Thanks for the couple of replies to my question. I thought I'd give an update in case anyone reads this thread. I decided to phone the garage and ask whether I could cancel the car and after a day the manager phoned me up and told me I could cancel the car without any loss other than my £500 deposit. Whether this is because it is within my rights or whether he was being amenable I don't know. Thanks again Spindoctor

Hi Enigma Clemma is suggesting a debt management plan (dmp) and I don't mean to be disrespectful Clemma but this would not be correct for you. An IVA would also be the wrong thing. To be sure you will need to a full list of all your outgoings and your incomings but unless you have a lot of equity in your house or something then I'm pretty sure that your only choice is bankruptcy. Don't be frightened by this because I promise you that you will feel much better. The first thing you should do is to stop paying all your debts other than rent/mortgage and utility bills. You can try CCCS but don't let them talk you into an IVA or dmp because they are paid by the industry. Better than them are www.nationaldebtline.co.uk . Hope you get sorted. Spindoctor I don't know what

Hi all, I'm wanting bit of advice please. I put a deposit down of £500 on a new car with a balance to be made on picking the car up of another £1100 and the remainder to be on HP. I have signed an arfl form (or something like that) with my details for registration of the new car but not signed any finance agreement yet. My question is - can I cancel the car now? What redress does the dealer have if I phone him up and just say, "I've changed my mind, I don't want the car". I'm due to go down on Friday to pick the car up and sign for the finance. Many thanks in advance.

I also have the Natwest 'step account'. There are 3 banks with the basic accounts and as long as you have not been declared bankrupt then you should not have a problem getting one of these basic accounts. If you have to go through a credit check then they are trying to sell you something other than their basic account. For example, if you go into Natwest ask specifically for the 'Step' account and don't take no for an answer. They actually have a legal obligation to give you this account. With this you will not get a cheque book as already mentioned and no overdraft. However, you should get a 'solo' debit card which I find works nearly everywhere and online and telephone banking facilities.

Hi Simountain On The Motley Fool website they have a great document titled 'what can they do to me?' You can find this on the 'dealing with debt' forum. The first thing you should do is to open up an account in a bank which you don't owe anything to. If your credit file has been impaired you will have to go for a 'basic' account such as the 'step account' at Natwest. I think the Co-op do one as well. Once you have opened up your new account you can treat your overdraft as another debt and include this in you statement of affairs. The banks are generally bullies and you have to be tough in dealing with them or they'll walk all over you. Just remember that they can not make you pay more than you have. Crezzie

I don't pretend to be an expert, but on what grounds do you disagree?

Hi Macca and well done for taking the first step in taking control. Without the full picture of your finances it not ideal for me to give advise, but from what you say, you are unemployed with £30k of unsecured debt and live in rental accommodation. I would say that you can't afford an IVA so it's a no-brainer really. Your only option is bankruptcy. Although bankruptcy should be treated as the final option, in your case I would say it is the only option. Your creditors are not going to sit by patiently for ever. They WILL take legal action sooner or later. Therefore, the best thing to do is to take the bull by the horns and file for bankruptcy yourself. There is a fee involved (I can't remember how much but I think its in the region of £350). Don't take my word for it. Contact someone else for advise from CCCS, CAB or national debtline. See their websites for more information. There is also another very good forum on the Motley Fool website. I'm sure people on here won't mind me directing you to them because they send people here occasionally. Anyway, good luck. Crezzie

Alf Who advised your wife to embark on a debt management plan? £6,000 isn't a vast amount but if you are living on benefits and can only afford £10 per month then it may as well be £60,000. You say that her situation will change in August 2008. If she can up the amount to at least £100 per month then and manage to keep the interest frozen for the full term (very unlikely), she can pay it off in 5 years which doesn't seem too bad. Unless she can do the above then I would look into bankruptcy. Crezzie

Hi Alf I'm new to this site so I don't know how you do things around here but I would say that we need to know a few more details to give meaningful advice. Is this debt her only debt? I presume your wife has sent a 'statement of affairs' to her creditor which will give a statement of income and expenditure and show how much she can afford. If she hasn't then I doubt they will listen to her and will probably issue a county court judgement. You could also contact national debt helpline, CCCS or the CAB. Putting a charge on your property basically turns the unsecured debt into a secured debt and they cannot do this until they have issued a CCJ against you and you then break the agreement of the CCJ. These tactics are nearly always just scare tactics but they could use them if they wanted. They don't really want to go down this route because they are taking the risk that by ignoring your wifes request to accept £10 per month, the judge may come down hard on them and only ask for £5 per month. How long is your wife wanting the creditor to accept this debt management plan for? Do you have equity in your house? If you don't have any equity in your house and the dmp is only a temporary measure until your wife gets back on her feet then I would suggest sticking it out and calling there bluff. In this case they know that there is not much they can do to make you pay what you don't have - you could just declare bankrupt and they would not have anything. However, if you do have equity in your house and you're expecting this dmp to go on indefinately, they will probably go straight to the courts to try to get at your equity. Crezzie