Motor Finance Commission
If you borrow money to finance a motor vehicle, your finance provider could pay commission to your broker or dealer for arranging it. If you took out a finance agreement before 28 January 2021, this commission may have been paid under a Discretionary Commission Arrangement (DCA). To find out what this means, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below.
Following concerns about how DCAs could affect customers, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) put a stop to them. This came into effect on 28 January 2021 and led to a high number of enquiries from customers who were worried they could have paid too much because of a DCA. Since then, there’s been a number of developments. This included two court cases which led to a legal decision about commission disclosure. You can find out about the key milestones below. Clicking on the date will give you more detail. If you’d like more information, you can find it on the FCA website by clicking here.
11 January 2024 – The FCA announced they’d carry out a detailed review of DCAs.
This would look at whether DCAs led to poor practices which resulted in customers losing out. While the FCA completed this work, they said finance providers didn’t have to respond to complaints relating to DCAs within the usual 8-week timeline. Customers would also have longer to take their DCA related complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
25 October 2024 – The Court of Appeal ruled on 3 cases involving car finance.
The Court decided it was against the law for the car dealers involved to have been paid commission without first getting informed consent. The decision said dealers should have given customers relevant information about the commission payment and asked their permission for it to be paid. The ruling was later challenged, and permission was granted for it to be appealed at the Supreme Court.
19 December 2024 – The FCA provided an update about complaints.
Following the Court of Appeal ruling the FCA extended the scope of the pause which gave finance providers longer than usual to respond to complaints. This meant the pause applied to any type of motor finance commission, not just DCAs.
1 August 2025 – Supreme Court ruling announced.
Following an appeal hearing held on 1-3 April 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling in two of the three cases presented to them. The ruling stated that commission payments can be legal in many cases. However, where a commission arrangement wasn’t properly disclosed to the customer, this could be considered unfair and therefore unlawful.
7 October 2025 – The FCA published a consultation paper about a redress scheme.
In response to the Supreme Court Ruling, the FCA published a Consultation Paper setting out their plans for a redress scheme. The consultation period started on 7 October 2025 and gave interested parties an opportunity to have their say. It ended on 12 December 2025 and the FCA are now looking at the responses they received. They expect to publish final rules for the scheme by the end of March 2026.
4 December 2025 – The FCA provided an update about leasing agreements and complaints.
This further extended the pause which gives finance providers longer than the usual 8 weeks to respond to motor finance commission complaints. You can find more information about this in the FAQs below.
It also confirmed leasing agreements won’t be included in any redress scheme.
What does this mean to me?
The FCA are expected to announce whether a redress scheme will go ahead by the end of March 2026. If you think your motor finance agreement with us may have included a commission payment, you can complain. You’ll find more information about how to do this in our FAQs below.
If you’ve got a leasing agreement, the FCA have already confirmed that complaints about this type of finance won’t be included in any redress scheme. This means you won’t be eligible to take part and won’t get compensation through the scheme.
We’ve answered other common questions in our FAQs below. Just click on the question to see the answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
General Information
What’s a Discretionary Commission Arrangement (DCA)?
This is where a finance provider allowed a broker or motor dealer to decide, within an agreed range, what interest rate would be offered to its customers. A payment for arranging the finance was then made to the broker or motor dealer which was linked to the interest rate. The amount paid varied depending on how high or low the interest rate was.
Commission payments could also be made based on different arrangements which weren’t DCAs. These are sometimes referred to as non-DCA arrangements.
What happens if I’ve told you I have more than one agreement?
Whether your agreements are open or closed, we’ll review each one individually. You may receive separate communications for each agreement at different times.
What if I need to update my contact information?
Call us on 0800 018 9090 as soon as possible. If we’ve got your current contact details, it means we can make sure you receive timely updates.
I’ve already contacted you about my commission arrangement. Do I need to do anything else?
No. If you’ve contacted us, you’ll have received an acknowledgment from us. You don’t need to do anything else. We’ll be in touch to update you once the FCA provides information which will enable us to give you a final response.
If we don’t have enough information to find your agreement, we’ll be in touch. Make sure you reply as soon as you can, as we can’t do anything more until you do.
Making a Complaint or Enquiry
How do I make a complaint?
You can complain by:
- Completing our online motor commission information request form. This asks for all the information we need. Create a motor commission information request form.
- Calling us on 0800 018 9090. We’re open 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays.
- Writing to us at Northridge Finance, 1 Donegall Square South, Belfast, BT1 5LR.
If you’re calling or writing, you’ll need to give us as much of the following information as you can. This will help us find your agreement. Don’t worry if you don’t have it all, just give as much as you can. If we need anything more, we’ll be in touch.
- Your full name at the time you took the agreement with us, including any middle names and any name changes (e.g., due to marriage).
- Your address at the time you took the agreement with us, including your postcode.
- Your email address.
- Your contact number at the time you took the agreement with us.
- Your date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY).
- The 12-digit Northridge agreement number.
- The approximate date you took out the agreement.
- The name and location of the dealer or broker that arranged the finance.
- The registration number of the vehicle that was financed, including any changes (e.g. personalised plates).
- The make and model of the vehicle that was financed.
