Car Finance Claim Calculator — How Much Could You Be Owed?
Scheme status (updated 5 August 2026): parts of the FCA motor finance redress scheme are temporarily suspended while the Upper Tribunal considers legal challenges. Lenders do not currently have to calculate or pay compensation under the scheme, the original decision and payment dates no longer apply, and no payment under the scheme is guaranteed. If the scheme proceeds, first payments are expected in 2027 at the earliest. Any dates mentioned below were set before the suspension.
In this guide
- Car Finance Claim Calculator
- How Much Car Finance Compensation Will I Get?
- How the FCA Calculates Your Compensation
- The Johnson Remedy — Full Commission Repayment
- When Will You Actually Receive Money?
- How to Start Your Car Finance Claim
- Frequently Asked Questions
The FCA confirmed its nationwide motor finance redress scheme on 30 March 2026, covering 12.1 million agreements back to April 2007, with an estimated average payout of £829 per agreement.
Parts of that scheme were then temporarily suspended on 2 July 2026 while the Upper Tribunal considers legal challenges: lenders do not currently have to calculate or pay compensation, and eligibility, methodology and amounts could change depending on the outcome.
The calculator below still uses the scheme's published methodology, so you can see what the scheme as designed would produce for your agreement — but treat any figure as illustrative, not a promised payout.
This calculator uses the methodology published in the FCA scheme (PS26/3, 30 March 2026), parts of which are currently suspended pending legal challenge. It applies the hybrid remedy calculation — including the APR adjustment rate (17% for post-2014 agreements, 21% for pre-2014), compensatory interest and the de minimis thresholds. Estimates are illustrative. If the scheme proceeds, your actual payout would be determined by your lender; if the legal challenges succeed, the methodology or amounts could change.
Car Finance Claim Calculator
Car finance claim calculator
FCA scheme methodology (PS26/3) — currently suspended pending legal challenge.
Important: parts of the FCA scheme are suspended while the Upper Tribunal considers legal challenges — eligibility, methodology and amounts may change, no payment is currently being calculated or made by lenders under the scheme, and no outcome is guaranteed. You can complain directly to your lender free of charge.
Car finance claims are temporarily paused while we appoint a new claim partner. You can still write your complaint letter free and send it to your lender yourself.
How Much Car Finance Compensation Will I Get?
The FCA's Policy Statement PS26/3 (30 March 2026) put the average payout under the scheme at £829 per eligible agreement — up from the £700 estimated during the consultation phase. The increase is due to higher compensatory interest rates (Bank of England base rate plus 1%, minimum 3% per year) and a revised loss calculation for pre-2014 agreements.
That said, payouts vary significantly depending on the size of your loan, how long you held it, and the commission paid. Some people will receive less than the average; some — particularly those with the Johnson Remedy — will receive considerably more.
| Scenario | Estimated range | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small used car, short HP agreement | £200–£450 | Lower loan amount, less total interest paid |
| Typical PCP on a mid-range car | £600–£1,100 | Around the FCA's average — most people fall here |
| Larger PCP or long HP agreement | £1,000–£2,500 | Higher cost of credit, more commission and overpaid interest |
| Johnson Remedy (very high commission) | Full commission + interest | Where commission ≥50% of cost of credit AND 22.5% of loan — approx. 90,000 cases nationally |
| Multiple agreements (average 2) | £1,200–£2,500 total | Each agreement is a separate payout — FCA estimates 2 agreements per claimant on average |
How the FCA Calculates Your Compensation
Most people will receive what the FCA calls the Hybrid Remedy — a calculation that takes the average of two figures, then adds interest. Here is how it works:
Step 1 — Estimated Loss
The FCA's economic analysis found that customers on DCA-affected agreements paid, on average, a higher APR than they would have without the DCA. The FCA has quantified this as an APR adjustment of:
- 17% for agreements starting on or after 1 April 2014
- 21% for agreements starting before 1 April 2014
Your estimated loss is the difference in total interest paid at your actual APR versus what you would have paid at a rate reduced by that adjustment percentage.
Step 2 — Commission Paid
This is the total commission your lender paid to the dealer for arranging your finance. Your lender holds this figure in their records. It is typically calculated as a percentage of the total cost of credit on your agreement.
Step 3 — Hybrid Remedy
Your compensation is the average of steps 1 and 2 (estimated loss and commission paid). In approximately 1 in 3 cases, this is then capped to ensure customers are not put in a better position than if they had been treated fairly throughout.
Step 4 — Compensatory Interest
Simple interest is added at the Bank of England base rate plus 1% per year from the date of each overpayment to the date compensation is paid, with a floor of 3% per year in any year. The further back your agreement goes, the more interest builds up — so pre-2014 agreements often receive more interest than the underlying compensation itself.
Example: You took out a £12,000 PCP in 2017 at 9.9% APR over 4 years. The APR adjustment is 17%, meaning your adjusted rate would have been 8.2%. Estimated loss on interest: approximately £380. Commission paid by the lender: approximately £820. Hybrid remedy = (£380 + £820) ÷ 2 = £600. Plus compensatory interest from 2017 to 2026 at ~3–5%/yr ≈ £180–£270. Total estimate: approximately £780–£870.
The Johnson Remedy — Full Commission Repayment
A small number of cases — approximately 90,000 nationally — qualify for a higher remedy. If your agreement involved a DCA and/or contractual tie, AND the commission was at least 50% of the total cost of credit AND 22.5% of the loan amount, you receive the full commission back plus interest. There is no cap on this remedy.
