You may be aware of recent press coverage in relation to motor finance commission complaints, in response to this, the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) has recently issued some guidance about how such complaints should be handled see (https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/car-finance-complaints).

Family Finance has never paid any broker commission under a Discretionary Commissions Arrangements, or DCA. Under a DCA arrangement, the commission received by the credit broker from the lender is linked to the interest rate payable by the customer under a credit agreement to fund the purchase of a motor vehicle and the broker has a discretion to set or adjust that rate.

Our commission payments are all non-discretionary which means the value is set and our customers were always made aware of the arrangement at the point of sale.

The recent changes by the FCA mean all motor commission payment complaints will be affected in the following ways:

• The timeframe to provide customers with a final response to such complaints for non-DCA commission complaints received on or after 26 October 2024 has been extended until after 4 December 2025.

If you have sent (or have been sent) a final response to a complaint during the following periods:

• For a complaint about a DCA, between 12 July 2023 and 20 June 2024.
• For a complaint about any kind of motor finance commission (including DCAs), between 21 June 2024 and 29 January 2026.

You will have until the later of 29 July 2026 or 15 months from the date the final response letter was sent to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

If you have already been sent a final response and now have more time to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, your provider will write to you and let you know.
 

If you would like further information please contact us on 01495 717171 or email complaints@familyfinanceltd.co.uk.