How a mis-sold car finance complaint works

A car finance complaint can look like a lot of paperwork. This page sets out the main steps, in order, if you ask Consumer Reclaim Ltd, trading as Car Claims Check, to handle it for you. In some circumstances, we will pass your case to a claims management company / solicitors and we will receive a referral fee. You can also complain to your lender yourself, for free, and take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you need to.

1. Step 1: Enter your details

   Fill in the form on our homepage with your name, date of birth, mobile number, email address and current address. You do not need your old agreements or account numbers. If we need anything else later, such as a previous address, we will ask you.

2. Step 2: Read the key terms and sign

   Before you sign, the form shows you the key facts: what we will do, what you can do yourself for free, our fees and how to cancel. If you are happy, you sign on screen. That appoints Consumer Reclaim Ltd to act for you and gives it a Letter of Authority to deal with your lenders. You can cancel free of charge within 14 days of signing. If the agreement ends after that, because you end it or because information Consumer Reclaim needs from you is not provided, the work already done is charged at up to £75 an hour plus VAT (£90 including VAT).

3. Step 3: We find your agreements

   We work out which car finance agreements you have had, including ones you may have forgotten, and ask the lenders for the details. After you sign, a soft credit search is run to help find them; it does not affect your credit score.

4. Step 4: We assess each agreement

   We look at how each agreement was arranged and what you were told about commission, and give you our honest view of whether there is a case. Where there is not, we tell you.

5. Step 5: We complain to your lender

   Where there is a case, we send the lender a formal complaint setting out what went wrong and what should be put right. If your agreement falls within the FCA’s redress scheme, the lender has to deal with it under the scheme’s rules, parts of which are suspended at the moment.*

6. Step 6: An offer, or the Ombudsman

   We tell you about any offer the lender makes and keep you updated along the way. If the lender rejects the complaint, or you are not happy with its answer, the complaint can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to use. If compensation is paid, our fee becomes payable as set out on our Fees page: a percentage of the compensation for each agreement, from 15% to 30% plus VAT (18% to 36% including VAT), never more than the FCA’s cap. If the 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).

* The FCA’s motor finance redress scheme came into force on 31 March 2026. 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 do not have to calculate or pay compensation, or send communications about compensation owed, under the scheme. The FCA expects people who are paid under the scheme to receive an average of around £830 per agreement (FCA, 30 March 2026), but amounts vary and nobody can promise whether, when or how much you will be paid.