DCA - Ford Credit

lalascott

Good afternoon,

I have logged a complaints with Ford credit over DCA using the email custrel@ford.com next week will be the one month since I sent the email. I haven't received anything from even an acknowledgment email. Just wondering if anyone has any dealing with Ford credit regards to a DCA complaint? Also if u don't hear anything within the month should I contact them by phone after date?

Many thanks 

dunstonh

The complaints process on DCA has been suspended by the regulatory until they have published their report.  That is expected in September.  Firms are not required to act on DCA complaints until after that.

[Deleted User]

Firms are still required to acknowledge and investigate DCA complaints, just with an extended timeline. Chase them up until you get an acknowledgment of your complaint at the very least so you are prepared for September. Dunstoh is very against this, I (and Martin it seems) are all for it.

Nasqueron

[Deleted User] said:

Firms are still required to acknowledge and investigate DCA complaints, just with an extended timeline. Chase them up until you get an acknowledgment of your complaint at the very least so you are prepared for September. Dunstoh is very against this, I (and Martin it seems) are all for it.

Dunstonh is not against this at all, they are simply pointing out that after registering the complaint you should just wait

Martin is for all sorts of things, though to be fair he and MSE at least do recognise nothing will happen until September, though he / MSE have yet to acknowledge the cost to customers in the future of all this messing around until the FCA decision

DullGreyGuy

[Deleted User] said:

Firms are still required to acknowledge and investigate DCA complaints, just with an extended timeline. Chase them up until you get an acknowledgment of your complaint at the very least so you are prepared for September. Dunstoh is very against this, I (and Martin it seems) are all for it.

The difference is Martin and this site make a lot of money out of whipping up the masses to blood frenzy and so dont care that it ultimately costs everyone more in the long run as operational costs are just passed back to consumers.  

Anyone sensible and not in it for personal gain will have seen what the FCA have said, that all complaints are on hold until the end of September at the earliest and then the normal 8 week period will commence from then and waited. It's likely the FCA will give guidance on what its expecting in various scenarios, the most common one is going to be where records have been appropriately destroyed under GDPR. 

If it is a systemic issue then companies will likely be required to proactively deal with those impacted so they'll reach out to you rather than requiring you to reach out to them. These schemes are normally overseen by an independent body who may well be the one that creates a calculator to work out compensation due (how its worked on various annuity mis-selling issues).

[Deleted User]

Then why on earth have the FCA released a statement telling people to keep complaining to lenders and imploring lenders to keep investigating whilst they are doing their review? April 24 they said keep investigating as regardless of the outcome we reach you will need to do something akin to a complaint investigation anyway so don’t just do nothing for 9 months. 

[Deleted User]

And Nasqueron, OPs question was should they poke the lender for an acknowledgment, what Dunstoh said was patently wrong. They are required to act on all complaints, acknowledge them promptly and investigate, they just aren’t required to issue a final response for an extended period. OP asks should they chase an acknowledgement after a month, imo yes they should. I imagine that acknowledgement will give them the peace of mind their complaint is logged and then they will wait. Advising them they don’t have to respond is either lazy, or  indicates they personally disagree with the process.

[Deleted User]

Finally I must disagree that it will cost consumers more in the long run. I believe it will save consumers money in the long run as it will stop motor finance lenders doing this again and make them more transparent in the future resulting in fairer interest charges and better motor finance products. My hope is this all comes around to bite the PCP product in the behind and a return to traditional hire purchase is seen. This would mean car manufacturers can no longer over inflate the price of new cars to match the goldfish bowl of PCP prices and consumers go back to actually owning a vehicle at the end of a contract. That would he a huge win for the consumer, blue sky thinking atm though. I know I know its all about DCAs and commission atm before you say, I’m waxing lyrical about the possibilities this opens for the future. Domino number 1 so to speak.

DullGreyGuy

[Deleted User] said:

Then why on earth have the FCA released a statement telling people to keep complaining to lenders and imploring lenders to keep investigating whilst they are doing their review? April 24 they said keep investigating as regardless of the outcome we reach you will need to do something akin to a complaint investigation anyway so don’t just do nothing for 9 months. 

Show a link to the statement where the FCA have said people should keep complaining to lenders. 

Yes, they have said that if a request is received then they should attempt to discover if DCA applies or not so that where it wasnt can be told. That doesn't mean they are encouraging people to write complaints.

[Deleted User] said:

Finally I must disagree that it will cost consumers more in the long run. I believe it will save consumers money in the long run as it will stop motor finance lenders doing this again and make them more transparent in the future resulting in fairer interest charges and better motor finance products. 

The practice of DCA was banned in 2021 so no need to incur millions in costs managing the process to stop the activity. 

Having been involved in FSA/FCA remediations in the past the operational cost of doing the remediation massively outweighed the monies paid out. Like all operating costs it all just gets passed on to customers. That isn't to say remediation isn't required but there is no benefit of the blood frenzy now when the FCA haven't yet determined either if there were issues nor how issues be put right. There is good marketing reasons why this site wants the publicity, people but people seem to forget they generate £50m revenue, £30m profit and it's not some altruistic motivation. 

[Deleted User]

DCA is banned yes but commission as a whole is not. Fixed commission for the finance, head office bonuses and more?!? Hmm, still more to be done there. Volume commission can genuinely be larger than DCAs. Fixed commission is the type I think most would expect and accept. Ahh yes but what about the multi billion pound boost to disposable income? The wave generated from these things can be huge, all those people buying cars (ironically), holidays and home improvements in 2014 with their juicy payouts was a great boost to business and the economy. It is not simply a £ for £ exchange. As for motor finance, if in 10 years consumers are buying 90% of new cars on traditional hire purchase, no longer on PCP, as a direct result of this process then they would be paying billions less in interest and owning billions more in assets at the end. The interest rate may also be lower due to a reduction in incentives which are indirectly paid from the interest and the head price of the car also lower as PCP is no longer popular and people simply cant pay the overblown prices manufacturers want to charge. 

[Deleted User]

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/fca-statement-regarding-motor-finance-firms-financial-resources