Martin Lewis warning to drivers causes 262,500 to come forward for cash payout

He said it's been a 'staggering' response

This week, the Money Saving Expert said that people could possibly entitled to thousands of pounds if they bought a car, van, motorbike or campervan on finance between 2007 and 2021. This was because millions of people were mis-sold hidden commissions on the vehicles.

The claims are that car dealers were told by lenders organising finance deals that they could get more commission by increasing the cost of finance.

Lewis said that "40 per cent" of people who had bought a vehicle in the designated time period could be owed compensation, and has said the potential payouts could be on the same scale as the PPI scandal.

On Wednesday, he shared his free tool and guide to how motorists can claim compensation. This was after the Financial Conduct Authority announced it would be investigating "more than 10,000" reports of people being charged unfairly inflated prices.

Lewis estimated that the average successful complaint would receive a payout of around £1,100.

Since his plea for people to check if they are owed money, hundreds of thousands of people have submitted claims, with the FCA sending

On Thursday, he shared on X that more than 260,000 complaint emails had been sent.

He wrote: "Car finance reclaiming update. Staggeringly after just 1 full day of our free complaint tool being live... 262,500 complaint emails have been sent

"It's estimated 40 per cent will have had hidden commission. Typical overcharge was £1,100 per agreement.

"So predicted payout will be £115,000,000 (that's conservative as many letters are multi-agreement)"

If you have submitted a complaint, it will be a waiting game from this point though. The FCA will only be in touch once it is done with its investigation, which is expected to come to an end in September.

If it finds evidence of wrongdoing, it will then figure out how best to dish out the compensation to people.

So, if you reckon you reckon this all applies to you, you should lodge a complaint as soon as possible.

The MoneySavingExpert free reclaim tool and guide will help you work out if you could be eligible for compensation, and can help you generate an email for you to send off.

You can find the tool and guide here, along with more information about the mis-selling investigation here.

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