New Martin Lewis MSE car finance tool helps people reclaim £1,100 in minutes (2024)

This week’s episode of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live focused on a potentially new mis-selling scandal that could become the “UK’s second biggest reclaim after PPI”, according to its award-winning host. Martin Lewis took viewers through the complicated process that could see millions of people who purchased a car, van, camper van or motorbike on finance before January 28, 2021, receive more than £1,100 in compensation.

The consumer champion told STV viewers on Tuesday night that to make it easier for people to make a complaint and begin the process, he and his team at MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE.com) had created a template letter that anyone can access and use. Incredibly, after just one day since the template went live, it has been used by 262,500 people.

Martin took to social media to share the update and encourage more people not to miss out, even though any decision by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on whether they will be due money back from an inflated discretionary commission arrangement, will not be announced until September 25, 2024.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), he posted: “Car finance reclaiming update. Staggeringly after just 1 full day of our free complaint tool being live...

“262,500 complaint emails have been sent. It's estimated 40% will've had hidden commission. Typical overcharge was £1,100 per agreement.

“So predicted payout will be £115,000,000 (that's conservative as many letters are multi-agreement).”

MSE.com’s car finance commission reclaim guide explains the whole process and reasons behind their new campaign to help millions of motorists get back around £1,100, although this figure could be much higher.

The free car finance reclaim guide and tool also generates a bespoke letter drafted by Martin Lewis, to help those who purchased a vehicle using finance claim back hidden and unfair commission. Anyone who bought a car, van or motorbike with a finance agreement before 28 January 2021 could be affected and should look at getting a complaint logged as soon as possible.

Martin Lewis said: "These are staggering numbers, bigger even than the final days in the run up to the PPI deadline.

"To put it in context, of the 262,500 complaint emails that have been sent via our free tool, it’s estimated 40% of those will have had the hidden discretionary commission arrangements on them. The typical overcharge – which is likely to be paid back once the FCA reports in September – is £1,100 per agreement. So that would mean a conservative predicted payout of £115,000,000 – conservative as many of the emails cover two, three or four agreements with the same firm.

"I was expecting 50,000 on the first day, which was still huge. This is off the charts and means this reclaim campaign is likely to be bigger than bank charges, and second only to PPI in scale with many billions potentially to be paid out.

"I’d urge anyone who got a car, van, camper van or motorbike on finance before 28 January 2021 to check and get their complaint in soon - the sooner you do it, the less risk of being timed out later."

You can read the full guide and follow the sep-by step process on the MSE.com website here.

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