Terms of Business

Car Claims Check is a trading name of Consumer Reclaim Ltd, a claims management company. Consumer Reclaim Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for regulated claims management activity, firm reference number 835212. You can check its authorisation on the Financial Services Register at register.fca.org.uk.

Terms of Business, version 1.3. Last updated 19 October 2026. Effective from the date this version is published on this website. The version that applies to you is the one shown to you when you signed.

These terms and the Letter of Authority you sign together make up the agreement between you and Consumer Reclaim Ltd. Please read them carefully before you sign. If anything is unclear, email us at [email protected] and we will explain it before you decide.

Key information (contract summary)

This summary covers the main points. The full terms that follow are what bind you and us.

What we will do for you

We will look into whether you have a claim about commission on car finance you have taken out. If you do, we will prepare the paperwork and complain to your lender (or lenders) for you. We will tell you about any offer a lender makes and give you our view on it. If your claim is rejected, we will explain your options.

Who will handle your claim

You sign with Consumer Reclaim Ltd. It checks your car finance agreements, makes and manages your complaint with the lender (or under the FCA scheme, or with the Financial Ombudsman Service), keeps you updated, and charges the fee set out in these Terms. In some circumstances, we will pass your case to a claims management company / solicitors and we will receive a referral fee.

What we need from you

• Read and sign the Letter of Authority and these terms.
• Give us proof of your identity when we ask for it.
• Answer our questions honestly, and send us any documents we ask for that you have.
• Tell us if your lender contacts you directly or makes you an offer.

To confirm who you are and to find your car finance agreements, a soft credit search, or a similar check, is run after you sign. A soft search does not affect your credit score. Our Privacy Policy explains how this works and who carries it out.

How we will keep you updated

We will update you within 10 working days of any important development on your claim. If nothing important happens, we will still update you in writing at least every 6 months. We will contact you by email, and sometimes by phone.

What it will cost

If your claim succeeds, our fee is a percentage of the compensation paid on each finance agreement, plus VAT. The percentage depends on the amount. It runs from 30% plus VAT (36% including VAT) on smaller amounts down to 15% plus VAT (18% including VAT) on the largest. The FCA caps our fee: we charge the lower of the band percentage and the band’s maximum amount. If your claim does not succeed, you pay us no fee for it, unless the agreement ends after the 14-day cancellation period because you end it, or because information we need from you is not provided: the termination fee below then applies. The full fee table and worked examples are in section 5 and on our Fees page.

Compensation that your lender uses to reduce money you owe it still counts as compensation. So you may receive little or no cash and still have to pay our fee from your own money.

Cancelling within 14 days

You can cancel within 14 days after the day you sign, without giving a reason. Cancelling in this period costs you nothing.

Ending the agreement after 14 days

You can end the agreement at any time after that. If you do, we may charge for the reasonable work we have already done on your claim, at up to £75 per hour plus VAT (£90 including VAT). For example, if we had done 5 hours of work, the charge would be at most 5 × £75 = £375 plus VAT (£450 including VAT). Any charge must be reasonable and reflect the work actually done. If you later accept compensation directly from your lender on a claim we made for you, our normal fee in section 5 is payable instead.

Other ways to claim

• You can complain to your lender yourself, for free. The FCA lists lenders’ complaint details and template letters at fca.org.uk/consumers/car-finance-complaints.
• If you are unhappy with your lender’s answer, you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free.
• The FCA set up a motor finance compensation scheme in March 2026. Since July 2026, parts of it have been suspended while legal challenges are heard by the Upper Tribunal. Until that process ends, lenders do not have to calculate or pay compensation 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 the scheme is overturned, the FCA has said that consulting on a revised scheme could delay compensation until 2028 or beyond. You do not need a claims management company or a law firm to take part. (Source: FCA statement, 2 July 2026, checked 12 October 2026.)
• You can also ask another claims management company or a solicitor to help you, or get independent advice before you decide. Time limits can apply to complaints.

