Martin Lewis warns some drivers ‘ineligible’ for £1,100 payout after car finance scandal

Martin Lewis has warned drivers could lose out on a £1,100 payment amid the car finance scandal – if they act too late. MoneySavingExpert.com now has 1,080,000 car finance complaint letters submitted since 6 February, Mr Lewis has confirmed.

The FCA previously said there were thousands of complaints already lodged with the Financial Ombudsman, the mediator of financial disputes, while Lloyds Banking Group has set aside £450m to cover potential compensation claims. The bank had to pay almost £20bn over the PPI scandal.

Taking to Twitter/X, BBC Sounds presenter Martin explained: “We won’t know until the FCA’s ruling due in September. And it’s because we don’t know what the FCA will say in September that eligible people should look at logging a complaint sooner not later – as the unknown means there’s the risk people may be ineligible if they wait to claim.

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“The regulator’s own website information indicates timing may be an issue and says ‘so, if you think you could be running out of time, you should consider complaining to your provider now’.” The deadline for dealing with complaints has been extended until the FCA reports its findings on September 25, 2024.

The ITV The Martin Lewis Money Show star explained in the MSE guide: “There is no need to use a no-win, no-fee claims firm. With the totally free MSE tool, you just answer a few questions on your car finance agreement (answers aren’t recorded, so as not to inadvertently data-mine) and then the tool builds an email to request information on whether you had a DCA, then logs a complaint.”

Mr Lewis said it was “not surprising” that some firms were struggling to respond to complaints in good time. He added: “To frustrated complainers, I’d say for now we should be prepared to give companies some wriggle room on timings, but firms need to urgently step up their complaint handling resources.”