Motor Finance Commission
If you borrow money to finance a motor vehicle, your finance provider may pay a commission to your broker or dealer for arranging it. If you took out a finance agreement before 28 January 2021, this commission could 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 DCA arrangements 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 have been a number of developments, as set out below. You can find out more information by clicking the date.
11 January 2024 – The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced they would carry out a detailed review of DCAs.
This would look at whether DCAs led to poor practices which resulted in customers losing out. While they completed this work, they said finance providers didn’t have to respond to complaints relating to DCAs within the usual timelines. 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.
In these cases, the Court decided it was against the law for the dealers referred to in the cases to have received a commission without first giving the customer relevant information about it. They also said customers should then have given permission for the commission payment to be made. Click here for The Financial Conduct Authority’s response.
11 December 2024 – The Supreme Court confirmed it would hear an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgement.
19 December 2024 – The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provided a further update
This has given finance providers longer to respond to complaints about any type of motor finance commission, not just DCA’s. Customers have also been given longer to take their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
11 March 2025 – The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provided a further update.
This said they would decide on next steps based on the Supreme Court ruling. It could mean firms may have to automatically pay compensation to customers who have lost out.
1-3 April 2025 – Supreme Court Appeal Hearing.
The Supreme Court heard an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment. A ruling is expected in summer 2025.
More information can be found on the Financial Conduct Authority website here.
What does this mean to me?
We won’t know until the FCA has completed their review. If you think your motor finance agreement with us may have had a commission payment, you can ask us to check. More information about how to do this, along with answers to other questions you may have, can be found in our FAQs. Clicking on the question will show you the answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
General Information
What is a Discretionary Commission Arrangement (DCA)?
This was 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 paid 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.
How do I check if my motor finance agreement had a commission payment?
You can ask us by:
- Completing our online motor commission information request form. This will ask for all the information we need. Click here to create a motor commission information request form.
- Calling us on 0800 018 9090. We’re open 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday.
- 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 information as you can to 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.
What happens after I contact you about motor finance commission?
- We’ll send you a confirmation.
- 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.
What happens if I’ve told you I have more than one agreement?
Whether your agreements are closed or open, 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 at 0800 018 9090 as soon as possible. If we have 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 already made a complaint or enquiry, 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 Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provides information which will enable us to give you a final response.
If we didn’t have enough information to find your agreement, we’d have been in touch. Make sure you reply as soon as you can, as we can’t do anything more until you do.
Making a Complaint
Do I need to make a separate complaint if I’ve already made a DCA enquiry?
No. If you’ve made an enquiry about a DCA, we’ll automatically treat this as a complaint once we’ve checked and confirmed that your agreement is impacted. There’s no need for you to make a separate complaint.
What happens after you convert my enquiry to a complaint?
- We’ll send you a confirmation to let you know your complaint is now logged and provide a Complaint Reference number.
- Once the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes the outcome of its review, we’ll be in touch to let you know about any next steps. At this point, we don’t know when this will be.
How long will it take for you to respond to my complaint?
While they complete their review, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made some changes to complaints about any type of motor finance commission.
This means:
- If you make a complaint about motor finance commission, we don’t need to respond to you within the usual 8 week time limit. In some cases, the earliest you could hear back from us with a final response is 4 December 2025.
- If you’re not happy with our response, you’ll have longer to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
This doesn’t apply to complaints about anything else. We’ll respond to these within the usual timeframes.
What can I do if I am unhappy with your response to my complaint?
You can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to look at your complaint. You would normally have to do this within 6 months of getting our final response, but for complaints about any type of motor finance commission, you’ll have longer.
This means you’ll have 15 months from the date your final response was sent or 29 July 2026, whichever is later. We’ll let you know the deadline which applies to you in our final response. Click here to find out more about how to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
Will I receive compensation?
We won’t know until the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) completes their review.
Using a Third Party
Can I use a Claims Management Company?
A Claims Management Company can make a claim for you, but you’ll have to pay a fee or part of any reward you may get. Click here to find out what to expect.
You, or your Claims Management Company, 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.
I’m using a Claims Management Company / Law Firm – do I need to do anything?
If you’ve asked a third party, like a Claims Management Company or a Law Firm to handle your enquiry or complaint before, 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 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) review concludes that you might be entitled to compensation, we’ll make any payment to the Claims Management Company or Law Firm, and they’ll be responsible for sending you the money after taking out any fee.
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 but 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 inform the firm you previously authorised. You may be required 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.