Contacted by Courmacs after contacting Stellantis about DCAs - Scam?

clppng

Hi all,

I recently contacted Stellantis Financial Services UK regarding motor finance commission arrangements via email using the template provided by MoneySavingExpert. I made my claim directly to Stellantis (commissiondisclosure@stellantis-finance.com) to avoid any other company getting a cut.

Stellantis got back to me and confimed they received my request.

After a few weeks, I received an emails from a company called Courmacs Legal Limited (updates@mail.courmacslegal.co.uk). They referenced the correct finance agreements I had with Stellantis, including my full name, email, date of birth, and agreement numbers, and asked me to confirm they "continue to represent me". Normally I'd ignore this as spam, as I have never previously engaged with this company, but given they have my personal details AND the finance agreement detials with Stellantis correctly, it seems like more than that.

Shortly after, I received another email from the same company about two more finance agreements with lenders and agreement numbers I do not recognise. The personal details they had (name, email, DoB) were correct, but I have never taken out finance with those lenders.

As far as I know, the only action I have taken regarding making a claim for DCAs was the one I did directly to Stellantis using the template and email address found on MoneySavingExpert.

I haven’t responded to them yet, because it feels very strange that a company would offer to represent me against the same lender I contacted directly. Why would Stellantis appoint a firm to represent me against them? How would a spam or cold call company get all of that information correct?

I’ve seen others talking about similar situations, but I’ve never seen an authoritative answer as to what’s actually going on or what the best course of action is.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any guidance on what to do from here would be appreciated.

Woodstok2000

Stellantis are probably on commission for referrals 🤣

Joking aside, it does seem strange, although I could see it being in their interest to deal with all these claims through the same firm rather than individually?

dunstonh

Why would Stellantis appoint a firm to represent me against them?

They haven't.

How would a spam or cold call company get all of that information correct?

Most of these courmacs ones appear to originate from clicked links on social media posts.

Ask them for a copy of the contract including the audit trail page. The audit trail page will show the details of the electronic signature they are relyng on an the date/time the email was sent to you confirming you had entered into the contract.

penrallt

Courmacslegal ltd just sent me an update re DCA. Had never retained them so asked for my details to be deleted. They responded showing an 'agreement' I had signed in Jan 2025. I received no acknowledgement at the time - it appeared to be one of those 'online forms' wkith Electoral Roll info. On checking my emails, I received my first email from Courmacs Legal Ltd over a year after 'agreement' submitted with note about progress and to ensure I haven't made duplicate applications. They sent a copy of my 'application' which showed a squashed up version of my signature, the wrong finance agreement date, the wrong finance company and the wrong finance agreement number - not to mention that the finance agreement they were referencing was dated over 13-years ago. And did I mention that the DCA finance agreement was in my wife's name??

Scam - have asked for immediate removal but have removed my signature from my company signature block ;-)

dunstonh

Technically, they've also committed a data protection breach. Your wife is an individual. They shouldn't be passing her details to you.

JeanBazza

I too am receiving unsolicited emails from Courmacs Legal in relation to a motor finance claim I made directly with the Lender, to avoid third party involvement. I have received approx 5 emails (containing all my personal details and claim reference number) requesting me to sign a renewed Letter of Authority in order for them to continue acting on my behalf.

I was concerned that the Lender had passed my details to them, without my permission. The email states that if I do not sign the Letter of Authority within 14 days the lender will not continue processing the matter??

I've written to the Lender to enquire whether they did instruct Courmacs Legal but as yet (2 weeks), I've not received a response.

I continue to assume that this is a scam and will ignore their repeated requests to sign their documents. But I am very concerned as to how they obtained my data, and whether there has been a data breach at some point.

dunstonh

I was concerned that the Lender had passed my details to them, without my permission. 

They would not do that, apart from it being unlawful, claims companies increase the administration cost to the financial firm.

I've written to the Lender to enquire whether they did instruct Courmacs Legal but as yet (2 weeks), I've not received a response.

Whilst it will be very easy for them to say no, their lender is probably dealing with massive numbers of motor finance complaints, and with the process currently on hold, you may well find your enquiry ends up in a pile of paper with all the others, with no one taking any action on it until the FCA scheme is opened.

I continue to assume that this is a scam and will ignore their repeated requests to sign their documents. But I am very concerned as to how they obtained my data, and whether there has been a data breach at some point.

Effectively, you're asking the wrong company. You should be making a formal complaint to Courmacs with your allegation that you have never given them authority to act on your behalf. You should also be making a request under the Data Protection Act to ask what details they have on you. So don't waste your time with the lender. Go straight to the problem company.

Penguins4ever36

I work for one of these finance lenders (no I will not say which) and we would absolutely never pass your details on. It would be a massive GDPR breach and would be shut down. You’ve signed yourself up.