1 week ago
A record number of complaints about car finance have been filed, as the commissions scandal continues to rumble on.
That is according to fresh data from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which has revealed that vehicle hire purchases are currently the most complained-about of all financial products.
The FOS found that overall it received more than 68,000 complaints in the three-months between December and February, of which a whopping 15,956 were related to the hire purchase of vehicles.
The service said the main automotive complaints from customers were that they were not told the car dealer would get commission from the finance provider for arranging the finance.
Others alleged that the way their car finance agreement was arranged was ‘unfair’ or that their car dealer didn’t provide the best interest rate available.
Meanwhile, some customers complained that the advice, information, or recommendation their car dealer gave them was not fair because they were influenced by the commission or fee they would get from their finance provider
The result makes motor finance the product with the most unresolved complaints, well clear of credit cards on 10,957.
The most complained about products overall were:
- Hire purchase (motor), 15,956
- Credit cards, 10,957
- Current accounts, 8,830
- Car/motorcycle insurance, 3,660
- Conditional sale (motor), 2,702
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the FOS says that complaints rose as a result of the current car finance crisis, ahead of Close Brothers’ Supreme Court appeal next month.
In more bad news for the automotive industry, there were 3,66o complaints related to car or motorcycle insurance, as well as 2,702 about the conditional sale of a vehicle.
Reacting to the findings, James Dipple-Johnstone, interim chief ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: ‘Every year we help resolve tens of thousands of difficult disputes for consumers and businesses – providing impartial help in often challenging circumstances.
‘We are continuing to see high volumes of motor finance commission cases and would encourage businesses to consider whether complaints are covered by the FCA’s temporary complaint handling rules.
‘Ongoing legal proceedings are impacting our ability to issue final decisions in these cases, but we are putting steps in place to ensure we can resolve them as quickly as possible when we have the clarity we need.’
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