Martin Lewis has urged people to check over their paperwork or they could miss out on over £800. He raised awareness of the issue on his BBC podcast as people will not know they are affected.

Millions of people are thought to be owed compensation payouts as they were historically mis-sold car finance. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has suggested people affected could be owed £829 on average, with over 12.1 million finance deals affected.

The issue relates to loans for purchasing a motor vehicle between April 2007 and November 2024, where firms failed to disclose important information to customers. FCA officials have determined that an “industry-wide scheme” is the most cost effective way to make sure those affected are paid compensation. Lenders have been ordered to look their records to identify those affected, but Mr Lewis urged people to take action themselves.

Mr Lewis urged people who may have been affected to file a complaint with their finance provider. He said this is particularly important as you will not know if you were mis-sold the loan.

He explained: “One of the key definitions of mis-selling is they did one of three different types of mis-selling and they didn’t declare it to you, they didn’t tell you. You won’t know, you can’t know if you were mis-sold, so the only way to know if you were mis-sold right now is to complain.”

He set out three other important reasons why you should get your complaint in. Mr Lewis said: “Your payout will be quicker, likely in 2026, not 2027.

“Secondly, if you haven’t complained and the firm doesn’t have your car finance agreement and you do, you will miss out. Third, you may have moved house, you might have even moved three or four times, you might have changed name if you got married. On all of those things, the firm might not be able to contact you, whereas if you’ve complained, you can put in all of your details.”

Who could be owed compensation?

Mr Lewis explained there are three types of motor vehicle loan where people may have been mis-sold the product, between April 2007 and November 2024. This could apply if you took out a PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) or a HP (Hire Purchase) loan between these dates.