WE'VE all faced it: red tape, small print, bureaucratic bungling or sheer unhelpfulness that can make doing even the simplest task a nightmare.

Everything from finding the school you want for your children to buying a house or a car, paying bills or even getting to see your doctor can be fraught with so much difficulty you're left tearing your hair out in frustration.

Now writers Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders have come up with the solution: a comprehensive guide to taking on the system - and winning.

Their book, How To Beat The System, aims, in its own words, to help you "unravel the red tape of bureaucracy and come out on top".

Written in easy-to-follow chapters and billed as a "consumer book with attitude", it includes advice on everything from unravelling local council red tape to beating NHS waiting lists, reducing solicitors fees, battling ageism at work, taking on travel agents and winning and even buying and selling your own home without hassle.

From the minute we're born, say Annie and Meg in their introduction, we become a statistic; branded with a national insurance number, registered on a birth certificate, squeezed through the education system, tortured by exams and job interviews, given a bank account and taxed on everything we put into it.

It's easy, the authors say, to be ground down, and to go along with the system simply because it's easier and we don't know any better.

"But where there is a system, there is a way to break it, or at least exploit it," they say. "We've been relentless in our quest to track down the people on the inside, who really understand the system because they are responsible for it."

Here are just a few suggestions for beating the system:

Health

Don't be fobbed off by your GP's receptionist when you ask for an appointment the same day. GPs often allow a certain number of appointments outside surgery hours. Insist on being seen today and arrive at the end of surgery.

Most hospitals book appointments to see a consultant in hour-long blocks. They will, for example, give six people a three o'clock appointment. From then on in, it's first come, first served. So if you arrive five minutes early you could save yourself an hour's wait.

It is your GP who refers you to a hospital consultant, who will then schedule you for an operation or treatment. That is when you should go on the waiting list. But it is worth checking that you are on the list. You might have been put "under review" to see if your condition stabilises or improves - a way of making waiting lists appear shorter than they actually are.

Once you are on the waiting list, ring your consultant's secretary daily. This will remind her you are available daily - and making a nuisance of yourself might even get you seen more quickly.

Buying a House

If the house you are buying is on the threshold of stamp duty, make an offer excluding fixtures and fittings to keep the price below the threshold, and make a separate offer for these.

If you want a good deal, make an offer on a house in late winter, when the market is less bouyant and sellers more desperate. They are more likely to accept a cheeky offer.

Buy the cheapest house on an expensive street, not the other way round. You are more likely to see a quicker increase in value.

Complaints

If you want to complain, write to the top person in the business. It will get handed down to the right person and they may well prioritise it as it has been handed to them by their superior.

If you need to make a complaint by telephone, stand up when you make the call. Psychologists say this gives you a greater sense of authority. Swallowing before you speak gives you an authoritative pause. Stay calm and polite and make your complaint effectively. Record the date, time, the name of the person you spoke to and what was discussed.

Cutting your credit card bills

Apply for new cards and use them only during the cheap introductory rate (usually 0 per cent APR for the first six months). You can then move to another credit card after six months.

- How To Beat The System by Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders is published by Orion in May, price £12.99.

Updated: 10:12 Thursday, April 25, 2002