This mirrors what the Supreme Court awarded Mr Marcus Johnson in the landmark Johnson v FirstRand Bank (MotoNovo Finance) case. In Mr Johnson's case the commission was £1,650.95 on a £6,500 car — 55% of the total cost of credit. The full commission was repaid with interest, totalling significantly more than the hybrid remedy would have produced.
When Will You Actually Receive Money?
Later than originally planned, and only if the scheme survives the legal challenges against it.
The scheme was confirmed on 30 March 2026 with a two-stage timetable that would have seen the first payments made from November 2026. On 2 July 2026 the Upper Tribunal suspended parts of the scheme while it considers legal challenges to the scheme rules. The hearing is expected in December 2026 or February 2027, with judgment in the months that follow. What that means in practice:
- Lenders do not currently have to calculate or pay compensation under the scheme.
- The original decision and payment dates no longer apply. If the scheme survives in its current form, first payments are expected in 2027 at the earliest.
- Lenders must still log complaints and continue progressing them where the rules have not been suspended, so a complaint made now is not wasted — it sits in the queue if and when the scheme resumes.
- The final complaint deadline of 31 August 2027 was set before the suspension and could change depending on the outcome.
Should you still complain? Complaining directly to your lender remains free, takes minutes, and puts your complaint on record whatever happens next. But no payment under the scheme is guaranteed while the suspension stands, and no complaint — however early — secures a payment date.
How to Start Your Car Finance Claim
- Use the calculator above to estimate your potential compensation across all your agreements.
- Find your lender. Check your credit report (Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) — the lender's name will appear even for very old settled agreements.
- Submit your complaint. Use the FCA's free complaint tool at fca.org.uk, your lender's online complaint form (see the FCA's official lender list at fca.org.uk/consumers/car-finance-complaints/list-lenders), or let Claims Bible introduce you to our legal partners who handle it on a no win, no fee basis.
- Wait for the scheme. Your lender must log your complaint, but while parts of the scheme are suspended lenders are not calculating or paying compensation. If the scheme resumes, your lender must process your complaint under whatever rules and timescales then apply.
- Accept or challenge the offer. You have one month to accept. If you accept, payment arrives within one month. If you disagree, you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need my original finance agreement paperwork to claim?
No. Your lender is required under the FCA scheme to check their own records. You do not need to provide original paperwork. If you want to trace agreements yourself, your credit report will show finance agreements going back up to 6 years, and Equifax's free Car Finance Checker app covers agreements back to 2007 — we have no commercial arrangement with Equifax and receive nothing if you use it.
Will making a claim affect my credit score?
Submitting a complaint about a historic finance agreement does not itself affect your credit score: no lender inquiry is generated and no entry appears on your credit file. The only thing that could affect your credit score is if you stop making payments on a current agreement — so keep paying as normal while your complaint is processed.
I had multiple cars on finance — can I claim for all of them?
Yes. Each eligible PCP or HP agreement is a separate claim and a separate potential payout. The FCA estimates the average claimant has approximately two eligible agreements. Use the calculator above with the number of agreements you have had to see a combined estimate.
My car finance agreement ended years ago. Can I still claim?
Yes, provided the agreement was between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024. You can claim even if the finance has been fully paid off, you no longer own the vehicle, or the car was repossessed. The claim relates to how the agreement was sold, not its current status.
I had a 0% interest deal. Can I claim?
No. The FCA scheme specifically excludes genuine 0% APR agreements. The compensation is calculated based on overcharged interest — if you paid no interest, there is nothing to reclaim under the scheme. However, if your agreement was marketed as 0% but you actually paid any interest at all, it was not a genuine 0% deal and the exclusion may not apply.
Do I need to use a claims company or solicitor?
No. The FCA scheme is free to use directly: you can complain to your lender yourself at no cost, and if your complaint is rejected you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, also free. The FCA warns that using a claims management company or law firm will reduce any compensation by the fee charged — typically 30% or more — and that warning applies to us as much as anyone.
If, knowing that, you would still rather have the process handled for you — for example because you have several agreements to trace or a previously rejected complaint — our law firm partner works on a no win, no fee basis with fees capped in accordance with FCA rules. The choice is entirely yours, and the free route is always open.
What if my lender rejects my claim?
You can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for free. Once the FCA scheme is running, the FOS will check whether the lender followed the scheme rules correctly. You can also re-submit your complaint if it was previously rejected — many early rejections were assessed only against DCA criteria, before the scheme expanded to cover unfairly high commission and contractual ties.
How accurate is this calculator?
The detailed calculation applies the hybrid remedy methodology published in PS26/3, including the APR adjustment rates (17% post-2014, 21% pre-2014) and the compensatory interest calculation.
The honest answer on accuracy is that nobody can measure it yet: no payments have been made under the scheme, so there is no real-world data to test any estimate against.
The biggest unknown is the commission on your specific agreement — we estimate it from typical industry rates, but your lender's records hold the actual figure, and if the scheme proceeds your payout would be calculated from those records. Treat the result as a guide to rough scale, not a prediction.
Important: This calculator provides illustrative estimates only. It does not constitute financial or legal advice. The FCA's estimated average payout under the scheme is £829 per eligible agreement (PS26/3, 30 March 2026); parts of the scheme are currently suspended pending legal challenge and no payment under it is guaranteed.
If the scheme proceeds, actual compensation would be calculated by your lender using their specific records and the scheme methodology. You do not need to use a claims management company to make a complaint to your lender or to access the FCA redress scheme.
If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free. Claims Bible is a trading style of Forces Compare Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for regulated claims management activities (FRN 785329).
Claims Bible's legal partners operate on a no win, no fee basis — you pay nothing unless your claim is successful. Fees are capped in accordance with FCA rules.
