Updated November 2026 by the Get A Better Car finance team (FCA No 713342)
Can you get car finance on a debt management plan? Sometimes, yes. Some specialist bad credit lenders will consider you while you’re on a DMP, as long as your plan doesn’t stop you taking new credit and the payments are affordable alongside your DMP. Speak to your DMP provider before you apply, because taking new credit without checking could break the terms of your plan. Checking your eligibility with us is a soft search, so it won’t affect your credit score.
A debt management plan is an informal agreement to repay your non-priority debts, such as credit cards, loans and catalogues, with one affordable monthly payment, usually through a provider who shares it out between your creditors. It isn’t legally binding and it isn’t a form of insolvency, so it doesn’t appear on the Insolvency Register. Free DMPs are available from debt charities such as StepChange. In Scotland, the statutory Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) works differently.
It depends on two things: your DMP and the lender.
Providers are more likely to agree when you genuinely need the car, for example to get to work, for school runs, for caring, or because of health or mobility problems, or if you live somewhere with poor public transport.
The DMP itself doesn’t appear on your credit file, but how your accounts are paid does. If you’re paying less than the contractual amount, creditors may record partial payments or an “arrangement to pay” marker, and some accounts may already have defaulted. These entries drop off your credit file six years from the date they were recorded, even if the debt hasn’t been fully repaid. See also car finance with a CCJ or defaults.
Usually not. Car finance payments are normally kept separate from a DMP, so you’d pay them on top of your plan. That’s why lenders and DMP providers both want to see that you can comfortably afford them.
Once your DMP is complete, you don’t need anyone’s permission to apply. Your options tend to widen as the missed payments and defaults from before and during the plan get older and then drop off your file after six years. Keeping everything up to date after the plan ends helps too.
Not usually. In around 85% of cases the lender’s valuation covers the full price of the car. A deposit lowers what you borrow and your payments, though. See no deposit car finance with bad credit or use our car finance calculator.
We’re a bad credit car finance specialist dealer on the A52 at Bramcote, between Nottingham and Derby. Your application goes to our panel of fair and bad credit lenders with a soft search, and every car comes with a full MOT and a 6 month warranty. In an IVA instead? Read our IVA car finance guide.
It’s a soft search only, with no impact on your credit rating.
Sometimes. Some specialist lenders will consider you if your DMP doesn’t prevent new credit and the payments are affordable alongside your plan. Check with your DMP provider first.
It could. Many DMPs ask you not to take new credit, so speak to your provider before you apply.
The plan itself doesn’t, but partial payments, arrangement markers and defaults can. They drop off six years from the date they were recorded.
No. Checking your eligibility with us is a soft search, so it won’t affect your credit score.
Get A Better Car is a trading name of Twiggco Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No 713342). We are a credit broker, not a lender. Finance is subject to status and affordability; applicants must be 18 or over. This guide is general information, not debt advice. For free debt advice, contact MoneyHelper or StepChange.