Car Finance Claims
FAQs

Why might I have a claim?

If you used finance to buy a car , motorbike or van between 6 April 2007, and 1 November 2024 and some or all of the points below apply, you may have a claim:

Your dealer set the interest rate to earn more commission (using a discretionary commission arrangement).

The commission was high – at least 39% of the total cost of credit and 10% of the loan.

Your dealer was “tied” to one lender for most of the finance it arranged, except where lenders can evidence that there were visible links with a dealer, i.e.: a similar name

On 01 August 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in the cases of Hopcraft, Wrench and Johnson. The Court upheld Johnson’s claim, establishing that the agreement between Johnson and his lender was unfair – referring to the size of commission, which exceeded 55% of the total cost for credit, as being a “powerful indicator” of an unfair relationship. This ruling effectively means that any commission arrangement where unfairness can be established could be eligible for compensation.

Following this, the FCA has confirmed that it has identified that many car finance lenders were not complying with either the law or their regulatory obligations, which has resulted in consumers losing out. In light of this, the FCA has published a compensation scheme, which it has estimated lenders’ total redress liability up to £10 billion.

How long will my claim take?

The FCA has allowed a set-up period/implementation period so lenders can prepare in order to meet the various deadlines set out in the redress scheme.

For finance agreements that were taken out before 1 April 2014, lenders must start assessing claims from 31 August 2026.

For finance agreements that were taken out from 1 April 2014, lenders must start assessing claims from 30 June 2026.

Some lenders may start looking at claims before these dates. Under the scheme, your lender should contact you if you’re owed money. But people who have already complained or complain before the end of the relevant implementation period will be compensated sooner, if their claim is successful.

After the expiry of the relevant implementation period, lenders have 3 months to provide responses to claims that were submitted to them before or during the relevant implementation period. Within these 3 months, the lenders will notify consumers whether or not their claims are successful and, if so, offer compensation (if not already done so previously).

For claims submitted after the expiry of the relevant implementation period, lenders will have 3 months from the date they receive the claim to respond to the same.

If you don’t hear from your lender, you can still make a claim yourself — but you must do so by 31 August 2027.

How much could my claim be worth?

The amount of compensation you may be entitled to is dependent on several factors, including the amount of finance your lender provided, the date the finance was taken out, the duration of the agreement, the interest rate you paid and the nature and value of the commission payment your lender made to the car dealership.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed in its consultation paper, that it would expect that most consumers will receive around £830 per eligible agreement.

Please note: all potential claim values used in our advertising, or on our websites are provided prior to deduction of our Success Fee.

Do I need to use a law firm, or claims management company to make my claim?

You do not have to use a law firm or claims management company to make your claim.

The FCA have now launched a motor finance compensation scheme which is free for consumers to use. If you are eligible for compensation your lenders should contact you to confirm this, but the FCA has advised that consumers who complain earlier will be compensated sooner.

Although you can make use of the free compensation scheme, you may find it preferable to use a professional representative, like us, to help you manage the claims process due to our expertise in this area, or simply because you do not have the time.

What if I have already made a claim, or instructed another CMC or law firm?

If you have already made a claim(s) against your lender(s) for Undisclosed Car Finance Commission, either directly yourself or by using a professional representative, regardless of whether the claim is still ongoing, under investigation or concluded, then you should not instruct us to pursue any claim(s) to those lender(s) you have already claimed/are still claiming against.

If you have already instructed another professional representative to pursue a claim(s) against your lender(s) for Undisclosed Car Finance Commission and the claim is still ongoing or not yet concluded, but you would now like us to pursue the claim(s) instead, then you will need to cancel your instruction and any contract you have with your existing representative before you instruct us. Your lender(s) may also request confirmation that you have done this and switched representatives. Please check the terms of your agreement with your existing professional representative before you cancel with them, as you may be liable to them for a cancellation fee/termination charge (or other such fee) if you cancel your contract with them or ask them to stop acting for you. Please consider this very carefully before you take any action.

Can I use the Financial Conduct Authority’s compensation scheme, instead?

Yes – you can. But you also have the choice to be represented by a firm such as ours, if that is your preference.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its compensation scheme for car finance claims on 30 March 2026.

The FCA have confirmed that the scheme will be free to participate in, and your lender should contact you directly if you are potentially eligible for compensation.

What are your fees?

If we are successful in obtaining an offer or payment of Compensation, then you pay us a Success Fee which is calculated based on the amount of Compensation your lender offers per credit agreement. The table below details the Success Fee percentage applicable to different bands of Compensation, and the maximum total Success Fee for each compensation band.

The percentages and amounts in the table above are exclusive of VAT, which is charged at the prevailing rate.

If you have an outstanding balance with your Lender they may use all, or part of, your compensation to pay this outstanding balance meaning that you may not receive any cash “in hand”. In this event, our Success Fee will still be calculated against the full compensation amount.

Example 1: If your Lender makes an offer of £1,000 compensation and you have no outstanding balance with the Lender, your Lender will pay us £1,000. Of this, £360 will be deducted to pay our Success Fee and VAT, and £640 will be paid to you.

Example 2: If your Lender makes an offer of £1,000 compensation and you have an outstanding balance of £800 with the Lender, your Lender may use the compensation offered to pay the outstanding balance meaning they will only pay us £200. We would use this £200 toward our Success Fee and VAT, which would leave a balance of £160 payable by you.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its compensation scheme on 30 March 2026, however our Success Fee will still be payable to us on consideration of the work we have completed on your behalf.

What will I be charged if I cancel my claim?

You may cancel this agreement at any time. However, if you cancel this agreement after the 14-day Cooling-Off Period and go on to receive an offer of or payment of Compensation, you would be liable to pay us our Success Fee if your Lender makes an offer of compensation

I was referred to you via a third-party, how are they paid?

If you have been introduced to us via a third-party, we will pay them a fee for this introduction. This fee is usually a percentage of our Success Fee for any successful claim. This fee is paid directly from us to the third-party at no cost to you.