Risks you should know about

• We cannot promise that your claim will succeed, or how much compensation you will get.
• If you owe your lender money (for example arrears), it may use some or all of your compensation to reduce that debt. Our fee is still worked out on the full amount, so you may need to pay it from your own money.
• If you have ever been bankrupt, or had an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA), a debt relief order or a similar arrangement, compensation may go towards those debts. You may then need to pay our fee from money that is not part of that arrangement.
• Consumer Reclaim Ltd is a claims management company, not a law firm, and we do not bring court proceedings. If a claim ever went to court through a solicitor, you might have to attend court and give evidence.

Who we are

Consumer Reclaim Ltd, trading as Car Claims Check. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07223077. Registered office: 207 Knutsford Road, Grappenhall, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 2QL. Trading address (for post): Station House, Stamford New Road, Altrincham, WA14 1EP. Email: [email protected]. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 835212.

Terms of Business

1. Definitions

In these terms:

1.1 “Account” means any finance account or agreement that you or we identify as relevant to your Claim.

1.2 “Agreement” means the agreement between you and us, made up of these terms and the Letter of Authority you sign.

1.3 “Cancel” means ending the Agreement within the 14-day cancellation period in section 6. “Terminate” means ending it after that period, under section 7.

1.4 “Claim” means a claim or complaint we make to a Third Party on your behalf.

1.5 “Data Protection Law” means the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1.6 “Fees” means the fees you pay us under section 5.

1.7 “Letter of Authority” means the document you sign to authorise us to act for you with your lender and others. If a Claim covers more than one Account, we may charge our Fees on each Account, including any extra Accounts we identify. We will tell you about any extra Accounts we find.

1.8 “Personal Notice” means written notice we send by post or email to the latest contact details you have given us, at least 15 Working Days in advance. It can be shorter if we need it to be to meet our legal or regulatory duties.

1.9 “Services” means what we do for you under the Agreement: advising you, and investigating and representing your Claim.

1.10 “Settlement Amount” means everything the Third Party pays or provides, to you or to anyone else, to settle your Claim, before any tax you owe. It includes cash or cheque payments, reductions in the balance on your Account, reductions in arrears, goodwill payments and interest.

1.11 “Third Party” means the lender, finance provider, financial institution or other business your Claim is made against.

1.12 “You” means the person or people who enter into the Agreement with us.

1.13 “We”, “us” and “our” means Consumer Reclaim Ltd, trading as Car Claims Check, company number 07223077, registered office 207 Knutsford Road, Grappenhall, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 2QL. Our trading address is Station House, Stamford New Road, Altrincham, WA14 1EP, and our email is [email protected]. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 835212.

1.14 “Working Days” means Monday to Friday, except public holidays.

2. The agreement between you and us

2.1 You appoint us as your only representative for your Claim, and we agree to act for you on these terms. The Agreement starts when we receive your signed Letter of Authority and your signed acceptance of these terms.

2.2 By appointing us, you confirm that:

• (a) no one else is acting for you on this potential claim, and you will not appoint anyone else for it; and
• (b) you have not already claimed, been offered or received compensation from the Third Party for the car finance agreement or agreements this Claim covers.

3. How your claim works

3.1 Once we have your signed Letter of Authority (or, if later, enough information from you), we will assess whether your potential claim is viable. We may ask you some questions to work out the basis of your Claim.

3.2 Our first credit search may find other loans or lenders. We will tell you about any extra Accounts we find. We may pursue motor finance claims on those Accounts for you too, unless you tell us not to.

3.3 To establish your Claim, we may ask the Third Party for some of your personal data under Article 15 of the UK GDPR (a data subject access request). We will only ask for information relevant to your Claim.

3.4 We may ask you to share your credit report with us. This helps us confirm the lending and check whether it was affordable for you at the time. We will only get this information with your permission.

3.5 If, after assessing your Claim, we reasonably believe it is unlikely to succeed, or that pursuing it is not in your best interests, we may decline to act on it. We will tell you in writing. You will then not have to pay us anything for that Claim (subject to the rest of the Agreement), and we will stop providing the Services for it.

