Thanks for the info, that's what I thought. It was my local branch that said they couldn't give me the breakdown but I have contacted the customer response unit today and the guy there was really helpful. They're going to look into it for me and get back to me later in the week but he did say he wasn't sure how long they kept the info. Let's hope it goes back at least six years - I would expect it will. If I can get the breakdown I'll be able to sort this out once and for all.

I have now spoken with the guy at the legal department. Fortunately he has not yet started court proceedings and has assured me he will not until this has been investigated further. They have not secured any more information than what they had back in 2004. He says the onus is on me to prove I did not in fact receive the original payment. How do I go about getting my bank to give me a breakdown of a credit paid into my account in August 2000? They say they can't but the guy at the insurance company says they have to. Who should I address the letter to - customer services? Or should I give the insurance company the go ahead to contact my bank to see if they can get this info? Any advice gratefully appreciated...

Thanks for the reply - obviously I haven't handled things very well and that's why I've come here for advice. I was actually away staying with family last fortnight so only got the letter yesterday. It was dated 21st September and followed from the original of Sept 1st. I don't know if I did actually receive the original payment. Admittedly it does look likely but as I said my bank are unable to give me a breakdown of that credit paid into my account in September 2000. Yes I have ignored one letter but in 2004 I had fully conversed with the insurance company. Is it okay for them to do this almost two years on from my last correspondence giving them 14 days to sort it out after it had been going on for 10 months? I really don't want to go to court and up until now my credit rating is good. If a CCJ is almost unavoidable once it gets to that stage then I would rather offer weekly payments now. I don't want anything to stand in my way once I get back to work. However, whilst I'm on benefit what is a reasonable weekly payment?

I contacted my insurance company early in 2004 believing a maturity policy of c£900 due in Sept 2000 had not been paid out. Following many letters, phone calls etc I signed a document in Aug 2004 to return the ‘duplicate’ maturity payment (made by bank transfer Aug 2004) if it was revealed the original maturity payment had been encashed by myself. Correspondence continued both ways - I provided bank statements of the time the cheque was apparently cashed and there was a credit paid in on that date but for a much larger amount (redundancy payment). Problem is my bank could never provide me with a breakdown of that credit and I honestly can’t remember if the maturity cheque was part of that amount or not. Contact continued until Jan 2005 when they threatened to pass this over to their legal department. I wrote back to advise that as the matter had been ongoing for over 10 months they had 14 days to sort out this matter once and for all and that I would not enter into any further correspondence from that date. Have never really thought about this any more until last month when I received letter from their legal department requesting return of duplicate payment some 21 months later! Ignored letter but have now received second letter advising they will start County Court proceedings plus additional costs incurred plus interest at 8% pa from August 2004 until judgment or sooner payment if I did not pay in full by 6th October. Can anyone advise me on how to proceed with this – my circumstances have totally changed within this time. I am now single parent on benefit and don’t have this sort of money and am petrified that should this go to court I will have a CCJ against me. What should I do?