Car finance claims: What to do if you bought a car on finance

Published: 31 July 2025

If you bought a car, van or motorbike on finance, you might be able to get compensation. 

You might get compensation if the finance lender paid the car dealer a fee - this is called ‘commission’. The Supreme Court is deciding whether some of these commissions were unlawful.

You don’t need to do anything right now. The Supreme Court’s judgment is due at 4.35pm on 1 August 2025 - after this, we’ll know more about if people can get compensation.

We’ll update this page as we find out more.

If you’re still paying off your car finance

Keep making your payments. If you stop paying, it might harm your credit score, and you could lose your vehicle.

Check if your lender paid commission to your dealer

You can contact the lender to ask whether they paid a commission to your dealer.

Finding out who your lender is

You can check any paperwork for your car finance - this will tell you who your lender was.

If you were still making payments towards your car after 2019, you can also check your credit report. This should have a record of who lent the money. Find out how to check your credit report for free on MoneyHelper.

If you’re not sure whether a certain lender gave you finance, you can contact them to ask.

If your lender paid commission to your dealer

You might be able to get compensation.

We don’t yet know how people will be able to claim compensation. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) might set up rules for how companies look at claims and work out compensation. This is called a ‘redress scheme’.

You should wait until after the Supreme Court’s judgment - we’ll update this page when we know more. 

If you’re thinking of using a ‘claims management company’

Claims management companies (CMCs) are companies that offer to deal with your compensation case. If you get compensation, the CMC would take some of your compensation as their payment.

You don’t need to use a CMC to complain to your lender and get compensation. You’ll be able to do this yourself and get compensation just as quickly. 

If you’ve already complained to your lender

You don’t need to do anything else right now. This is because lenders are waiting to hear about the judgment from the Supreme Court.

If you’ve already started court action

All car finance claims will be paused until the Supreme Court judgment is announced. After the judgment, you should hear from your solicitor about the next steps.