3.6 If we think your Claim is viable, we will send a letter of claim to the Third Party explaining your complaint.

3.7 We will deal with the Third Party and use reasonable efforts to pursue your Claim. We will tell you promptly if the Third Party asks for more information or documents.

3.8 We will update you within 10 Working Days of any material development, or when we receive information meant for you. If there is no material development, we will update you in writing at least every 6 months.

3.9 We will tell you in writing about any settlement offer the Third Party makes. We will give you our view on whether the offer is in line with FCA rules or the principles the Financial Ombudsman Service uses. You then tell us whether you want to accept or reject it (see 4.4).

3.10 If the Third Party rejects your Claim, or does not reply within 8 weeks of our letter of claim, we will explain your options. For example:

• (a) if we believe your Claim still has merit, we will pursue it through the Financial Ombudsman Service. Where we agree that it is right for us to complain to the Ombudsman for you, we will send you the forms to complete and return, and keep you updated. Any Settlement Amount paid through the Ombudsman process counts as a Settlement Amount under the Agreement, including for our Fees; or
• (b) we may recommend a solicitor or legal partner to pursue your Claim. We will discuss this with you and give you their details. We may receive a fee for introducing you to them. This will not affect the compensation you receive.

4. What you agree to do

4.1 Throughout the Agreement, you will give us all relevant information you have about your Claim as soon as you can. This includes documents showing your relationship with the Third Party. The information must be true, accurate and not misleading, as far as you know. If you do not give us this information, it may hold up our work. We may then end the Agreement, and you may have to pay our termination fee under 7.3.

4.2 You will co-operate with us and give us the help we reasonably ask for with the Services and your Claim.

4.3 Before you enter into the Agreement, our form asks you, and you will tell us truthfully, whether:

• (a) you owe the Third Party any money; or
• (b) in Great Britain or anywhere else, you: have ever been declared bankrupt or been subject to a bankruptcy petition; have ever been, or are, subject to an individual voluntary arrangement, or have proposed one that creditors have not yet approved or rejected; have ever been, or are, subject to a debt relief order; or have ever been, or are, subject to any similar process, such as sequestration.

4.4 You will deal promptly with our letters and emails. In particular, you will return either the Third Party’s acceptance form or a letter rejecting its offer as soon as you reasonably can, and within 7 days at most.

4.5 You will not contact the Third Party about the Claim while we are dealing with it, as this may harm any negotiations.

4.6 You will tell us within 5 Working Days if the Third Party contacts you directly about your Claim. This includes calls, statements and goodwill payments. Please send us any paperwork about it as soon as possible. If you do not, it may hold up your Claim, and 7.4 may apply.

4.7 You will tell us when the Third Party makes a settlement offer or pays a settlement. You will not accept an offer made directly to you unless we have agreed in writing first.

4.8 If something you do, or fail to do, stops or delays us from meeting our obligations (a “Customer Default”):

• (a) we may pause the Services until you put it right, and we are excused from our obligations to the extent the Customer Default stops or delays us; and
• (b) we are not liable for any costs or losses you suffer as a direct or indirect result of the Customer Default.

5. Our fees

5.1 If your Claim succeeds, you pay us a Fee. The Fee is a percentage of the Settlement Amount, worked out separately for each Account, plus VAT at the current rate of 20%. The percentage depends on which band the Settlement Amount falls into. The FCA caps our Fee in rule CMCOB 5.2.9R. For each band, the Fee can be no more than the lower of the band percentage of the Settlement Amount and the band’s maximum total fee. The cap covers all our charges and expenses for the Claim. VAT is added on top. If your Claim does not succeed, you pay us no Fee for it; the termination fee in 7.3 can still apply if the Agreement ends after the cancellation period.

