proof of fault. If there is no way of prooving fault, and neither of you will cop to it, then they will look to settle 50/50. They end up sharing the cost of the accident between them and both parties lose their no claims! The one thing I would advise you to do is to stop phoning them! It's annoying because you want to have a conversation about your claim, but you won't help yourself in the long run. Contact them by email only - get everything in writing. Then start a complaints procedure against the way your case has been handled. If they don't setlle it (which they won't by the way, as their decision is what it is - you cannot make them take the other party to court) then you can start a complaint to the financial ombudsman. He will take all of the information you have about the case, and all of their information too - then he will decide if they settled the case fairly.