Mis-sold Car Finance

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4LEX

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Has anyone submitted a claim over this?

I've only taken out car finance once in order to build my credit rating up but it turns out my deal was mis-sold. I emailed the company a few weeks ago and they confirmed that was the case.

The situation is all claims are paused for the time being due to waiting on the FCA ruling in late September.

If anyone had car finance before January 21st 2021, email the company and check if you were mis-sold. Don't use the tinpot legal firms offered to act on your behalf for 45% commision! Do it yourself as it's very easy.
 
chellie said:
I think it's that the car dealers were being paid a commission but didn't tell people this.
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I would have been surprised if i was told that car dealers were NOT getting a commission. Always assumed that anything a car dealer sold you (gap insurance, finance, super duper hard paint wax chip protection etc etc) they would be getting a bit of commission on.

I cant remember whether the last time (prior to 2021) I bought a car they gave me any information about the finance and whether the dealer was getting a cut...would have been 2013...not sure I can remember even who the finance was with!!!
 
Between myself and my wife's cars I have enquired into the mis-selling for 6 cars. 2 have confirmed I was mis-sold. 1 confirmed I wasn't. Other 3 have replied to my email but not confirmed either way. Wait and see.Might be some money for nothing similar to the bank one which got me a few grand.
 
Just out of interest as I’ve never had car finance. How has them not disclosing their commission impacted the buyer?

Has it cost more?
 
It's to do with DCA - Discretionary Commission Arrangements, prior to Jan 2021.

DCA was the fixing of interest rates on car finance products. Rates were often fixed falsely higher so that the client paid a higher interest rate to "fund" higher commission. In essence, they didn't pass on the lower rate to us and kept it for themselves.

Doesn't apply to all firms though, as some were compliant, but many were not. I think Money Saving Expert has a tool to help check which companies are likely to be in scope and help you claim; e.g. simple letter templates available that allow you to send off your enquiry to your finance company(ies). I used the MSE one - very good and easy. I've sent off 3 claims and by law, they have to be acknowledged and processed. There is no need to use legal firms at all.

Around Sept time this year, if the Ombudsman finds there has been malpractice, then valid claims will be fulfilled to be paid by the banks, etc. They have been instructed to set aside capital to cover this off.
 
Bunkermagnet said:
I don’t see this as anything other than a money maker for the legal companies looking to generate income.
More importantly is who is paying out and where does it come from?
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They'll definitely make money off the back of it but only from those stupid enough to let them instruct on their behalf. As Piece says, very good advice on MSE regarding templates and what to do.
 
4LEX said:
Has anyone submitted a claim over this?

I've only taken out car finance once in order to build my credit rating up but it turns out my deal was mis-sold. I emailed the company a few weeks ago and they confirmed that was the case.

The situation is all claims are paused for the time being due to waiting on the FCA ruling in late September.

If anyone had car finance before January 21st 2021, email the company and check if you were mis-sold. Don't use the tinpot legal firms offered to act on your behalf for 45% commision! Do it yourself as it's very easy.
Click to expand...
I've had 1 finance agreement in my times buying cars as I usually just get a personal loan but I was too lazy to get a loan at the time as it was 2011 and although the finance was higher than a loan it wasn't much and decided to take the finance just for convenience. After seeing the moneysavingexpert post on it, I decided to try it anyway.

Sent it off to BMW finance with all the details, name, address, policy number, date of agreement etc and they got back saying the old "thanks for contacting but we can't find a policy for you so can you forward on x details". I've since then sent them the actual agreement since it was still in my Gmail and I had a copy on my hard drive as well. Have heard nothing back since except the "we are receiving lots of these and will get back in due time" responses.
 
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Delays caused by a combo of lenders 💩 themselves with the potential size of the claims, and that it could now extend to other loan areas, not just cars.

All three of our PCPs are confirmed as DCAs.
 
If we have been mis-sold, why are we not just given our money back rather than having to put in a claim?

Prior to 2021 I’ve had cars on finance from MINI (a few), Audi and Ford.

How should I go about enquiring?

Thanks.
 
KenL said:
If we have been mis-sold, why are we not just given our money back rather than having to put in a claim?

Prior to 2021 I’ve had cars on finance from MINI (a few), Audi and Ford.

How should I go about enquiring?

Thanks.
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You have to write to the loan company that provided your finance agreement(s).

Think there are standard pro-forma letters out there that you can use...even if you don't know the specifics of the loan then the finance company should be able to match it up with the registration of the car that it related to.
 
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