Discretionary Commission Arrangements - Complaints and Refunds

You do not need to use a Claims Management Company. You can make the claim directly to the lender and if they reject your complaint you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge, but you must do this within 6 months of the lenders Final Decision Letter.

Discretionary Commission Arrangements

Complaints and Refunds

Hello and welcome to Redbridge Finance. We are a UK located Claims Management Company that specialises in making complaints and claims against UK lenders for mis-sold loans. Discretionary Commission complaints are growing rapidly since the FCA and the FOS conducted an investigation and found in favour of the comsumer. We have extensive experience across many years making complaints and winning refunds and compensation for our customers.

We are pretty good at what we do and our customers agree. We score 4.9 on Google Reviews with the only negative reviews from debtors who tried to avoid paying our fees.

We would love to try and help you get a refund for an unfair loan and if this is something you wish to do, please click the button above so we can start the process.

The process is slow and will take many months, but we will do most of the work and keep you updated as the process progresses.

Below you can read more about Discretionary Commission Arrangements.

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DCA (also sometimes referred to as “Difference in Charge” model).

Potentially affects anyone who bought a car on finance between 2007 and January 28^th, 2021.

Estimated approx. 40% of customers believed to be affected.

FCA has recently found that commission was paid on 95% of contracts taken out. This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing – however some commission was ‘hidden’ in the contract.

Two complaints prompted this investigation by the FCA:

Upheld against Black Horse (Lloyds) - consumer paid a 10.5% apr.
Upheld against Clydsedale (was Barclays, now Virgin Money) consumer paid 8.9% apr.

According to an FCA review in 2019, DCAs lead to consumers paying an extra £1,100 in interest charges on a £10,000 loan over a common four-year repayment schedule. On the other side of the coin, they FCA discovered that the difference between the average and highest commission was approximately £2,000, compared to £700 under a flat-fee arrangement.

FCA are using their powers under s166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, to review historical motor finance commission arrangements and sales across several firms. S166 means FCA has a power to require a company and “certain other persons” to provide a report by a “skilled’ person, or itself to appoint a skilled person to produce such a report.

Which banks/lenders employed the DCA model?

If you bought a car, with finance, from one of these lenders, between 2007 and 28/1/2021 (when Discretionary Commission Arrangements were banned), then we may be able to help:

FCA warn you may have been mis-sold PCP or HP finance if :

You bought a car on finance before 28^th Jan 2021.
There was a DCA arrangement between lender and broker.
You were unaware of the dealer’s commission.

The following lenders have never used a Discretionary Commission Model:

We cannot help with a Discretionary Commission Arrangement complaint with these lenders, but we can still help with an affordability complaint:

Admiral
Advantage Finance
Autolend
Auto Money
Billing Finance
Burnley Savings & Loans
Car Loan Centre
Carmoola
First Response Finance
Glenside Finance
Guardian Finance
Lendable
Mallard Finance
MoneyBarn
Oodle Car Finance
Oplo
Premium Plan
RateSetter
Retail Money Market
Specialist Motor Finance
Tandem
Vehicle Credit
1st Stop Finance

With car finance being more popular in the UK than ever before, it's no surprise that mis-sold products have been some of the most complained about within this sector. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) investigated and identified evidence indicating irresponsible lending at a widespread level across all categories of vehicle financing products - with PCP claims having high levels for refunds/compensation due to capital payments typically made back over longer periods, resulting in increased interest accrual. If you feel your loan was unaffordable then there could be a potential refund awaiting you!

Unethical and unfair practices have been uncovered in the automotive industry - car dealers were manipulating interest rates to earn higher commissions for themselves. Shockingly, one dealer admitted that they knew what they were doing was wrong; calling it "murder". It is clear from this testimony that standards need reforming immediately, with a greater focus on protecting consumers' interests.

Hundreds of thousands of drivers may be entitled to a car finance claim and Redbridge Finance is here for them with experienced guidance. For those who want comprehensive, hassle-free support from start to finish – or simply don't have the time and energy themselves — we will handle every step along the way towards achieving the refund they deserve.