5.2 The lower-of rule. For each Account, we work out the band percentage of the Settlement Amount and compare it with the band’s maximum total fee. You pay whichever is lower, plus VAT. The maximum total fee is the lower figure when the Settlement Amount is above about £1,400 in band 1, £8,929 in band 2, £20,000 in band 3, £37,500 in band 4, or £66,667 in band 5. The examples below show how this works.

5.3 These examples are illustrations only. They are not an estimate of the amount you are likely to recover. The Fee you pay may be more or less than the examples, depending on the Settlement Amount. If you have more than one Account, the Fee is worked out separately for each one.

5.4 Our Fee reduces the cash compensation you keep. If you have arrears or other money owing on your finance, the Third Party may use some or all of the Settlement Amount to pay that off first. You will still have to pay our Fee, which may mean paying it from your own money.

5.5 Our Fee applies to a Settlement Amount on a Claim we have made for you even if the Third Party pays it under an automatic compensation or redress scheme run by the Third Party or a regulator, including the FCA’s motor finance compensation scheme. This applies whatever the introduction, operation or outcome of any such scheme. You can take part in the FCA scheme yourself without paying anyone, so please think about this before you sign.

5.6 You will tell us within 5 Working Days of becoming aware of any payment or reduction made by the Third Party. If, after the 14-day cancellation period, you accept or receive a Settlement Amount directly from the Third Party on a Claim we made for you, you must pay our Fee, even if the Agreement has since ended.

5.7 Consumer Reclaim Ltd is not permitted to hold client money, so we never receive compensation on your behalf. We will send you an invoice for our Fee when you accept an offer of compensation.

5.8 Each invoice will say how long you have to pay it. If an invoice is not paid on time, we may:

• (a) start debt recovery, through a collection agency or the courts;
• (b) charge interest on the unpaid amount at 8% a year; and
• (c) charge you our reasonable costs of recovering the debt.

5.9 We may set off any Fee or other amount you owe us under another agreement with us against any payment we have to make to you. Doing this does not affect our other rights under the Agreement or any other agreement between us.

5.10 Once you have paid our invoice or invoices in full, our obligations to you under the Agreement end.

6. Cancelling in the first 14 days

6.1 You can Cancel the Agreement within 14 days without giving a reason. The cancellation period ends 14 days after the day you sign these terms. To Cancel, send us a clear statement that you want to, for example by email to [email protected] or by letter to our trading address. You can use the model cancellation form below, but you do not have to.

6.2 If you Cancel within the cancellation period, you will not have to pay us anything. We do not take any payment up front, but if you had paid us anything we would refund it. If you end the Agreement after the cancellation period, our termination fee in 7.3 applies.

6.3 If, after the cancellation period, you withdraw your authority for us to act for you without telling us, our termination fee in 7.3 applies.

7. Ending the agreement after 14 days

7.1 We may end the Agreement, or stop providing the Services on a particular Claim, by writing to you if:

• (a) after assessing your only outstanding Claim, we decide, fairly and reasonably, that it has no realistic prospect of success or that it is not financially viable for us to pursue;
• (b) you seriously break the Agreement and, if the breach can be put right, you do not put it right within 14 days of our written notice; or
• (c) you are unable to pay your debts, or are treated as having no reasonable prospect of being able to, within the meaning of section 268 of the Insolvency Act 1986, or you are the subject of a bankruptcy petition or order.

7.2 As well as your right to Cancel under section 6, you may end the Agreement:

• (a) if we seriously break the Agreement and, if the breach can be put right, we do not put it right within 14 days of your written notice; or
• (b) at any time, by telling us. Please tell us in writing if you can, by email or post, or by using the model cancellation form.

7.3 Termination fee. If you Terminate the Agreement after the 14-day cancellation period, you must pay our reasonable costs for the work we have done on your Claim or Claims, at up to £75 per hour plus VAT (£90 including VAT). We will send you an invoice showing how we worked out the termination fee. Any charge must be reasonable and reflect the work we have actually done.

7.4 If, after the cancellation period, you accept a settlement offer or receive a Settlement Amount directly on a Claim we made for you, and then try to end the Agreement, our Fee under section 5 is payable.

