Mis sold Car on PCP Update - What's Next?

JBbear

Hi there, 
I submitted 8 claims, and after weeks of waiting, received 8 declines from BMW in a 20 minute window. Every letter was the same standard blurb.

I used Martin's template, but where do I go from here, I want to respond to them and then also go to the Ombudsman but unsure on what grounds.

The reason every claim was declined was BMW paid the dealership a fixed fee, but we know there was commission charged at dealership level. 

Any advice how to progress next.....? 

Thanks in advance 

Nasqueron

While the FCA review is ongoing, the Ombudsman will not take the case however, in your scenario, what exactly is your complaint?

You put in request to know if they used DCA on their deals, they confirmed they didn't so you weren't affected and you didn't have your interest increased by the sales team. What, therefore, are you going to complain to the FOS about? That you weren't miss-sold so don't get a refund but you feel they should issue a refund for some other reason?

You can try and complain that commission was paid at all but that is outside the scope of the DCA investigation and it could get very expensive to proceed given that generally speaking, there is no issue with a firm paying commission to the dealer as that is partly how sales earn their pay. If it was declared on the paperwork that a commission might be paid, I don't see any reason for complaint.

Ayr_Rage

Dealers often pay commission for sales but that doesn't mean it was to the disadvantage of the customer, just part of their business model.

If BMW Finance paid a non-discretionary fee on all contracts then it is not discriminatory and there will probably be a clause in the PCP contract allowing them to do so.

Time to move on and see what ML comes up with next.

DullGreyGuy

JBbear said:

Hi there, 
I submitted 8 claims, and after weeks of waiting, received 8 declines from BMW in a 20 minute window. Every letter was the same standard blurb.

I used Martin's template, but where do I go from here, I want to respond to them and then also go to the Ombudsman but unsure on what grounds.

The reason every claim was declined was BMW paid the dealership a fixed fee, but we know there was commission charged at dealership level. 

Any advice how to progress next.....? 

Thanks in advance 

So you complained about DCA and they've told you there was no DCA but you want to take it "further"?

If you want to claim they are fraudulently claiming there was no DCA first of all you'll need to wait until the end of the current freeze plus 8 weeks which takes you near to the end of Jan 2026. 

Alternatively, if you dont want to accuse them of fraud but instead want to complain about something else then you will need to lodge a new complaint with BMW about whatever reason you want to create.

JBbear

Thanks all, I just felt the churn of standard letters can be used as a 'first hurdle' and wondered if anyone had done anything further... Absolutely dont want to accuse anyone of fraud etc.... 

dunstonh

JBbear said:

Thanks all, I just felt the churn of standard letters can be used as a 'first hurdle' and wondered if anyone had done anything further... Absolutely dont want to accuse anyone of fraud etc.... 

Standard letters are likely to be used.  Something like this, with the larger firms, will have an automated process.    
In this case, where they know they didn't operate it, it can replay on that basis with little or no human input.

It isn't a surprise to get this response.  Most car dealers didn't use DCA and I have seen multiple times that DCA was not used by BMW finance.