What are the concerns over buying a BMW under a PCP finance agreement?
Many people buying new or used BMW vehicles sign up to a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) financial plan. In return for signing the customer up to the PCP finance agreement, it has been common practice for the salesperson to receive a large commission from the lender finance company. In turn, customers are often not told about the amounts of commission paid, even though the commission has unknowingly increased the cost of the vehicle to the customer.
Government-backed watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has recently banned car finance deals where the car dealers and their sales teams could earn higher commission if customers were signed up to a more expensive PCP financial plan. This selling practice would often happen without the buyer even knowing the amount of commission that the sales team received, this in turn unknowingly inflated the price of the deal.
This is known as a ‘secret’ or ‘hidden commission’ and meant that customers were unfairly paying more than they should for their new or used BMW. If this sounds familiar, you may be eligible to claim a refund for the interest and fees paid as compensation.
This is where the car dealer sells you a finance package for the car but does not tell you that they are getting a commission, or how large the commission they are getting is. Most customers expect the salesperson or dealership to make money on the sale of the car, but they do not realise that they may also be getting a commission from the finance company for the PCP BMW finance agreement that goes with it, meaning that the customer is potentially paying more for the vehicle than they should.
Because of the high risk of there being a conflict of interest between the customer and the car dealer (the dealer recommending finance products based on the amount of commission as opposed to what is best for their customer), and to ensure full transparency for their protection, the exact amount of this commission should be made clear to the customer.
If the payment of commission and the amount of that commission has not been explained during the sale of a PCP finance agreement for a BMW, then the customer can claim compensation for mis-sold PCP car finance.
Warning signs of potential car finance mis-selling include:
If you have taken out PCP car finance after 1st April 2014 and you think you may have been mis-sold, then get in touch with one of our specialist lawyers by phone on 0800 169 5925, Request a Callback or Make a Claim Online.
One of our team will then go through your case and explore your options in a free, no-obligation discussion.
On your behalf, we will contact the PCP finance company and get all the relevant documents and contracts involved in the purchase of the BMW. With these documents we can then see if you have a claim and if so, what it might be worth. We can still investigate your claim even if you no longer have the paperwork for the finance agreement.
This depends on many factors including the wording of the finance agreement, the interest rates that were charged, the amount of finance and how long ago the PCP finance agreement was signed. However, you could be entitled to thousands of pounds in compensation.
If you think that you have been mis-sold car finance, get in touch with our mis-selling team and we can discuss your claim and what it might be worth.
This varies from claim to claim. If the dealership and/or the finance company accepts responsibility for the alleged PCP mis-selling and agrees to put things right, then a compensation claim can take just a few months. If the allegations are disputed, then the claim could go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), where the case could take anywhere between 12 to 18 months to conclude.
If starting court proceedings is the best option, then that process again could take somewhere between 12 and 18 months.
It will cost you nothing to make an enquiry and once our team has reviewed your potential case and if we feel it suitable, then we will enter into a no-win-no-fee agreement. That means, if the case is unsuccessful, we will not charge for the time we have spent on the case.
‘Secret/hidden commission’ car finance mis-selling claims can be very complex. Our team of specialist lawyers has many years experience of dealing with a wide range of financial mis-selling cases.
Our lawyers are very familiar with the regulatory framework and the various financial institutions involved in these cases, such as the FCA and FOS. They are also very experienced in taking cases to court if necessary, to ensure that clients get the compensation they are owed.
If you bought a BMW on PCP finance after 1st April 2014 and were not told about the amount of commission that the dealership or salesperson received from the company providing the finance plan, then you may be able to claim compensation for PCP mis-selling.
Get in touch with our specialist financial mis-selling lawyers for a free no-obligation discussion about making a claim. Call 0800 169 5925 or complete either the ‘callback’ or ‘make a claim online’ form.
It is important to get advice as soon as possible as strict time limits can apply.
Meet Sarah, who heads up our experienced Mis-SoldPCP Car Finance team.
Sarah and her colleagues are on hand to help with your claim.
