Motor finance compensation scheme set for legal challenge next February

Legal challenges to the £9.1 billion UK motor finance compensation scheme will be heard in court next February, the UK’s financial regulator has said.The upper tribunal will hear the challenges from three lenders and the Consumer Voice advocacy group between February 16 and February 26.Regulators had previously indicated the challenge could be heard as early as December, indicating further delay for impacted customers.Car finance lenders Volkswagen Financial Services, Mercedes Benz Financial Services, and Credit Agricole Auto Finance are challenging the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) plans to compensate drivers who were mis-sold a car loan between 2007 and 2024.An estimated 12.1 million car finance agreements are eligible for redress, at an average of £829 per payout, under the FCA’s scheme.However, the scheme is currently partially suspended ahead of the challenge, with car finance customers now having to wait into next year for full payouts.The FCA told lenders on Tuesday that they must keep preparing for the scheme and progress with complaints as far as possible.But it added that firms should plan for the possibility that “there may be no motor finance compensation scheme and no complaint handling pause” if the scheme is quashed in court.Alex Neill, co-founder of consumer rights organisation Consumer Voice, said: “Consumer Voice is ready to take our challenge to trial with a potential hearing date listed for December 2026, which has now had to be abandoned. The final hearing is now listed to take place in February 2027.“The FCA and lender applicants blame each other for the delay.“The FCA’s approach to disclosure has been heavily criticised by all parties whilst the FCA blames the lenders’ requests for extensive disclosure of underlying data and reliance upon fresh expert evidence as the cause of the trial being pushed into next year.”