Hartwell Finance Response

NLP99

Hi all slightly confused by the response from Hartwell

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for your email below.

 

Hartwell Finance is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. If the sale of motor finance has been conducted through Hartwell Automotive Group Limited , irrespective of the lender concerned, then this will have been carried out under Hartwell Finance’s authorisation. This is why we are responding to your complaint.

 

We have checked our records and can confirm that a commission was paid to the dealer in respect of the introduction of you to us. At the time this agreement was incepted there were no rules against the application of a discretionary commission model. While the FCA subsequently ruled against these, they were not applied retrospectively.

 

The FCA is now reviewing historical motor finance commission arrangements and sales practices so it is possible that this may result in a decision requiring us to respond.

 

You should consider this our final response in relation to this matter. However, should you remain dissatisfied with this response then you have the right to refer this to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge for consideration within 6 months of the date of this letter. All the information on how to do this is listed on the FOS website at this address.

{Link removed}

 

Kind regards



As they said there was a commission paid I assume it's just a case of waiting until the FCA investigation is over?

dunstonh

s they said there was a commission paid I assume it's just a case of waiting until the FCA investigation is over?

Which is exactly what some of us have been saying in the forums.  Until the FCA complete their review, nobody knows what to do.

Their response neither confirms or denies the existence of DCA.   A commission being paid is expected and that is not an issue.   

So, now you wait.

[Deleted User]

They are saying in a roundabout way you paid a DCA, but they don’t believe there is anything wrong with it. Unnecessary confusion but you know their stance now. They have issued a final response and given you 6 months (!) to refer it despite this complaint being affected by the pause so they should give you longer. Typo or deliberate, you decide.  My advice, and what I would do in your shoes, is refer it to FOS now you have a final response as that is the correct thing to do. FOS will accept it and acknowledge it as you have a final response, but they will not be able to start issuing outcomes until after the end of the review slated for September this year. Others will tell you to sit on your hands, wait around, FOS wont accept it etc. Thats their agenda, FOS will accept it, it’s your choice to refer now or wait. I am 99% confident if you contacted FOS with the same question they would say the same, refer now or wait, you have a final response.

dunstonh

Others will tell you to sit on your hands, wait around, FOS wont accept it etc. Thats their agenda, FOS will accept it

What a complete waste of time.   The FOS will not act on it.    

All that is going to happen is that the FOS will log it, wait until the FCA report and then fire them all back to the firms in question and tell them to take another look based on the FCA report.

[Deleted User]

Thats your opinion, you don’t know that. OP can read our two sets of advice and decide for themselves. I don’t think it’s a waste of time, less so given the lender has made their stance on DCA clear. If the outcome of the review is a complaint process with additional guidance, that can be dealt with at FOS, through FOS as a third party. Much easier in my experience. FOS will ‘fire it back’ to the lender if needed but they won’t eject the claim from the service, it will remain with them as a complaint has been investigated and a final response given.  FOS are very good like that, almost like they want to help consumers not hinder them.  Had the lender not wanted them to progress to FOS then they could've sent this reply without saying it was a final response and giving FOS rights.

dunstonh

I don’t think it’s a waste of time, less so given the lender has made their stance on DCA clear.

The lender has made their response based on the current position but the FOS will not make their decision until after the FCA have published their report.

If the outcome of the review is a complaint process with additional guidance, that can be dealt with at FOS, through FOS as a third party. 

The FOS will try to save time by giving firms the opportunity to review their decisions in light of any change in rules or FCA rulings. There is a form on this.     

. FOS will ‘fire it back’ to the lender if needed but they won’t eject the claim from the service, it will remain with them as a complaint has been investigated and a final response given. 

They won't eject it. However, they won't review the complaint initially either. The "firing back" will involve asking the lenders to review their decision in light of the FCA paper and letting them know if their decision is being changed (in cases where the lender has already rejected the complaint). Where no decision has been made by the lender who just put it on hold, but the person went to the FOS anyway, they will not look at it until at least the eight weeks are up after the resumption, and they will give the lenders a chance to complete the process.

It is possible that the FCA grant an extension to the 8 weeks, considering it will be unlikely that firms will be able to meet the 8-week period and the FOS won't have the resources to do it any quicker either.   There has been a lot of coverage on FOS resources of late. So, it should be on their mind.   However, that doesn't necessarily mean the FCA will apply common sense.  

FOS are very good like that, almost like they want to help consumers not hinder them

They do.  However, at the same time, they are known to tell consumers one thing and the firm another.   Back in my short period in a complaints team, they would say to us that there is no case to answer and it would be rejected but would be telling the complainant that they would like to take a look at it.

They will never put someone off unless it is blatantly obvious.    At the same time, they have to manage their resources, and in other areas, they do go back to firms to give them a window to change their mind before they look at it.    

Everything will become clear once the FCA publish their paper.   Until then, trying to circumvent the system is pointless.

[Deleted User]

I agree that there is the likelihood that FOS will fire it back after the review and ask them to look again,  this is common in many complaint types, FOS will try and get the lender to relook at it before an adjudicator makes a decision to save resources and save case fees, a second chance essentially. By having your claim referred to FOS when you have a final response you don't miss any deadlines and FOS will do that for you and ensure they get a reply.  People forget, have lives etc.  By doing it now their claim is with FOS, progressed as far as it can be and they don't need to worry about forgetting about it or missing any future deadlines. This is not circumventing the process it is following the process, if the lender did not want them to progress it any further then they should not have issued a final response giving FOS rights in a time period (the pause) where they were not required to.