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Are you due £1,000s back from the hidden discretionary commission scandal?
You could be entitled to compensation.
Have you purchased a car, van, or motorbike through PCP or Hire Purchase (excluding leasing) prior to January 28, 2021? If yes, you might be eligible for a refund of thousands of pounds. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is conducting a significant investigation into concealed and unjust car finance commissions. This inquiry could result in the reimbursement of billions of pounds in overcharged interest to millions of individuals
In January 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took action by prohibiting ‘discretionary commission arrangements’ (DCAs). This action aimed to prevent lenders from enabling brokers, including car dealers, to raise interest rates on car finance in order to receive higher commissions, even when they hadn’t performed additional work. This practice was deemed unfair as consumers were not informed about it, and many, assuming the price was fixed, did not negotiate.
Take action immediately if your car finance may have involved a discretionary commission arrangement.
Those eligible to claim compensation for mis-sold car finance through PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) include individuals who have purchased a vehicle using PCP or HP (Hire Purchase) finance since 2007, and if the finance agreement was mis-sold.
You qualify for compensation if:
- The salesperson failed to present all available finance options.
- They did not adequately explain the contract details and interest rates.
- Affordability checks were not conducted.
- You were not informed about any commissions the salesperson would receive.
Furthermore, claims for mis-sold car finance can be made under the following circumstances:
- It applies to both new and second-hand vehicles purchased through finance.
- All types of vehicles, including cars, vans, and trucks, are eligible.
- Claims can be made for agreements that are either still active or have ended.
- You can make claims for multiple vehicles simultaneously.
How To Check If You Have Been Mis-sold Car Finance
The law states, the responsibility lies with the lender and/or the car dealership to demonstrate that they acted lawfully throughout the entire process.
Your car finance agreement might have been mis-sold if:
- The car salesperson failed to disclose that they would receive a commission from the lender for arranging the financial agreement.
- They didn’t inform you about all available finance options, neglecting to explain the distinctions and responsibilities associated with each type of product.
- Complete transparency regarding the interest rates for all finance options and any variances was lacking.
- You were not offered the most favorable interest rate available to you.
- The details of the financial contract, including the Terms and Conditions, were inadequately explained.
- Adequate affordability checks weren’t conducted, or you were persuaded into an unaffordable finance agreement.
- High-pressure sales tactics were employed, or you were not given sufficient time to consider the agreement.
What Is The Mis-sold Car Finance Claims Process?
What Are The Most Common Types Of Mis-sold Car Finance Claims?
From the thousands of mis-sold car finance claims we have processed, the most common types of miss-selling are:
Within your car finance agreement, the lender is required to divulge all fees and commissions exchanged with the car dealer. Failure to provide this information is categorized as an undisclosed or hidden commission.
Many of our clients who were victims of mis-sold car finance agreements were oblivious to the fact that the car dealership received a commission solely for connecting them with a finance company of their choosing.
Inflating Interest Rates To Get More Commission
Despite having permission from the lender to offer a lower interest rate, car salespeople offered finance agreements at a higher interest rate to the customer so that they would receive a larger commission.
Following the FCA investigation, this is now banned.
When you opt for car financing, it’s typically a bank or lender, rather than the car dealership, that provides the loan for the vehicle.
If the salesperson fails to disclose that they or the dealership will receive a commission for connecting you with the lender, this constitutes a hidden commission.
According to legal obligations, it is the car dealership’s duty to explicitly inform you about any commission or fee, including the specific amount they may receive.
Who do you claim against?
When we submit a mis-sold pension claim for compensation, we are simply claiming against the individual or financial advisor who mis-sold you the pension, or the financial firm that they were working for at the time.
Our Claim Process
Read about the process and our fees if you instruct us
Our Fees
Where we receive an instruction to work on your behalf, and we are able to obtain an offer of compensation, we will charge a success fee. This is calculated as a percentage of the total compensation you receive. If we are not able to obtain an offer you will not be charged – this is called No Win No Fee.
If you cancel your agreement with us or break your agreement with us before the end of the process we will charge you a cancellation fee.
Read more about our Fees & Charges.
We provide a free, no obligation assessment to as part of our service before you enter into an agreement with us.
This allows us to let you know if you could have a potential claim.
If you choose to instruct our services and we are successful in obtaining you a refund, a fee will be charged.
Click here to read about our Fees & Charges.
Where we obtain an offer of compensation, we will charge a success fee.
This fee is calculated based on the amount of compensation you are awarded.
Compensation can be awarded in 3 forms;
(a) cash award (b) balance reduction (c) combination of cash award and balance reduction (when combined, we call this the ‘Total Award’).
If we are not successful in obtaining compensation, your claim will be closed with no fee charged.
More information can be found in our fees & charges.
If you receive an offer of compensation we call this a successful claim.
Our fees are calculated as a percentage of the total compensation you are offered.
Read more about our Fees & Charges here.
Upon completion of a claim we will send you a bill or invoice for our services.
This will explain how our fees are calculated and tell you the amount you need to pay.
Our invoice needs to be paid within 21 days.
Where you do not receive a Cash Award or the Cash Award is less than the invoice we will provide an option for a repayment plan.
If you are concerned about your ability to pay our invoice, you should contact us as soon as possible on 01554 575000.
Our Fee Rates
| Redress Band | Consumer Redress | Max Fee Charged (%) inc VAT | Max Total Fee (£) inc VAT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower (£) | Upper (£) | |||
| 1 | £1 | £1,499 | 36% | £504 |
| 2 | £1,500 | £9,999 | 33.6% | £3,000 |
| 3 | £10,000 | £24,999 | 30% | £6,000 |
| 4 | £25,000 | £49,999 | 24% | £9,000 |
| 5 | £50,000 | NA | 18% | £12,000 |
The table above includes VAT the current rate of 20%.