Howard: Helping people feel ‘claim confident’
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a new £2m advertising campaign urging motor finance customers to be “claim confident” and not use a professional representative to make a compensation claim.
The six-week campaign – running across TV, radio, print, billboards and social media – marks an escalation in the FCA’s efforts to persuade potential claimants to make their complaints about mis-sold motor finance directly rather than through a law firm or claims management company (CMC).
Last September, the FCA spent £1m on a similar campaign.
This time, it said, the advertising would reach audiences across the country through video on demand platforms (expected to be seen almost 11 million times), alongside 2,180 outdoor placements, national radio stations, print titles with a combined circulation of nearly three million, and social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
The FCA said a Kantar survey last month of 1,000 people who have or had a motor finance arrangement found that 59% have made or were considering a claim but nearly a quarter (23%) were unsure of their options.
Some 27% lacked confidence to make a complaint without using a law firm or CMC.
Sheree Howard, executive director at the FCA, said: “Many people who may be owed compensation aren’t sure where to start or don’t realise they don’t have to pay someone to make a complaint. Our free tools are there to help people feel claim confident – so they can get any money owed back without it costing them a penny.”
The campaign directs people to a free template complaint letter on the FCA website; more than 80% of those surveyed said this would make them more confident complaining directly to their lender.
We reported last week that the FCA had spotted a further 170 misleading adverts as part of the on-going campaign against “poor practices” by law firms and CMCs working on motor finance claims, with the Advertising Standards Authority investigating a number of law firms as a result.
The FCA’s redress scheme is delayed while it is challenged in the Upper Tribunal and lawyers have predicted that more cases could go to court instead.
The FCA’s Rina Maher will be speaking at our Claims Futures conference on 21 October in Manchester. There will also be a major session on motor finance claims. Early bird tickets are available now.
