Ive just sent a letter (email) to (Finance House) using the link on the Martin Lewis website - just enter the details of the lender, agreement number, your details and it creates a draft for you to cut and paste into a letter or email - very simple.
What it created for me . . (including an email address)
Do it, nothing to lose and it’s . . . FREE
Dear Sir/Madam,
On 11 January 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into unfair historical motor finance commission arrangements. This has made me aware that I may have been caught out by this unfair practice. As I had a finance agreement with your firm, I am writing for clarification on the following two requests:
- A request for information you hold on my behalf. I would like to ask if my finance agreement with you, reference )Agreement Number), had any form of discretionary commission arrangement between you and the broker / car dealer or any other entity involved in the transaction. If it did, I request you inform me within 28 days of the date of this communication.
For the sake of clarity, this first request is purely for information and is not a complaint or expression of dissatisfaction, and is not subject to the FCA’s pause. If there is failure to comply with my request, please treat this request as a data subject access request under the Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR.
- If there is/was a discretionary commission arrangement in place in relation to my finance agreement with you, I request you treat this communication as a formal complaint arising out of the commission arrangement and the fact it was not adequately disclosed at the time it was taken out. The complaint should be treated as being made on the date of this communication. Please confirm to me within 28 days that you have done so.
Details that may help you find my policy:
Name:
Date of birth:
Finance address at the time of the loan:
Current Address:
Finance agreement policy number:
Vehicle number plate:
Purchased from:
Reason Why
Precis
In January 2021, the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned ‘discretionary commission arrangements’ (DCAs). This stopped lenders allowing brokers (including car dealers) to increase interest rates on car finance, so that they’d be bunged more commission (even though they did no work). It’s an unfair practice, as consumers weren’t told, and many – thinking it a fixed price – didn’t negotiate.
On 11 January 2024, the FCA launched a major investigation into this. To announce such a public wide-scale investigation, it will already have substantial evidence. What it’s doing now is building that at a firm-by-firm level using its heightened investigatory powers.
They think it likely that, when the investigation completes (currently planned to be September), the FCA will set up some type of mass-scale redress scheme – though there’s a small chance it’ll change its mind and say this is a damp squib. The best way to act is to assume that scheme is coming. This guide does that, and takes you through a simple complaint route (as opposed to a more complex option of going to court, for which most would require legal support).