The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed it will resume handling motor finance complaints on 31 May 2026, bringing an end to a pause that will have lasted nearly two years.
The regulator said the revised timetable gives it enough room to finalise the design of a compensation scheme and allows lenders and brokers adequate time to prepare for implementation.
The freeze, imposed in January 2024, followed concerns that some firms had failed to properly disclose commission arrangements between lenders and motor finance brokers. The FCA introduced the pause to avoid “disorderly, inconsistent and inefficient outcomes” while it assessed the scale of potential consumer harm.
Since then, landmark Supreme Court and High Court rulings have provided important legal clarity, enabling the FCA to progress work on a redress scheme for customers who were treated unfairly.
The regulator emphasised that complaints must now be resolved promptly, noting that some customers have already been waiting almost two years for a final response. With a broad compensation scheme planned, the FCA expects only a small number of cases to fall outside its scope.
Complaints that do not qualify for the scheme will revert to standard handling rules, meaning firms will generally have up to eight weeks from 31 May 2026 to respond, depending on when the complaint was originally submitted.
Leasing-related complaints are excluded from any extension because they fall outside the proposed scheme; firms must begin issuing final responses for these cases from 5 December 2025.
The FCA expects to publish its final scheme rules in February or March 2026, and firms will be required to keep relevant records until April 2031.
Consumers with existing complaints do not need to act, while anyone worried about undisclosed commission is encouraged to raise their concerns.