At the heart of all our work is your peace-of-mind and security. We are responsibly prepared to take on even the most challenging lenders as needed, supported by a successful collaboration with Financial Ombudsman Services that speaks for itself. As an added assurance, should we not be able to secure you any financial compensation or reimbursement whatsoever through our services – it doesn't cost you anything in return; unlike some other Claims Management Companies who do charge regardless of results!

Important Documents

Illustration of Fees

Fees charged by Redbridge Finance will be capped as per the table below. Further examples are shown below the table.

The figures quoted are only calculated on actual money sent to you. If you get a balance reduction, we do not charge any fees on the balance reduction element, just on money sent to you by the lender.

Band	Redress awarded for a claim (£)	The maximum percentage rate of charge	The maximum total charge (£)
1	£1-£1,499	30% plus vat	£420
2	£1,500 - £9,999	28% plus vat	£2,500
3	£10,000-£24,999	25% plus vat	£5,000
4	25,000-£49,999	20% plus vat	£7,500
5	£50,000 or above	15% plus vat	£10,000

These are some examples:

Band 1

Compensation amount £1,000. Our Fee £300 + VAT (£360 inc VAT). You get £640

Compensation amount £1,499. Our Fee £350 + VAT (£420 inc VAT). You get £1,079

Band 2

Compensation amount £5,000. Our Fee £1,400 + VAT (£1,680 inc VAT). You get £3,320

Compensation amount £9,999. Our Fee £2,083.33 + VAT (£2,500 inc VAT). You get £7,499

Band 3

Compensation amount £15,000. Our Fee £3,750 + VAT (£4,500 inc VAT). You get £10,500

Compensation amount £24,999. Our Fee £4,166.67 + VAT (£5,000 inc VAT). You get £19,999

Band 4

Compensation amount £30,000. Our Fee £6,000 + VAT (£7,200 inc VAT). You get £22,800

Compensation amount £49,999. Our Fee £6,250 + VAT (£7,500 inc VAT). You get £42,499

Band 5

Compensation amount £50,000. Our Fee £7,500 + VAT (£9,000 inc VAT). You get £41,000

Discretionary Commission

In the UK car finance industry, several companies used the Discretionary Commission model before it was banned by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in January 2021. This model allowed car dealers or finance providers to decide the level of commission they earned from arranging car finance for customers, often tying the level of commission to the interest rate. This practice incentivised car dealers to charge consumers higher interest rates to receive a higher rate of commission.

These are some of the lenders who allowed dealers to use the Discretionary Commission model:

Lloyds/Black Horse

Barclays Finance

Close Brothers

Santander Consumer Finance

Royal Bank Of Canada

BMW Group Financial Services

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services

Hitachi Capital (rebranded to Novuna)

Moneyway

Motonovo

Startline

VWFS

Ford

These companies, by using the Discretionary Commission model, participated in anti-competitive conduct that led UK consumers to pay too much for car finance, potentially affecting around one million used-car buyers across the UK. The collective claims argue that consumers were unknowingly charged higher interest rates due to agreements between providers of motor finance and automotive dealers, with the total value of the claims expected to be approximately one billion pounds.

The practice of Discretionary Commission, which was prevalent before January 2021, led to dealers being incentivised by motor finance companies to charge consumers higher interest rates than they otherwise would have done, to receive a higher rate of commission.

If you were affected by such practices, particularly if you entered into a car finance agreement with any of these companies to purchase a used car between 01 October 2015 and 27 January 2021, you might be eligible for compensation as part of the ongoing legal claims.

It's claimed that Black Horse added £624 million, MotoNovo Finance £209 million, and Santander £166 million in excessive interest, affecting many customers across the UK

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Lloyds Bank, Blackhorse Finance and the FCA investigation

Black Horse and Lloyds in the news!

Black Horse Finance, a well-known provider of financial services in the UK, has recently come under fire following an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into a commission scandal.

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Barclays Partner Finance Commission Refund and Complaints

In light of the scandal, Barclays Partner Finance has announced that they will be offering refunds to affected customers who were unknowingly sold products that included high commission fees. The company has stated that they are committed to putting things right and ensuring that all impacted customers are fairly compensated for any losses incurred.