30 Mar FCA Statement released: Key considerations
Today marks a significant escalation in regulatory scrutiny across the motor finance claims market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced a joint taskforce with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)—a coordinated move designed to tackle poor practices in high-volume motor finance claims.
This is not business as usual. It is a clear signal that regulators are aligning enforcement, intelligence, and expectations in response to growing consumer harm risks.
Why this matters now
The announcement coincides with the FCA’s imminent motor finance redress scheme, expected to deliver billions in compensation to consumers impacted by historic commission practices.
Crucially, the FCA has been explicit:
- The scheme will be free for consumers to access
- Consumers do not need to use claims management companies (CMCs) or law firms
- Using representatives could result in fees of up to 30% of compensation
Despite this, the regulator has identified widespread issues in how claims are being marketed, sold, and handled.
The focus of the taskforce
The joint taskforce will target four key areas of concern:
- Misleading and unsolicited marketing
The involvement of the ASA and ICO is telling. Regulators are responding directly to:
- Misleading advertisements about entitlement or value of claims
- Cold calling, texts, and emails without valid consent
The ICO has reiterated a simple standard: unsolicited direct marketing without consent is unlawful.
- Low-merit and bulk claims
The FCA is concerned about “meritless claims” being submitted at scale.
This creates:
- Operational strain on firms and the wider system
- Delays in legitimate customer outcomes
- Increased conduct risk for firms submitting or facilitating weak claims
- Multiple representation
Consumers signing agreements with multiple representatives risk:
- Duplicate fees
- Confusion over representation
- Poor overall outcomes
This is a known issue in previous mass claims events—and regulators are moving early to prevent repeat harm.
- Unfair fee structures and exit fees
Fee transparency and fairness are under direct scrutiny.
The FCA has already:
- Forced changes to misleading adverts
- Enabled over 28,000 consumers to exit contracts without charge
- Pressured firms to reduce unreasonable fees
A shift to coordinated enforcement
The message is clear: commercial models must stand up to regulatory challenge.
Perhaps the most important development is structural.
This is not just FCA conduct supervision. It is multi-regulator enforcement, combining:
- FCA (conduct and CMC regulation)
- SRA (law firm oversight)
- ASA (advertising standards)
- ICO (data protection and marketing practices)
The taskforce will share intelligence and take coordinated, targeted action using the full extent of their powers.
For firms, this means risks are no longer siloed:
- A marketing issue can become a data breach issue
- A fee issue can become a conduct and legal services issue
- A claims handling issue can trigger multi-agency investigation
Implications for firms
Firms operating in motor finance claims—whether CMCs, law firms, introducers or lead generators—should act now.
At a minimum, firms should review:
- Marketing compliance: Are communications clear, fair, and not misleading?
- Data practices: Is consent valid, evidenced, and compliant with PECR/GDPR?
- Claims quality: Are submissions properly assessed and evidenced?
- Fee models: Are charges transparent, proportionate, and defensible?
- Customer outcomes: Do processes genuinely deliver fair value?
This is particularly important given the scale of the redress scheme and the likelihood of high claim volumes and heightened regulatory attention.
Straight to the point
The FCA has drawn a line.
- Consumers can claim for free.
- Poor practices are already being identified.
- And regulators are now working together—quickly and decisively.
For firms, this is the moment to move beyond technical compliance and focus on substance, governance, and customer outcomes.
Because in this market, enforcement is no longer theoretical.
It is coordinated. It is active. And it is happening now.
At Create Solutions, we offer straight to the point, no nonsense compliance and we are here to help.
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