Audi AG is was founded by August Horch in 1909 and is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles with headquarters in Bavaria, Germany. Audi is now a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and produces vehicles worldwide across nine production facilities.
Audi PCP Claims
Did you have an Audi car finance agreement before January 28th 2021? If so you may be able to claim compensation in light of a new FCA announcement concerning hidden commissions.
Claim NowA background on Audi
The brand’s iconic four ringed logo stems from the merger of four companies that led to the formation of the Auto Union: these include in ring representative order, Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer.
In 2023, Audi UK cemented its position as number one premium brand according to the brand’s newsroom site. Within the press release the brand noted the following impressive stats:
- Audi UK secured record 2023 market share with 7.22%
- 3rd consecutive year Audi UK secures number one premium brand spot
- Sales of battery electric vehicles up 85% to 24,773
- Plug-in hybrid vehicle sales up 99%
- One in four new Audis sold in 2023 had a plug
What are Audi PCP compensations claims?
The FCA is currently investigating the potential misselling of PCP and HP agreements to determine whether hidden commission payments have been made to brokers by lenders. In short, the FCA will be deciding whether or not car finance agreements had inflated interest rates due to the potential to earn additional commission by the broker. The FCA’s investigation has the potential to allow millions of car finance customers to claim compensation from their lender/broker.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s explained their decision to investigate was due to customer complaints concerning motor finance firms potentially unfairly rejecting mis-selling claims. Such complaints from customers are centred around the belief that their contract was more costly due to their dealer/broker earning a significant secret commission from their policy.
Who has an Audi PCP claim?
Since the news of the FCA investigation made headlines back in January, many legal experts have chimed in on the potential issue. Martin Lewis highlighted how if proven that hidden commissions took place, the issue could match the scale of the PPI compensation scandal some years ago. If you are debating whether or not you may have a claim against Audi in the future with regard to your car finance deal then keep reading. Firstly, it’s important to recognise The FCA’s investigation will only cover car finance sales that meet certain criteria. In keeping with the deadline that prohibited hidden commissions, complaints need to be made only for car finance agreements sold before the 28th of January 2021. I
In addition to preceding the deadline the car sale must have utilised a personal contract purchase or a hire purchase offering. Unlike a PCP agreement, a hire purchase agreement means the customer pays the value of the car in specific monthly instalments.
How to claim Audi PCP compensation
For the next eight months firms have been asked to stop responding to complaints by the FCA. The exact period began after 17th November 2023 and will end on the 25th September 2024 to allow the whilst FCA to conduct their investiagtion. Whilst the investigation is underway, it is a good idea to lodge any complaints to the firm as soon as you can as there is often a limitation period to be observed. With regards to misselliing, you are generally required to make your complaint to your provider within six years of the issue, or within three years of you becoming aware of the problem.
We can help you get kickstart your complaint in order to see if you may be eligible for a payout, click here to get going.
Audi Secret Hidden Commisions
It has been unveiled that lenders tend to conceal the existence of commission offered to their brokers. A mystery shopping exercise carried out back in 2018 reviewed the processes followed by 122 retailers in their provision of Motor Finance. Of those 122 retailers, only 11 chose to disclose to the customer that commission may be received by the broker for arranging the finance. This violates CONC requirements as it creates an unfair relationship between customer and lender.
Audi Difference In Commisions
It has been found that lenders often incentivise a broker to charge a higher interest by compensating them with a commission proportional to the interest they sell. The estimated cost of this behaviour for the customers is £300m annually. An FCA consultation entitled : ‘Motor Finance discretionary commission models and consumer credit commission disclosure,’ found that differences in charge models are the most damaging to the customer which unnervingly consist of 95% of the 1000 agreements the FCA previously looked into.
Audi Inadequately Explained Contracts
The mystery shopper exercise mentioned earlier which was carried out by the FCA also wanted to investigate whether or not lenders fully disclosed all the necessary information regarding the Motor Finance agreements to be made. The shoppers found that the concept of ownership of a car under PCP was frequently brushed over or poorly explained. 69% of the mystery shoppers were not made aware by the broker that they would not fully own the vehicle until they had payed the final ‘balloon payment.’
How much is an Audi PCP claim worth?
The amount of compensation that may be available for eligible car finance customers due to the potential misselling scandal is currently unknown. In fact, not even the FCA currently knows the amount and they have simply stated that they will “identify how best to make sure people who are owed compensation receive an appropriate settlement in an orderly, consistent and efficient way”.
Examples Of PCP Misselling
A list of real-life scenarios to demonstrate how you may have
been mis-sold a car on finance:
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If you'd like to get your compensation claim in before the FCA investigation is concluded to have it lodged in advance you can do so now