Trying to claim through welcome finance for car finance

MacDrumm

Hi all,

Can't find the answer on the forum so thought I'd ask here

Bought a car with Welcome Financial Services PLC in 2007 (found using Equifax car finance tool) and I'm trying to use the tool on MSE to submit a claim.

They ceased trading in 2011, and someone took over their obligations because they contacted me a long time ago and paid out for missed PPI.

I'm trying to find who I make my claim to now as I can't find any records of who is responsible for payouts on this.

Chat GTP says I need to claim through FSCS (see below) but their claim tool doesn't include this car finance scheme

Anyone else had experience/luck with this?

Mac

here's what GTP says

You’re not alone with this — Welcome Financial Services Limited went bust years ago, so you can’t contact them directly anymore. But there is still a proper route to make a mis-sold finance claim. Here’s exactly what to do.

Who you actually need to contact now

Because the company failed in March 2011, responsibility for claims moved to the UK compensation system. Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) handles claims against them. 

That means:

• You do not contact Welcome directly
• You claim through FSCS instead
• It is free to do yourself (no need for a claims company) 

How to contact them (official route)

Go directly to the FSCS page for Welcome Finance:

• Use this official link:
  Start a claim with FSCS for Welcome Finance

They will typically ask for:

• Your name and address at the time
• Approximate dates of the loan / car finance
• Agreement number (if you still have it)

950811

Interested to find this out too - reached out to FSCS and they told me

"FSCS protection does not apply to lending such as car finance. This means if the provider has gone out of business, consumers can’t make a claim to FSCS. You will need to contact the Financial Conduct Authority who are handling those type of claims."

But when I search or use the AI tool on the FCA don't get any answers.

dunstonh

Chat GTP says I need to claim through FSCS (see below) but their claim tool doesn't include this car finance scheme

That Chat GPT response was rubbish. Which model did you use? - it looks more like the free instant version

It is wrong on multiple fronts and gave a very incomplete answer. You may wish to consider changing the way you access AI (free, quick models are often far too basic, out of date or just plain wrong). In your case, it seems that ChatGPT hallucinated PPI reclaims with motor finance and answered as if you had PPI (PPI being insurance, does fall under the FSCS Insurance protection scheme).

The FSCS cannot be used as motor finance is not covered by the scheme.

If you were still in debt with the lender and your loan was transferred to a debt purchaser, then you make your claim to that debt purchaser. If you repaid the debt before the lender failed or your debt was never transferred to a debt purchaser, then, if the firm is still in administraton, you would stake a claim as a potential creditor to the administrator. If administration has completed, then for all practical purposes, it’s game over unless the company were ever restored, which is highly unlikely.

In the case of Welcome Car Finance, they stopped lending in 2009. The motor finance book was reportedly sold to Coast (now Swift), so if your specific agreement was sold on, your current or former debt purchaser is the party to approach.