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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). You do not need to use a claims management company: you can complain to your lender, and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, yourself for free.

Your guide to car finance claims

What a mis-sold car finance claim is, which agreements the FCA’s scheme covers, what you can do yourself for free, and how a claim with us works.

Car Claims Check checks car finance for commission you were not told about and, where there is a case, complains to your lender for you.

Understanding mis-sold car finance

Most people who buy a car on credit use one of these:

  • Personal Contract Purchase (PCP): monthly payments, then an optional final “balloon” payment if you want to keep the car.
  • Hire Purchase (HP): fixed monthly payments, and the car is yours after the last one.
  • A personal loan: you borrow the money and buy the car outright. A loan you arranged yourself with a bank, rather than through the dealer, is not the kind of finance the FCA’s commission scheme is about.
  • Personal Contract Hire (PCH), or leasing: you rent the car and hand it back at the end. The FCA says leases like this are not covered by its scheme.

When a dealer arranged PCP or HP for you, it was acting as a credit broker, and lenders often paid it commission. You should have been given clear information about the deal before you signed, but the commission behind it was not always explained. The FCA estimates that around 12.1 million agreements, about 37% of those made between 2007 and 2024, are eligible for compensation under its scheme.

How to make a claim

There are two ways to do it, and the choice is yours.

  1. Do it yourself, for free. Complain to your lender: the FCA publishes a list of lenders with their contact details and template complaint letters. 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 scheme, you do not need anyone’s help to receive it.
  2. Ask us to do it. Fill in the form on our homepage, read the key facts and fees, and sign to appoint Consumer Reclaim Ltd, trading as Car Claims Check. We look for the car finance agreements you have had, assess each one, complain to the lender where there is a case, and keep you updated.

If you ask us and your claim succeeds, the fee is a percentage of the compensation for each agreement: from 15% to 30% 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 table and worked examples.

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, and until that ends lenders do not have to calculate or pay compensation under it. The FCA estimates that people who are paid under the scheme will receive an average of around £830 per agreement (FCA, 30 March 2026), but amounts vary and many agreements will not qualify. Nobody can promise whether, when or how much you will be paid.

Check my car finance

You do not need to use a claims management company. You can complain to your lender yourself and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, and if you are owed money under the FCA’s redress scheme, you do not need to pay anyone to receive it.

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What are PCP and HP claims?

Car dealers who arranged finance were often paid commission by the lender. Under a “discretionary commission arrangement”, the dealer could set your interest rate within a range and earn more commission the higher the rate. The FCA banned these arrangements from 28 January 2021, and has since set up a scheme to compensate people who were not told about certain commission arrangements.

A claim is a complaint to the lender that you were treated unfairly, asking it to put things right. A claim Consumer Reclaim makes for you is not a court case: Consumer Reclaim does not bring court proceedings on your claim. If a claim ever went to court through a solicitor, you might have to attend court and give evidence. If the lender says no, or you are not happy with its answer, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Who the FCA’s scheme covers

The FCA says you may be considered for compensation if all of these apply:

  • you used finance for a car, van, motorbike or campervan between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024, including hire purchase and PCP;
  • the lender paid the dealer or broker commission; and
  • you were not told about at least one of three things: a discretionary commission arrangement, which let the broker raise your interest rate to earn more commission; a high commission, of at least 39% of the total cost of credit and 10% of the loan; or a contractual tie, where the broker only used one lender or gave one lender first refusal.

Leases such as Personal Contract Hire are not covered. Nor are agreements where you have already accepted compensation, or where your complaint has already been decided by the Financial Ombudsman Service or a court. Some other exclusions apply: the FCA’s car finance claims page has the full list.

How long does a claim take?

It depends on your lender and on the scheme. The first step is asking the lender for the details of your agreement. While parts of the scheme are suspended, lenders do not have to calculate or pay compensation under it. The FCA has said that if the scheme is upheld and the judgment is not appealed, it expects payments to begin in 2027, and that compensation could be delayed until 2028 or beyond if it is not. We cannot make that process faster, and we will not promise you a date.