Early Settlement Offers
Barclays Partner Finance will this month begin contacting tens of thousands of customers who have complained about car finance mis-selling to offer early full and final settlements. The banking group has set aside £430m in connection with the scandal, which involves discretionary commission arrangements that allowed dealers to increase interest rates between 2007 and 2024. Under Financial Conduct Authority rules, these early offers must at least match what customers would receive under the regulator's suspended £9.1bn compensation scheme.
Customer Choices and Timelines
Customers have one month to accept or reject the offer once contacted. Those who accept will receive their money before Christmas, according to expectations, but waive the right to pursue further claims or additional compensation. Alternatively, consumers can decline and wait for the outcome of ongoing legal challenges, a hearing for which is scheduled for February. The FCA noted that declining customers could ultimately receive more, less, or nothing depending on judicial rulings, though Barclays stated it will not ask those who accept early payouts to repay money if final outcomes suggest lower entitlements.