Numerical modelling of non-Newtonian flows typically involves the coupling between equations of motion characterized by an elliptic behaviour, and the fluid constitutive equation, which is an advection equation linked to the fluid history. In this paper we prove that linear steady advection problems in steady recirculating flows have only one solution when the kinematics differs from a rigid motion. We also give a numerical procedure to determine this steady solution. We will describe this numerical procedure for two linear models the first will be the SFRT flow model and the second will be a simplified linear formulation of the Pom-Pom viscoelastic model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.