Complaints about undisclosed commission in car finance

At the moment it’s not certain who will be eligible for compensation. The FCA is putting together a compensation scheme and will provide more details on who is eligible. This is expected in October 2025.

One type of commission, called a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA), has been banned. Customers who had finance agreements with a DCA are likely to receive compensation.

If you think you might have bought your vehicle with a DCA agreement you can put in a complaint now. Find out more about How to complain about mis-sold DCAs in car finance.

We don’t yet know who will be eligible for compensation in non-DCA cases. But there’s a chance you’ll be owed money if: 

• commissions in your finance agreement weren’t disclosed to you properly, and 
• the amount you paid in commission was unfairly high. 

If you feel that your agreement was unfair, the next step is to submit a complaint. 

You could be due compensation if:

• you took out motor finance between April 2007 and October 2024 (including cars, vans, campervans and motorbikes)

• your agreement was a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP), Hire Purchase (HP) or Personal Contract Hire (PCH, often called a lease)

• your vehicle was bought for personal use 

• your agreement included a commission arrangement that wasn’t explained to you fully.

If you’re thinking of complaining, it’s a good idea to use a free template letter so that you don’t need to pay a claims management company. These companies can charge up to 30% of any compensation that’s due to you and won’t be any quicker. 

The free template letter availableOpens in a new window on MoneySavingExpert can also be used to check if you were sold any finance with hidden commission.

Gather any information about your car finance. Then complain to your lender, ideally in writing.  

You’ll need to complain to the firm you were paying each month. If you’re not sure who that is, you can check your credit report (if the agreement was active in the past six years) or old bank statements if you have them. 

Tell the lender you think you’ve been charged undisclosed commission and include as much information as you have.

You should get a response from the lender to confirm that they’ve received your complaint within a few weeks. If you don’t hear anything, contact the firm again to check if they received it. 

Your lender should confirm whether you had a commission arrangement. However, the FCA has given firms extra time to respond to complaints, so you might not hear back for a while.

What you do next depends on the response you get:

• If you had a commission arrangement, you don’t need to do anything more for now. When the FCA announces details of its compensation scheme, customers will be told what they need to do next. 

• If you didn’t have a commission arrangement or it was fully disclosed, unfortunately it’s unlikely that you’ll be due any compensation. If you disagree, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman ServiceOpens in a new window

• If your lender doesn’t give you any further response, don’t worry. As long as your complaint has been acknowledged, you’ll be able to take the next steps once the FCA has announced details of its compensation scheme.

If you don’t get any response at all, or you disagree with the lender’s response, you can take your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman ServiceOpens in a new window

The FCA is expected to announce details of its compensation scheme in October 2025. 

Once this is published, it should be clearer who will receive compensation and how it will be paid. 

This means that once your complaint is logged, the next step is to simply wait until more details are announced.