Car finance compensation delayed to 2027: what it means for EV owners

If you bought an electric car on finance between April 2007 and November 2024, you face a longer wait for any compensation. The Financial Conduct Authority’s redress scheme, worth an estimated £7.5bn across about 12.1 million agreements, is partly suspended while the Upper Tribunal hears legal challenges, and AM Online reports that payouts have been pushed back to 2027. A two-day case management hearing that began on Monday and ends today will help set the timetable.

When the FCA published its final rules (PS26/3) on 30 March 2026, its press release was headlined “Millions of car finance customers to get payouts this year”. That changed on 1 July, when the tribunal partly suspended the scheme: until the challenges are resolved, lenders do not have to calculate or pay compensation, or contact eligible customers about it. If you financed an early Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe or Tesla Model 3, the rules are the same as for a petrol car: what counts is the finance agreement, not the fuel.

Why has car finance compensation been pushed back to 2027?

Four parties have challenged the scheme: Volkswagen Financial Services UK, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK, CA Auto Finance UK and the claimant group Consumer Voice. According to CMS, the challenges cover the scope of the scheme, causation of loss, the redress methodology and compensatory interest. They pull in opposite directions: the lenders dispute aspects of the rules and their lawfulness, while Consumer Voice argues the scheme is too favourable to lenders.

This week’s hearing does not decide whether the scheme is lawful. AM Online reports that it deals with disclosure, expert evidence and other procedural issues. The FCA says the full hearing will run from 14 to 18 December 2026 or from 16 to 26 February 2027, depending on whether applications for further expert evidence or disclosure are made and succeed.

Date	What happens
30 March 2026	FCA publishes final rules (PS26/3)
1 July 2026	Upper Tribunal partly suspends the scheme
5 to 6 October 2026	Case management hearing on disclosure and expert evidence
14 to 18 December 2026, or 16 to 26 February 2027	Full hearing of the four challenges
2027 at the earliest	First compensation payments

Does your EV finance deal qualify?

Your agreement must have been taken out between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024, and the lender must have paid commission to the broker, which is usually the dealer that sold you the car. The FCA says you will then be considered if you were not told about at least one of three arrangements:

• Discretionary commission arrangement: the broker could adjust your interest rate to earn more commission.
• High commission: at least 39% of the total cost of credit and at least 10% of the loan.
• Contractual tie: the lender had exclusivity or a right of first refusal with the broker, unless it can show the links between the manufacturer, dealer and lender were visible to you.

That exception may matter for brand-badged finance from a franchised dealer, where the carmaker link was obvious, though the other two tests still apply.

Why 0% APR EV deals miss out

The final rules treat anyone who received 0% APR as having no relevant arrangement, whatever commission was paid, as Regulation Tomorrow sets out. Agreements with minimal commission are also excluded, according to thinkmoney. If you took a manufacturer’s 0% PCP offer on your EV, you paid no interest for a commission to have inflated, so you should not expect anything from this scheme.

What high commission looks like in practice

Both tests must be met. As an illustration, on a £20,000 loan with £5,000 of interest, the commission would need to be at least £2,000 (10% of the loan) and at least £1,950 (39% of the cost of credit) to count as high.

How has the scheme changed since the consultation?

The final rules are narrower and cheaper for lenders than the FCA first proposed.

Measure	Consultation	Final rules (PS26/3)
Eligible agreements	14.2 million	12.1 million
High commission test (share of cost of credit)	35%	39%
Admin costs to firms	£2.8bn	£1.6bn
Total cost to firms	£11bn	£9.1bn

Sources: Regulation Tomorrow, Insurance Business.

The FCA expects an average payout of around £830 per agreement. Its £7.5bn redress figure assumes 75% of eligible consumers take part.

Are lenders still preparing to pay?

Yes. AM Online reports that Close Brothers set aside a further £164.7m in the year to 31 July 2026, taking its total provision to about £320m. Stellantis Financial Services UK raised its provision from £37.1m to £221.3m during 2025, contributing to a £69.3m pre-tax loss. Its accounts warn that “significant uncertainty remains regarding the ultimate cost”.

Together that is £541.3m from just two lenders. Our reading: the industry expects to pay, and the open questions are how much and when. With Consumer Voice pushing for more and three lenders pushing back, the final bill could move either way.

Is the call about your payout a scam?

Treat it as one until you can prove otherwise. Lenders are not contacting customers about amounts while the scheme is partly suspended. The FCA has received reports of scammers asking for names, addresses, dates of birth and bank details while falsely claiming people are owed compensation. Check any firm against the FCA’s list of car finance lenders before you share anything, and apply the same caution you would to fake QR codes on public chargers.

What this means for you

You do not need to do anything urgent, and you should not pay anyone to do it for you.

• If you have already complained, the FCA says you will get a redress decision without needing to opt in once the scheme restarts.
• If you have not, lenders must contact customers they believe are likely to be owed money within six months of the end of the implementation period and offer them the chance to opt in. You can also complain directly and for free using MoneySavingExpert’s reclaim tool.
• Find your paperwork now: the agreement date, the lender and the APR. If it was 0% APR, or signed outside 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024, the scheme will not cover it.

Financing an EV today? Ask the dealer what commission it earns, and compare the options in our guide to leasing vs PCP vs buying an EV. Our ZEV mandate analysis explains why EV discounts could deepen before December, and our guide to buying and owning an electric car covers the rest.

Our take: the money is likely to come, but not this year. Ignore cold calls, keep your documents together, and expect clarity only after the tribunal rules.