Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank or insurer. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.
We are Allegiant Finance Services. We’re a claims management company. So you know, we’re regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. You can check our details at https://register.fca.org.uk.
We provide a claims management service to customers seeking compensation from mis-selling of a motor vehicle finance loan agreement, arising from the commission arrangements which the lender had with the dealership or broker who arranged the car finance.
In a nutshell, car finance lenders often paid commission to car dealers or brokers to arrange finance with them. This commission could sometimes be hidden. and paid without the customer’s knowledge or consent. There are different types of commission arrangement:
Car dealerships, when acting as brokers, have a duty to act impartially in an effort to get their customer the best deal when selecting a lender. If the car dealership is more interested in which lender gives them the most commission, this can create a conflict of interest. As lenders know about this conflict of interest, this can create an unfair relationship under the credit agreement.
We investigate commission arrangements and bring claims where there is likelihood that compensation is due to our customers.
We gather information about what happened. If we think that the commission arrangement has created an unfair relationship or breached other rules or guidance, we will make a complaint on behalf of our customer.
With this kind of mis-selling, we aim to get retrieve compensation for the unfair commission arrangement. This could include:
If a lender disagrees with the complaint we make and their response is unacceptable, we can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to make an independent decision.
To make you aware – the Financial Ombudsman Service (also known as ‘FOS’ for short) – is an independent organisation that independently reviews disputes between customers and lenders (they also deal with other complaints too).
Where a customer and lender disagree on the correct outcome of a complaint, FOS can decide what should happen based on what they think should be a fair and reasonable outcome.
FOS will make a written decision – there are no hearings like a legal matter in court. You can learn more about FOS at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
There are potential positives and negatives in making a claim. Here are some things you might want to consider:-
Things you might consider positive
If you win your complaint, you will get a cash payment from your lender or a reduced or written-off balance. This can lead to an improved financial position.
Things you might consider negative
You may not win, resulting in lost time and frustration.
These are things we suggest you think about, but you should think about what claiming means for your situation.
If you are paid a compensation payout because of a claim we make for you, we will charge you a fee for our service. If you don’t receive a compensation payout, you don’t pay us anything.
Our charges start at 36%, including VAT and go as low as 18%, including VAT, for bigger claims. You can learn more about our fees later in this document. For now, the important bit we want you to take away is that we offer a service you pay for, but only where your lender makes a compensation payout.
As a transparent claims management company, we only want to help customers who have thought about the different ways of claiming and decided to use a claims management service they are happy to pay for. So, it is important we tell you this:-
You do not need to use a claims management company to make your complaint to your lender. If your complaint is unsuccessful, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free.
If you decide that you want to use a claims management company, it is always a good idea to compare different companies to work out the best fit for you.
Another way of claiming is by using a solicitor. Solicitors differ from claims management companies as solicitors can bring claims in court (a more formal process than FOS). They can also use FOS too. If this interests you, we recommend that you seek independent legal advice from a solicitor. If you have legal expenses insurance, solicitor costs may be covered (which may mean that you keep more of your money than using us).
We will only send your claim to solicitors with your permission, and we will only do this if the Financial Ombudsman Service is not the best way of resolving your claim. We will give you more information about this at the time.
What we will do
If you decide to use our claims management service, you must sign a legally binding contract with us.
Once you have a contract with us, we will get information about your motor vehicle finance agreement, including the details of the commission arrangement with the broker.
We will also use the information you provide to us in web forms or surveys.
Once we have the information we need, we will review whether the commission arrangements meant that you were mis-sold.
When we review your case, we will think about the rules relating to commission arrangements on motor vehicle finance agreements and your individual circumstances (including what you were told and what you understood at the time of sale).
We will also think about decisions and guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
If we think your lender mis-sold a motor vehicle finance agreement to you, we will write to them explaining why we feel that they didn’t treat you fairly. We will usually ask the lender to fix this by:-
Keeping you up to date.
We will keep in touch about your claim, usually by email. We may also contact you by phone or by other written methods (letter, text message or website portal). This will often include telling you: –
If we refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, we will also tell you: –
Sometimes there can be delays outside of our control. If this is the case, we will still update you at least every 12 weeks.
If we can’t sort things out with your lender directly
If your lender’s response isn’t good enough, we can involve the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independent decision.
Claims are decided based on opinion, so we can’t make you any promises about the result
If we agree to make a claim for you, this does not mean the claim will be won. So, it is important for you:-
How long it will take
Typically, we would say:-
These timescales are rules of thumb. Some cases can be resolved more quickly, and rarely, some cases can take several years if there are very complex issues.
Update: Please note at the time of writing, commission arrangement claims have been paused whilst the regulator investigates further. The pause mainly extends to December 2025 meaning compensation is very likely delayed until December 2025 at the earliest. We do advise customers to register their claims as early as possible.
Who will perform the work
Our team here at Allegiant will look after your claims. The team is made up of direct employees, and sometimes contractors, that we have fully trained.
Our success fee is due only if your lender makes a compensation payout, and is calculated on the amount of the compensation payout. We do not charge you for any part of a settlement that results in the lender reducing your outstanding balance – that is on the house!
The success fee amount is calculated using a band charging system. There are five charging bands. Each band has a maximum amount that we will charge.
Success Fee Charging Table
| Band | Compensation Payout | Percentage rate the Success Fee is calculated on (including VAT) | Maximum Success Fee in band (including VAT) |
| 1 | £1 to £1,499 | 36% | £504 |
| 2 | £1,500 to £9,999 | 33.60% | £3,000 |
| 3 | £10,000 to £24,999 | 30% | £6,000 |
| 4 | £25,000 to £49,999 | 24% | £,9000 |
| 5 | £50,000 or more | 18% | £12,000 |
Below are examples of how this would work in practice.
| Lower example | Higher example | |||
| Band | Compensation Payout | Success Fee | Compensation Payout | Success Fee |
| 1 | £100 | £36 | £1,499 | £504 |
| 2 | £1,600 | £537.60 | £9,999 | £3,000 |
| 3 | £12,000 | £3,600 | £24,999 | £6,000 |
| 4 | £30,350 | £7,284 | £49,999 | £9,000 |
| 5 | £55,000 | £9,900 | £100,000 | £12,000 |
If you want to see how much we would charge for a specific amount, please visit our online fee calculator at https://allegiant.co.uk/commission-claim-fees/
Please note that the examples in the tables are for illustration purposes only. They are not an estimate of the likely outcome or success fee.
Cooling-off period
You can cancel with us for free within a 14-day cooling-off period, which starts on the day after we receive your signed terms of engagement.
Outside the cooling-off period
After the 14-day cooling-off period, you can still cancel. You will not need to pay a cancellation fee, but you will still have to pay a success fee calculated on any offer we obtain for you and where you later accept that offer or beat it. Where this happens, our success fee will be calculated based on the offer we obtained.
If you need to make a complaint, you can do this by letter, email or phone, or any other reasonable way.
We will aim to acknowledge your complaint within five working days.
We will also send you a link to the process we will follow.
We will then write to you with a final response or to tell you that we are not in a position to give you a final response within eight weeks.
In either case, we will tell you about your right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
For full details, please see the complaints section of the terms of engagement or go to allegiant.co.uk/compliance/complaints-regulated/
Our privacy policy is available at allegiant.co.uk/compliance/privacy-policy/
Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank or insurer. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.
