FCA acts to protect those buying motor finance

[Legal Beagles]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today announced plans to ban the way in which some car retailers, and other brokers in the motor finance sector, receive commission.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-re...-motor-finance

[Amethyst]

Currently, some motor finance brokers receive commission which is linked to the interest rate that customers pay. The broker can set that rate and the FCA found that the widespread use of this type of commission creates an incentive for brokers to act against customers’ interests. The FCA estimates the changes would save customers £165 million a year.

Preventing the use of this type of commission would remove the financial incentive for brokers to increase the interest rate that a customer pays and give lenders more control over the prices customers pay for their motor finance.

Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA said:

‘We have seen evidence that customers are losing out due to the way in which some lenders are rewarding those who sell motor finance. By banning this type of commission, we believe we will see increased competition in the market which will ultimately save customers money.’

The FCA is also proposing to make changes to the way in which customers are told about the commission they are paying to ensure that they receive more relevant information. These changes would apply to many types of credit brokers and not just those selling motor finance.

The FCA is consulting on the new rules until 15 January 2020 and plans to publish final rules later in 2020. Notes to editors

1. CP19/28: Discretionary commission models and disclosure in motor finance.