8. Main risks to you and limits on our liability

8.1 Please be aware of these main risks:

• (a) You might receive no cash compensation but still have to pay our Fees. If you owe the Third Party money, compensation may be set off against that debt, and you may have to pay our Fees from your own money.
• (b) If you have been subject to bankruptcy, a debt relief order, an individual voluntary arrangement, sequestration or a similar arrangement, in Great Britain or elsewhere, compensation might be set off against your debts. You may then have to pay our Fees from your own money.

8.2 You are responsible for any tax due on the Settlement Amount, for example income tax on any interest included in it. We have no responsibility to pay it for you.

8.3 We are not liable for any loss to the extent it is caused by information you gave us about your Claim being inaccurate or incomplete. This does not apply if the information was incomplete because we failed to identify what was needed as part of our standard claims procedures.

8.4 Nothing in the Agreement excludes or limits any liability that the law does not allow us to exclude or limit.

9. General

9.1 By giving you Personal Notice, we may transfer our rights and obligations under the Agreement, or subcontract any of our obligations. Your rights under the Agreement will not be reduced as a result.

9.2 We will not be in breach of the Agreement if an event beyond our reasonable control prevents or delays us from meeting our obligations.

9.3 If we waive one breach of the Agreement, that does not mean we waive any later breach.

9.4 The Agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales. Any dispute about it may be dealt with by any court in the UK that is able to hear the case.

10. Your personal information

10.1 We use your personal information to provide the Services. The Letter of Authority shows the information you must give us for the Agreement. Without it, we cannot provide the Services.

10.2 We will only send you marketing by email or text message where the law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) allows it: that means you have agreed to it, or you became our client and, when you gave us your details, we gave you a simple way to refuse. Our claim form does not ask you to agree to marketing, so we will not send you marketing by email or text message unless you agree to it later. We may write to you by post about similar services where we have a legitimate interest in doing so, and we will stop if you object. Every marketing message tells you how to stop them, and you can also email [email protected]. Messages about your claim are not marketing.

10.3 If you give us your email address and contact us online, you accept the level of security that email offers, and you agree that we can contact you by email and other online means. We use transport layer security (TLS) on our emails, and we encourage you to do the same so that emails between us are encrypted. If you send us documents, please protect them with a password and send the password separately, not in the same email.

10.4 We record and monitor phone calls with you, to meet our regulatory duties and to improve our Services.

10.5 We will keep your personal information for up to 10 years after the Agreement ends. We will then review it and delete it unless we have a business need to keep it for longer, for example for a legal claim or for tax reasons.

10.6 Our Privacy Policy explains in full how we use your personal information. You can also email us for a copy.

11. Changes to the agreement

11.1 While we are providing Services for which we are entitled to a Fee, we may change our Fees by giving you Personal Notice. This includes adding new fees and charges, and changing how we charge for the Services.

11.2 We may make other changes to the Agreement by giving you Personal Notice.

11.3 We will only make a change under 11.1 or 11.2:

• (a) because of an actual or expected change in law, regulation, industry guidance or a code of practice; or
• (b) to reflect actual or expected changes in the costs we pay to third parties for providing the Services.

11.4 Any change will be proportionate to the reason for it, and we will explain the reason to you.

11.5 When we give you Personal Notice of a change, you may end the Agreement at no charge before the change takes effect, by telling us in writing. Your notice takes effect straight away.

11.6 If you do not tell us that you want to end the Agreement before a change takes effect, you will be treated as accepting it. It will then apply from the date given in the Personal Notice.

12. Complaints

12.1 We aim to give you a high standard of service. If you are unhappy with any part of it, please tell us straight away. We handle complaints under the FCA’s rules, to resolve them as quickly as we can. Our complaints procedure explains how; you can also email us for a copy. You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, for free. Details are at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Model cancellation form

Complete and return this form only if you want to cancel the Agreement. You can also cancel by sending us any other clear statement.