The latest deadline extension from the FCA is worth noting if you are in the Motor finance sector;
We have extended the pause to the deadline for motor finance firms to provide a final response to customer complaints regarding discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) until 4 December 2025.
On 11 January 2024, we announced a review into whether motor finance customers have been overcharged because of the past use of DCAs.
We also paused the 8-week deadline for a final response to relevant customer complaints. We introduced the pause to prevent disorderly, inconsistent and inefficient outcomes for consumers, as well as knock-on effects on firms and the market, while we assessed the issue and determined the best way forward.
On 30 July 2024, we consulted on a proposal to extend the DCA complaint handling pause. This was because it had taken us longer than expected to get the data we needed from firms. Barclays Partner Finance has also launched a judicial review of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s decision to uphold a complaint relating to its use of a DCA. The judicial review will consider legal issues highly relevant to our work. The hearing will take place in October.
We will set out next steps in our review into the past use of DCAs in May 2025. By then, we expect to have completed our analysis and assessed the outcome of the Barclays judicial review and other relevant cases in the Court of Appeal.
The extended pause allows us time, if necessary, to introduce an alternative way of dealing with DCA complaints, such as a consumer redress scheme. It is too early to say if we will intervene in this way, but based on our work so far, it is more likely than when we started our review.
Making a complaint
While firms have longer to deal with DCA complaints, consumers should be aware you can still complain to your provider and there are time limits for doing so. Check if our work applies to you and how to complain.
We’ve also confirmed consumers have until the later of 29 July 2026 or 15 months from the date of their final response letter from the firm, to refer a DCA complaint to the Financial Ombudsman (instead of the usual 6 months). This is so consumers will not have to decide whether to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman before we announce next steps.
INDUSTRY COMMENT
Darren Richards, Head of Broadstone’s Insurance, Regulatory & Risk division, said: “The extension of the pause for handling complaints in the FCA’s motor finance probe highlights again the complexity involved in this issue, especially for firms to gather and provide the correct data while there are also legal ongoing proceedings. It gives the regulator the time and space to review this data, await legal reviews and come to the best conclusion on behalf of consumers.
“With the FCA previously suggesting that the possibility of redress payments is now more likely it means that firms should continue their preparations around how they would meet the costs of resolving consumer complaints and the potential total liability. The further pause is likely to increase the number of complaints to be handled and potentially the interest due on any redress. On the flip side, it will defer any compensation for customers and also increase the risk of customers being timed out of the process.”
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