Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 July 2026
Correspondence from Courmacs Legal on Motor finance redress and the FCA’s letter to the TSC, dated 22 June 2026
From: Treasury Committee
Summary
Courmacs Legal, representing 1.6 million car finance mis-selling claimants, writes to warn the Treasury Select Committee that the FCA may permit lenders to make unilateral settlement offers outside the formal Redress Scheme while Upper Tribunal challenges to the Scheme's lawfulness remain pending. The firm raises concerns about 'low ball' offers, lack of transparency, and lenders' data-handling capability.
Key findings
- Courmacs Legal represents over 1.6 million consumers affected by car finance mis-selling and is mounting a Upper Tribunal challenge to the FCA's Redress Scheme on behalf of Consumer Voice.
- The firm warns that lenders exploring settlement offers outside the FCA's section 404 Scheme risk being pitched below fair value and could allow lenders to discharge liabilities cheaply before Upper Tribunal rulings on the Scheme's lawfulness.
- Courmacs raises concerns about the absence of regulatory parameters, benchmarks, or transparency governing unilateral settlement offers, leaving consumers unable to assess offer adequacy.
- The firm has reported data handling concerns to the Information Commissioner's Office regarding wrongly-addressed letters from lenders and questions their IT systems' ability to accurately identify and contact historic mis-selling victims.
- Courmacs warns that vulnerable consumers lack capacity to evaluate direct lender offers without professional advice, contradicting the FCA's position that consumers do not need advice to pursue redress claims.
Tone
CriticalTopics
consumer-financemis-sellingfinancial-regulationdispute-resolution
Key actors
Courmacs Legal, Dame Meg Hillier MP, FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), Consumer Voice, Upper Tribunal, Information Commissioner's Office, Darren Smith
Notable line
“Offers made on this basis risk being pitched below the value consumers are properly owed (either via the Scheme or through a court process) and could allow lenders to discharge their …”
Key Quotes
“We are concerned by reports that the FCA may permit lenders to make unilateral settlement offers to car finance victims, outside the section 404 Scheme, while the Upper Tribunal is still considering whether the FCA's Redress Scheme is lawful and capable of delivering fair outcomes for consumers.”
“As matters stand, any such process would be opaque and arbitrary.”
“… we do not have confidence that they can accurately identify and contact customers who have been impacted by historic mis-selling.”
“Consumers receiving such offers would have no benchmark against which to judge them.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