Is My Finance Claim Legit?

If you’re considering making a claim for a vehicle you owned through personal contract purchase (PCP) or hire purchase (HP), you’ve probably wondered if a site is genuine. It’s easy to get caught by bogus companies as the tricks they use get more advanced. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to keep you safe.

How do I check if my finance claim is legit? By reading this article, you will know what to look out for. It will cover what car PCP claims consist of, and explore which situations make you eligible. Although Martin Lewis has touched on this subject, he’s only scratching the surface for one type of claim.

Ready to start your claim for mis-sold PCP? Use our eligibility checker to find your vehicle(s). It only takes a minute.

What Is My Finance Claim?

When it comes to mis-sold car finance claims, you need to understand what they consist of. This is simply asserting your rights as a consumer that you were mis-led in some way over the finance of your vehicle. This may have been for high charges or not having details properly explained to you.

Can my finance claim be for a car I no longer own? Yes, it can be. While you can put in a claim against a vehicle you currently have on finance, you can also do the same with vehicles you’ve returned.

On What Grounds Can I Make My Finance Claim?

Many of you will be aware of the attention Martin Lewis is rightfully giving to mis-sold PCP, which is tied into the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) investigation. However, this is only one situation that makes you eligible.

So, what can my finance claim be about? There are more than a few situations that qualify for your vehicle. These include:

• Discretionary commissions

• Pressured sales tactics

• Lack of affordability checks

• Overcharges of interest

• Diesel emissions

Discretionary Commissions

Before 2021, what was known as ‘discretionary commissions’ was commonplace in car dealerships. This was simply a way of them upping how much you paid for your vehicle just so they could receive more commission. You would not have been told about this, which is why it’s also known as ‘hidden commission’.

In 2021, the FCA banned the practice. Its investigation is currently looking into whether a wave of claims will be eligible for compensation. This is due to finish in September 2024.

Is my finance claim to do with hidden commission? If what Martin Lewis has been saying about PCP claims sounds familiar to you, then yes.

Pressured Sales Tactics

Sometimes, salespeople can be more concerned with pushing a customer into a more expensive deal that isn’t quite right for them, just so they can get more out of it. Such tactics can involve neglecting to show you all the different options available, as well as ignoring cheaper deals.

Can my finance claim be because of pushy salespeople? Yes. It’s often questioned whether such high pressure tactics are illegal, but this does give you grounds to make a claim for your vehicle.

Lack of Affordability Checks

Before anyone is given finance, an affordability check needs to take place. This ensures the deal you’re given won’t cause you financial stress, and that you’ll be able to make payments in full and on time.

Neglecting to do this, or even ignoring blatant situations that will cause problems later down the line is a form of mis-selling. This is a type of unaffordable lending.

Can my finance claim for my vehicle be on the grounds that I struggled financially? Yes. Car finance shouldn’t make it more difficult to balance finances. You may need evidence to support this claim.

Overcharges of Interest

This situation is when salespeople gloss over the specifics without explaining the contact properly. You might have been told about a flat rate of interest and not realised that this was negotiable. This is completely separate from APR, which is the true level of interest you’ll be paying on your car finance.

My finance claimed 5% interest, but the APR was much higher than this. Can I claim? You can. More often than not, these cases look at the cheapest rate that was available at the time and give you compensation based on the difference you paid.

Diesel Emissions

This is separate to mis-sold PCP, but you’re still eligible to claim for excess diesel emissions on your vehicle. Since the dieselgate scandal, several manufacturers have been taken to court over alleged defeat devices. This is another case of mis-selling, as you wouldn’t have known the true polluting levels your vehicle was emitting.

Can my finance claim cover dieselgate? Yes. There are ways to check if your diesel claim is legit too.

What’s My Finance Claim Compensation For?

Depending on what you’re making a claim for, the compensation you receive will be about putting right any wrong you suffered. This could be by awarding you money back that was taken without your knowledge through your finance deal.

