A debt wont go away, it'll just be sold on again.
People are easy to find these days. His best option is to contact the creditor and negotiate a full and final settlement with them in writing. Basically a 5yr old debt of £500 will have been sold to a DCA for a much lower price say £350.
Your friend may well discover they will offer settlement for that cost price, so he'd end up repaying much less than he borrowed anyway.
Ignoring it is foolish and very very damaging.
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