Martin Lewis, the financial journalist who founded Money Saving Expert, has spoken out about the upcoming payouts for people who were mis-sold car finance between 2007 and 2024.
Yesterday, 30 March, it was announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that the payouts would likely total a whopping £7.5 billion in paying back car owners from that period.
This will average £829, with the money owed rising or falling depending on the specific situations of your car finance.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain this morning, Lewis explained who does and doesn't fall into this, also warning that he had an 'important message' to anyone who might fall into the categories that will receive payouts.
Advert
Lewis stated on the ITV morning show that the important thing is to note what exactly it was that was announced, saying it was a 'Mass redress scheme from the manufacturer.'
He said: “Mass is the important word here. Not only will firms have to compensate people who’ve been mis-sold who complained, they will have to seek out people who’ve been mis-sold who haven’t complained.
“That’s an unprecedented move, it’s not complain and get your money, it’s even if you haven’t complained some people will be paid out.”
He went on to issue an ‘important message’, saying: “My most important message is you want to be in the complainant camp.
“If you complain you'll get paid out in 2026, if you were mis-sold and you don't complain it'll be 2027.
“Second, the firm may have lost your details, you may have the paperwork… the firm may not have them so you would miss out if you didn’t complain.
“Third you may have got married and changed your name, you may have moved house, it may not have you have your contact details, all of which could mean you miss out.
“So you want to be in the complained category. You don't have to pay anyone to do that.
“There are free tools online, I’ve had 3.6 million people use my car finance mis-selling tool on money saving expert. You know, you can do this very easily.”
Lewis proceeded to break down exactly who falls into the category to get the payout, saying: “You ask me who's eligible. Well, here's the categories. It's from April 2007 till November 2024.
“If you have PCP or HP car finance, not leasing. It doesn't have to be a car.
“It's motor vehicle, actually. So it's a car, a van, a camper van, a motorbike, but not a caravan because that doesn't have a motor. It had to be primarily in most cases for personal use.
“Then you're in the category where you may have been mis-sold. And 35% of people who had those deals have been mis-sold so not everyone.”
Lewis proceeded to explain the ‘bit to really get your brain around’, explaining why its so important to put in a complaint.
He said: “There were three different types of mis-selling but with all of them the key element is they didn't tell you what they were doing with commission. So if you were mis-sold you do not know you were mis-sold because you weren't told what they were doing so you have no way to find out if you're in the mis-sold camp without complaining.
“To find out if you've got a complaint, you need to complain, and the first things that the free tools do is they say ‘was I in any of these categories, did you do this to me ‘that's the nature of the first stage of complaining.
“So you don't know if you're mis-sold without complaining and you want to be in the complaint group if I haven't made it clear enough now.
“If you are in that list of 2007 to 2024 and you have HP or PCP car finance put a complaint in if you haven't already.”
Topics: Martin Lewis, TV and Film, TV, Money, Cars
Michael Slavin