Contesting a debt

well if you don't want to deal with the "agency" that are collecting the debt, or the police or lawyers, who exactly do you want to deal with?

If bailiffs are turning up at your place to collect money, it's in your interest to deal with them. Otherwise, eventually they're just going to turn up, break your door open and take your stuff.

Any papers they give you will be clear about who the debt is to. If they aren't, then they're just trying to extort money from you, in which case you need to go to the police.

In general you need to deal with the debt collector, depending naturally on who it is and what your debt is all about .... if it is a normal and registered debt collector I do not see why you shouldn't. It might be difficult to explain and proof to them that there is no basis for the debt in your name but with time and persistance one can get through to them ... also, I do not have any info about the nature of the debt ... so difficult to be more precise in my comment ....

Sorry jdb, but there is not really enough information to comment on. In Belgium, debts are dealt with by either are notaires, avocats or huissiers de justice. It is normal case to pay any such debt sooner rather than later and then do the contesting afterwards with the help of your own lawyers.
For anyone to even consider taking action of this sort against anyone, must mean that they believe their is just cause.

My experience in this area is that you have to deal with the huissier/bailiff directly, but that if they are above board, they will at least pass the messages on to their client, the company that claims you have a debt. I would also advise absolutely NOT to pay anything - my 'debt' from VOO came from their undercharging me for 2 years, so their fault entirely! When I asked for bills to prove the lack of payment, they sent me one dated that same year for the full amount, a year after I stopped being a client - and when I explained how absurd that was, they stopped hassling me! Also, my legal advice is that if it is something along these lines (TV cable companies are the biggest culprits in these cases) they ALWAYS lose if it eventually goes to court - because nine times out of ten they don't have a leg to stand on at all. Without knowing the details, its tough to give more advice, but you could always join Test Achats (equivalent of Which? in Belgium) and use their free legal advice service once you've done so (though my own experience with them was that this was not the best advice I got....)

You find out what the debt is for.
You make sure it has nothing to do with you
You google the agency and make sure that they are genuine and not some front trying to con money out of you
You write to (or phone) the AGENCY, as they now have the legal responsibility for collecting the debt. You HAVE to deal with them.

Normally, they will be quite reasonable about it - they're not going to waste their time and money pushing a case they're not going to win, as it's bad business for them.

If you're wrong and you do owe the money, this is the time to pay up though. Fees will start to escalate if you don't.

First of all you have to find out exactly what this debt is (who is the original creditor, what is the exact nature of the debt - loan, domestic bill, etc.). Then you proceed accordingly.

Also, you have previously told that you had taken a loan to help your partner, who had then neglected the repayments, and as a consequence part of your salary was seized.

Are you still with this person? If so, are you absolutely sure that they have not somehow managed to take out a loan in your name, or bought something on credit using your name? This would be possible in some cases even if you yourself have not signed any papers - these things can be done online if the person has access to your details and knows your passwords - which is not unheard of if it is someone you live with.

Before you start contesting the debt make 100 % sure that it really is not a valid one.