Committee publication · Correspondence · 14 July 2026
Correspondence from Slater and Gordon on the FCA and motor finance, dated 22 June 2026
From: Treasury Committee
Summary
Slater & Gordon, a consumer law firm representing 580,000 motor finance claimants, contests the FCA's characterisation of the claims sector in correspondence to the Treasury Committee. The firm argues the FCA conflates law firms with Claims Management Companies despite different regulatory regimes, presents unproven assertions about sector-wide harm ahead of its own Market Study evidence, and risks deterring consumers from seeking legal representation.
Key findings
- Slater & Gordon argues the FCA creates false equivalence between proven lender misconduct and unproven claims about the wider claims sector, risking an unbalanced impression of the issues.
- The letter identifies inconsistency: the FCA's Market Study is still assessing whether CMC behaviours harm consumers, yet the FCA presents definitive views of widespread harm to justify legislative expansion.
- Law firms and Claims Management Companies operate under fundamentally different regulatory frameworks (SRA vs FCA) with different capabilities—law firms provide legal assessment, advice on complex liability, and representation in contested cases.
- Broad statements suggesting the claims sector is harmful risk deterring consumers from seeking appropriate legal representation, particularly vulnerable or less financially sophisticated consumers who depend on law firms to navigate complex issues.
- The FCA's proposal to extend Section 404-style redress powers across the claims value chain risks regulatory overreach and blurring of established oversight boundaries without clear evidence of gaps in existing SRA frameworks.
Tone
AdversarialTopics
Key actors
Slater & Gordon, Nils Stoesser, Dame Meg Hillier MP, Nikhil Rathi, Financial Conduct Authority, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Treasury Committee
Notable line
“… the FCA's letter risks conflating two distinct parts of the market with fundamentally different roles …”
Key Quotes
“I am concerned that the FCA's recent communication risks giving the Committee an unbalanced and potentially misleading impression of the issues at stake.”
“The FCA itself is clear that the underlying issue arises from lender behaviour, noting that consumers were not given the information they needed, and in many cases "paid more than they should have."”
“Law firms provide a materially broader and deeper set of services than CMCs, including: • legal assessment of individual circumstances, • advice on complex liability and quantum issues, • representation in contested cases, and • recourse through established professional regulation and redress mechanisms.”
“The FCA has launched a Market Study into claims management services. Its published Terms of Reference make clear that it is still assessing whether behaviours in the sector "are having or may have" adverse effects on consumers.”
“Where broad statements suggest that the claims sector as a whole is harmful—and where distinctions between different types of provider are not maintained—there is a real risk that consumers will be deterred from seeking appropriate representation.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