Alternatively, if you were charged a higher amount of interest than the cheapest offer at the time, you could be awarded the difference. As well as this, you might be given interest on top. This can add up if your finance agreement was over a long period of time.

In situations where the vehicle finance wasn’t affordable, you might receive back all interest that you paid. If you’re still in an agreement, this could be rearranged and your monthly payments lowered (with 0% interest).

With a diesel claim, you’re being compensated for driving a much more polluting car than you realised. You might not have even bought the car had you realised the high levels of emissions it is capable of.

I paid off my car finance. Will my finance claim be accepted? Yes. It doesn’t matter how you qualify for a mis-sold PCP claim. As long as you were mis-sold in some way, you can claim.

Check a Website Is Genuine for My Finance Claim

Education is the most important tool to figure out if a website is authentic or not. The best things to do are to perform certain checks, looking for corroborating evidence across different websites. This will keep you safe when putting in car finance claims.

How to Check My Finance Claim is Legitimate

• Contact information

• Reviews

• Accreditation

Contact Information

Some unscrupulous companies won’t even have contact information on their site. Others might have fake details. It’s important to cross-reference this. Look up their registered office.

If you can’t find their number elsewhere, try phoning it to see how they answer. You can always tell them it’s a wrong number and end the call.

As an example, My Finance Claim is a trading style of Pogust Goodhead, which is a law firm. You can find information about them across the web.

Reviews

It’s not uncommon to find cherry-picked reviews on a website. These will mostly show the highest rated or more complimentary viewpoints of their customers. Don’t just take their word for it; do a little legwork yourself.

Find the company on Trustpilot and/or Feefo. These are more reputable platforms run by third-parties, where customers are advised to be as honest as possible. Don’t just look at the highest rated reviews.

Check if there’s a pattern from negative reviews. This could be a lack of communication or no one answering the phone. It could simply just be misunderstand or wires getting crossed.

It’s best to read between the lines here, as some reviews are written with heightened emotions.

I can’t find any reviews specifically about my finance claim company. Will my car finance claim be okay? If you can’t find reviews, perform some of the other checks first.

Accreditation

The last way you can tell if a site is genuine is to look for any accreditation or business numbers. Any financial company should be registered with the FCA, which can easily be found in their terms and conditions. Law firms will also have a licence number. When you find these, you can search for them online to check their validity.

Going through these steps doesn’t take long. It can be all it takes to make sure your claim, and personal details, are safe.

Does responsibility for my finance claim lie with me? Yes. It is entirely up to you how you process your claim, but the company you choose will keep you updated.

Eligibility Criteria for My Finance Claim

The criteria for making a claim is fairly straightforward. By and large, you should be eligible for any vehicle that was bought through PCP or HP since 2007.

Any of the following can also apply:

• New or second hand vehicle on finance

• A car, van or motorbike

• Existing contracts or historic ones

• Multiple vehicles

Can my finance claim be for a finance arrangement that was paid off as well as the one I’m currently in? Yes. You can claim for multiple vehicles, whether the finance agreement has finished or is still ongoing.

How Long Will My Finance Claim Take?

It is difficult to determine how long it will take to process your car PCP claim. This largely depends on how complicated your situation is. In most cases, compensation can be received in a few months. In other situations, this could take much longer.

Any cases associated with undisclosed commissions before 2021 are unlikely to be processed before September 2024. This is because of the ongoing investigation from the FCA. You can still log your claim and simply wait.

Exactly how long will I have to wait for my finance claim to progress? If your mis-sold PCP claim is relatively simple, it can be resolved in a few short months. For cases a bit more complex, this will take longer, but there is no set time frame.

Check My Finance Claim

Once you’ve done the research and are happy to go ahead with your PCP claim, you can start your journey by providing your details. Check your eligibility by clicking on the button below.

Can I start my finance claim online? You absolutely can. Click on the button below to find your vehicle and a trusted third party will be in contact and process your claim.