Not upheld: Motor finance commission (DCA) complaint against Toyota Financial Services (UK) PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs R complained to the FOS about a motor finance agreement with TFS taken out in April 2014 for a car costing £17,389. She raised two complaints: first, that a commission payment between TFS and the broker was undisclosed and caused her financial loss; and second, that she was not fully informed that she did not own the car outright until making a final balloon payment in August 2017. The ombudsman found the second complaint was time-barred under FCA rules as it was made in 2024, more than three years after Mrs R became aware of the cause for complaint in August 2017. The first complaint was not upheld because the motor finance agreement carried 0% APR interest, meaning Mrs R received the finance at no cost and would not have acted differently had the commission been disclosed. The ombudsman concluded Mrs R suffered no financial loss and the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mrs R's complaint about lack of information regarding the final balloon payment and ownership was time-barred under DISP 2.8.2R, as it was made more than three years after Mrs R became aware of the cause for complaint (August 2017). Regarding the undisclosed commission complaint, the ombudsman concluded that because Mrs R received 0% APR finance at no cost, she would not have acted differently even if the commission had been disclosed, and therefore suffered no financial loss. The ombudsman was not persuaded Mrs R could have obtained cheaper finance elsewhere.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website