Millions of drivers could be losing out on hundreds of pounds in compensation, experts have warned, just days after the UK's regulator confirmed a redress scheme for the car finance scandal.
The Financial Conduct Authority confirmed that it would be rolling out a redress scheme for 12.1 million car finance agreements, at a cost of £7.5billion, with the average agreement set to receive £829.
The massive compensation scheme is linked to drivers being unfairly treated by companies that broke rules by failing to disclose to motorists that they would receive more commission from the finance deal.
As the FCA looks to roll out the compensation scheme, millions of drivers will be eagerly anticipating how they could benefit from the redress scheme if they took out a motor finance agreement between 2007 and 2024.
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The FCA has estimated that around 75 per cent of eligible consumers will make a claim, with banks and lenders forking out £7.5billion in compensation and £1.6billion in operational costs.
While drivers could receive £829 in average compensation per agreement, experts are warning that motorists could be leaving money on the table.
Speaking to GB News, Darren Smith, Managing Director of Courmacs Legal, described the final compensation scheme as a "complete failure for consumer rights".
The Blackburn-based firm is currently dealing with four million car finance claims, and has already secured higher compensation amounts than the £829 suggested by the FCA.
More than 12 million car finance agreements are included in the FCA's car finance compensation scheme
|PA
In one instance, a judge at Doncaster County Court awarded a consumer £2,642 after she fell victim to a misleading finance agreement when purchasing a Citroen C3 in June 2020.
The driver was handed the full repayment of the hidden commission payment, in addition to compensatory interest of eight per cent on her losses.
Following the case, once legal fees had been paid, the motorist was left with £1,754, more than double the proposed £829 payout that drivers are expected to receive under the FCA's redress scheme.
Mr Smith claimed that the compensation scheme has "abandoned hard-working motorists", while major banks and lenders were being "let off the hook".
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The FCA said the average agreement would receive £829 in compensation in the aftermath of the car finance scandal
| PAHe continued, saying: "This flawed scheme allows the wrongdoers to mark their own homework and will short-change millions of car finance victims."
The MD of Courmacs Legal warned that drivers could receive "far less compensation than they would get in court", claiming that the scheme fails to consider "how much consumers were ripped off".
Drivers are able to opt out of the FCA's redress scheme and take their case to court, with drivers potentially receiving higher payouts.
Stephen Braviner Roman, general counsel and chief risk officer at the FCA, warned that drivers were unable to "go down both tracks at the same time".
The vast majority of drivers will have received their compensation by the end of 2027 and the beginning of 2028 | FCAUnder the terms of the FCA's redress scheme, the first payments should begin rolling out in the coming months following two implementation periods on June 30 and August 31.
While the vast majority of claims are expected to be confirmed by January 2028, experts have warned that lenders could delay payouts by challenging the scheme in courts.
FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi said there was nothing stopping firms from starting payouts as soon as possible, but noted that this was unlikely as companies will want to pore over the full terms of the scheme first.