Martin Lewis issues £1,100 car finance mis-selling update which leaves customers fuming
Martin Lewis has issued an update on the car finance mis-selling uproar. Earlier this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed it was investigating the mis-selling of loans for vehicles to people.
Anyone who bought a car, van or motorbike on finance between April 2007 and 28 January 2021 is able to check to see if they are owed money. It revolves around potentially hidden Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs) that customers were not told about.
The Money Saving Expert website predicts that, on average, customers will be due £1,100 back each. People are being urged to make their claim by the end of today (September 24), although if you have a valid reason for not being able to make the claim before the deadline, you may still be able to request an extension.
In January, the FCA said it expected to report on its findings by September. As part of that, it paused the usual eight-week deadline for motor finance firms to provide a final response to DCA complaints until 25 September.
It then proposed to move this to December 2025 to allow for more time to decide how to deal with the issue amid fears of the Financial Ombudsman being overwhelmed by complaints. It plans to publish the outcome of the review published by next May.
In an update provided on his X page, Mr Lewis said: "Motor finance misselling update: @TheFCA just announced while it'll announce it's ruling in May 2025 firms will have until December 2025 to deal with complaints."
The news did not go down well with many. @AlanBauthor said: "So, avoiding the public and payouts as usual then," while @paulmerchant8 added: "Certainly giving the finance companies plenty of time to every enquiry, fully understand a massive task for the larger companies but surely somebody knows who is due money?"
"For goodness sake. They know people have claims so why are they delaying payment?" demanded @Frances38594528, while @charlie_suth said: "Disgraceful. They will just keep kicking the can down the road."