Common questions about mis-sold PCP & HP car finance

Car finance may have been mis-sold if you were not given clear and accurate information about the deal before you signed. For the FCA’s redress scheme, the question is whether you were told about the commission arrangement between the lender and the dealer or broker. The scheme looks at three kinds: a discretionary commission arrangement, a high commission, and a contractual tie between the broker and the lender. Our guide to car finance claims explains each one.

No. You can complain to your lender yourself, for free; the FCA publishes lender contact details and template complaint letters on its car finance claims page. If you are not happy with the lender’s answer, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, also for free. If you are owed money under the FCA’s redress scheme, you do not need to pay anyone to receive it.

If you use a claims management company or a law firm, you pay a fee out of any compensation you receive.

Often you cannot tell from your own paperwork, because the commission arrangement sits between the lender and the dealer. You can complain to your lender and ask, or you can appoint us to look into it for you. Filling in our form does not tell you whether you have a case; checking your agreements does, and that happens after you sign.

Fill in the form on our homepage. It asks for your details, shows you the key facts and our fees, and then asks you to sign. Once you have signed, we look for the car finance agreements you have had between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024, assess each one and complain to the lender where there is a case. Our process page sets out the main steps.

Your title, name, date of birth, mobile number, email address and current address, and your signature. You do not need your old agreements or account numbers. If a lender needs something else, such as a previous address, we will ask you for it.

There is nothing to pay up front. If your claim succeeds, Consumer Reclaim Ltd charges a fee for each agreement on which compensation is paid: from 15% to 30% of the compensation plus VAT (18% to 36% including VAT), depending on the amount, and never more than the FCA’s cap. If your claim does not succeed, there is no fee, unless the agreement ends after the first 14 days because you end it, or because information Consumer Reclaim needs from you is not provided: the work already done is then charged at up to £75 an hour plus VAT (£90 including VAT).

You can cancel free of charge within 14 days of signing. Our Fees page has the full fee table and worked examples.

It depends on your agreement: how much you borrowed, the commission arrangement and the interest you paid. The FCA estimates that people paid under its scheme will receive an average of around £830 per agreement, with some getting more and some less (FCA, 30 March 2026). The FCA also estimates that about 37% of agreements made between 2007 and 2024 are eligible, so most will not qualify. Nobody can promise whether, or how much, you will receive.

The FCA’s motor finance redress scheme came into force on 31 March 2026 and covers agreements taken out between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024. Since July 2026, parts of it have been suspended while legal challenges are heard by the Upper Tribunal, in December 2026 or February 2027. Until that process ends, lenders are not required to calculate or pay compensation, or send communications about compensation owed, under the scheme.

The FCA says that if the scheme is upheld and the judgment is not appealed, it expects payments to begin in 2027. If not, it has said compensation could be delayed until 2028 or beyond. (FCA statement, 2 July 2026; checked 12 October 2026.)

No. The FCA’s scheme is not a race: lenders have to work through the agreements it covers to the timetable it sets, and what you may be owed does not depend on how quickly you complain. While parts of the scheme are suspended, lenders do not have to pay compensation under it. Take the time you need to decide whether to complain yourself or to use a firm like us.

No. After you sign, a soft credit search is run to confirm who you are and to find your agreements. Viewthru carries it out with the credit reference agency Equifax Limited. A soft search does not affect your credit score, and other lenders cannot see it. You can withdraw your consent to it at any time by contacting Viewthru or by emailing [email protected]; this does not affect searches already made. Our Privacy Policy explains how your details are used.

Yes. You can cancel within 14 days of signing, without giving a reason and at no cost, by emailing [email protected] or writing to our trading address. You can still end the agreement after 14 days, but the work already done is then charged at up to £75 an hour plus VAT (£90 including VAT). Our Terms of Business explain both.

Car Claims Check is a trading name of Consumer Reclaim Ltd, a claims management company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 835212) and registered in England and Wales (company number 07223077). You can check Consumer Reclaim Ltd on the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk. You can contact us by email at [email protected] or by post; our trading address is Station House, Stamford New Road, Altrincham, WA14 1EP.