Can I check if my motor finance agreement had a commission payment?
Yes, but we’ll treat your enquiry as a complaint and follow our complaints process. You can ask us by:
- Completing our online motor commission information request form. This asks for all the information we need. Create a motor commission information request form.
- Calling us on 0800 018 9090. We’re open 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays.
- Writing to us at Northridge Finance, 1 Donegall Square South, Belfast, BT1 5LR.
If you’re calling or writing, you’ll need to give us the information detailed in the above FAQ about how to complain.
What happens after I contact you about motor finance commission?
- We’ll record a complaint on our system and send you a confirmation. This gives you a Complaint Reference Number which you’ll need to use when contacting us.
- We’ll check the information you’ve given us to see whether any of your agreements with us had a motor finance commission payment.
- If we don’t have enough information to find your agreement, we’ll get in touch. We’ll tell you what we need and how you can send it to us.
- Once we’ve completed our checks, we’ll let you know what the next steps are.
Do I need to make a separate complaint if I’ve already made an enquiry?
No. We’ll treat your enquiry as a complaint. There’s no need for you to make a separate complaint.
How long will it take for you to respond to my complaint?
The FCA normally gives us 8 weeks from the date we receive a complaint to send a final response. However, while they completed their review, they changed this timeline. We’ve set out below what the FCA’s current guidance says, including how long you’ll have to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) if you’re not happy. Remember, this only applies to motor finance commission complaints. We still have to respond to all other complaints within the usual 8-week timeline.
| Scenario | Our response deadline | FOS referral window |
|---|---|---|
| We received your complaint before 5 December 2025 and it was about a leasing agreement | 8 weeks starting from 5 December 2025 | 6 months from the date of our final response letter |
| We received your complaint on or after 5 December 2025 and it was about a leasing agreement | 8 weeks starting from the date we receive your complaint | 6 months from the date of our final response letter |
| Your complaint is out of scope of any FCA redress scheme (determined by final scheme rules) | 8 weeks starting from 31 May 2026 | 6 months from the date of our final response letter |
| Your complaint is in scope of any FCA redress scheme (determined by final scheme rules) | Rules not yet published | Rules not yet published |
| We sent our final response to you between 30 April 2025 and 29 January 2026 | 29 January 2026 | 15 months from the date of our final response letter |
| We sent our final response to you between 12 July 2023 and 25 September 2024 and it was about a DCA complaint. | 25 September 2024 | Up to and including 29 July 2026 |
| We sent our final response to you between 26 September 2024 and 29 April 2025 and it related to a complaint about any type of motor finance commission. | 29 April 2025 | Up to and including 29 July 2026 |
What can I do if I am unhappy with your response to my motor finance commission complaint?
You can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to look at your complaint. The FAQ above sets out how long you’ll have to contact them. We’ll also let you know how long you have in the final response letter we send you.
The FCA’s Motor Finance Commission Redress Scheme
What’s a motor finance commission redress scheme?
It’s an FCA scheme for customers who may have paid too much for car finance because of hidden or unfair commission arrangements. Its aim is to put things right for customers without them having to go through a lengthy complaint or legal process. The FCA have set out what their plans are, but they haven’t yet been finalised. They expect to announce the final scheme rules by the end of March 2026.
I’ve got a Leasing Agreement – why’s it been excluded from the scheme?
A lease is a rental agreement where you pay to use the car for a set period. You don’t own it and there’s no credit involved. As the scheme is designed to address issues with credit-based products, lease agreements aren’t included.
Will I receive compensation?
We don’t know yet. An announcement from the FCA about whether the redress scheme will go ahead is expected by the end of March 2026. If the scheme does go ahead, compensation payments are likely to start in 2026.
Using a Third Party
Can I use a Claims Management Company (CMC)?
The FCA will make any redress scheme easy. Their advice is that you don’t need to use a Claims Management Company (CMC) or Law Firm. To find out what to expect if you decide to use a CMC or Law Firm, click on the links below. These will also tell you how to complain if you’re not happy about a CMC or Law Firm you’ve used.
A CMC or Law Firm can make a claim for you, but you’ll have to pay a fee or part of any compensation you may get. This means the amount you receive would be reduced if you decide to use a third party
I’m using a Claims Management Company (CMC) / Law Firm – do I need to do anything?
If you’ve asked a third party, like a Claims Management Company (CMC) or a Law Firm to handle your enquiry or complaint, we’ll keep working with that firm. If you’ve given permission to more than one firm, we’ll communicate with the one you authorised most recently.
The firm is responsible for keeping you updated. If you’re entitled to compensation, we’ll make any payment to the CMC or Law Firm. They’ll be responsible for sending you the money after taking out any fee.
You, your CMC or Law Firm, should only contact us once. If we’re contacted more than once, we’ll need to check who to respond to. This could mean it’ll take us longer to reply.
If you decide to take back the permission you’ve given to the third party to act on your behalf, you need to let us know. We’ll write to the firm to inform them of your request. After that, we’ll talk to you directly. Just remember, if you do withdraw your permission, you must also tell the firm you previously authorised. You may have to pay them a fee depending on the terms of your agreement with them. We’re unable to advise you in relation to this and you should ask the firm if you’re unsure.