Finance and Insurance Complaints Procedure

Putting our customers first is one of Research Garage Group’s core values. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the financial service we have provided or the financial product that you have purchased, then please do get in touch and we will investigate your concerns and do what we can to put things right.

PLEASE NOTE: For complaints associated to Regulated finance and insurance products only, please contact our compliance company – Automotive Compliance Ltd by;

Telephone:
01452 671560

Email:
complaints@automotive-compliance.co.uk

Letter:
Automotive Compliance Lth

The Factory, 44 Alfred Street, Gloucester, GL1 4DD

For complaints associated with vehicle mechanical or electrical problems, please contact the Research dealership that you purchased the vehicle from.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU?

To respond quickly to your complaint, it would be useful if you could provide us with the following information:

  • Vehicle details: vehicle Registration Number, Make & Model
  • Dealership details: the dealership where you bought the car and the date of purchase
  • Documents: copies of your point-of-sale documents including your credit agreement
  • Complaint: a clear statement of what your complaint is about and the resolution you require

INFORMAL PROCEDURE

Where possible, we will try to resolve your complaint quickly, without any fuss and to your satisfaction within 3 business days (Monday – Friday) of receiving your complaint. If this is not possible then we will use the formal written complaints procedure.

FORMAL WRITTEN PROCEDURE

  1. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing (by letter and/or email) within 5 business days (Monday – Friday) of receiving your complaint. We will automatically provide you with a copy of this complaint’s procedure.
  2. We will fully investigate your concerns and then provide a written response to you. This will be a letter (sent by email and/or letter) and will be headed FINAL RESPONSE LETTER. We have up to 8 weeks to send the Final Response Letter to you. However, we will always aim to provide our written response to you as quickly as possible. If your complaint relates to Discretionary Commission Arrangements, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have paused the 8-week time limit to respond to your complaint until 25th September 2024. Please see www.fca.org.uk/carfinancefor further information.
  3. The issue of the Final Response Letter marks the end of our formal complaint’s procedure.
  4. If we are unable to respond to your complaint fully and in writing within 8 weeks of the date of receipt, or you are dissatisfied with the response we have provided, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for adjudication within 6 months (15 months if it relates to Discretionary Commission Arrangements) of the date of the Final Response Letter. You will be provided with information about how to do this. You can only use the Financial Ombudsman Service if your complaint falls within their jurisdiction. If you would like more information about the Financial Ombudsman Service you can visit their website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

DATA PROTECTION

If you would like someone else to deal with your complaint on your behalf (for example a friend or relative) this is not a problem. However, for us to correspond freely with them, you will need to provide your authority for us to do so. We cannot deal with any third party on your behalf unless we are satisfied that you have instructed them in the matter.

Complaints about Discretionary Car Finance Commission Arrangements (DCAs)

On 11 January 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced their intention to review historical motor finance discretionary commission (DCA) arrangements across the motor industry.

As part of the review, the FCA has paused the 8-week deadline for firms to provide a final response to relevant customer complaints.

The pause will apply to complaints about motor finance agreements where there was a discretionary commission arrangement in place between the lender and the intermediary or credit broker.

This pause was originally scheduled to end on the 25 September 2024; however, it has now been extended until the 04 December 2025.

The purpose of the pause is to ensure that complaints are dealt with fairly and the outcome of the FCA’s review will decide what action needs to be taken on relevant complaints, such as customer compensation.

A relevant motor finance DCA customer complaint must meet the following tests:

  1. It must be about a regulated credit agreement taken out between 6 April 2007 and 28 January 2021.
  2. It must have financed the purchase of a vehicle (including Hire Purchase Agreements, such as Personal Contract Purchases).
  3. There must have been a DCA in place between the lender and the intermediary or broker (the car dealer); and
  4. The complaint must have been received between 17 November 2023 and 04 December 2025 inclusive.

DCA Complaints Process

You can refer your complaint to us as normal. During the period while the FCA review is ongoing, there will be a few changes to the usual complaints handling process and your complaint will be subject to longer than usual complaints handling timescales. This is due to the pause which the FCA introduced with immediate effect from 11 January 2024.

Please note:

  • If you have a relevant DCA complaint, you will not receive a final response from us within the usual 8-week deadline. This is because the FCA has extended the deadline, and, as a result, most relevant customer complaints will not receive a final response until 04 December 2025 at the earliest.
  • If you currently have a DCA complaint in progress with us, the 8-week deadline has been paused and will resume on 04 December 2025.
  • If we sent you a final response to your complaint between 12 July 2023 and 25 September 2024 inclusive, or if we send you a final response to your DCA complaint between 26 September 2024 and 29 April 2025, and you remain unhappy, you will have longer to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Usually, you have six (6) months from the date of our final response to refer your complaint to the FOS, however you now have up to fifteen (15) months from the date of our final response or 29 July 2026, whichever is the later, to refer your complaint to the FOS. If we send you a final response to your DCA complaint between 30 April 2025 and 29 January 2026, you will have fifteen (15) months from the date of our final response to refer your complaint to the FOS.
  • If your complaint does not relate to a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA), the revised complaints handling timescales do not apply and the standard Complaints Procedure will be followed.
  • For full details of the temporary complaints handling timescales and how the rules affect you, please visit the FCA’s dedicated webpage for consumers at https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/car-finance-complaints

Complaints about Non-Discretionary Car Finance Commission Arrangements (Non-DCAs)

On 19 December 2024 and following on from the judgement of the Court of Appeal on 25 October 2024 in three motor finance cases, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed it was introducing a pause to allow firms more time to respond to non-DCA complaints. Firms now have until 04 December 2025 to provide a final response to complaints about non-DCAs in line with the extension already provided for complaints involving DCAs.

A relevant motor finance non-DCA customer complaint must meet the following tests:

  1. It is not a relevant DCA Complaint.
  2. It must be about a regulated credit agreement or regulated consumer hire agreement (leasing agreement), including personal contract hire (PCH), that financed the purchase of a motor vehicle, or a motor vehicle was hired under the agreement.
  3. There was an arrangement for commission to be paid by the lender to the intermediary or credit broker.
  4. The complaint must have been received between 26 October 2024 and 04 December 2025 inclusive.

Non-DCA Complaints Process

You can refer your complaint to us as normal. During the period while the FCA review is ongoing, there will be a few changes to the usual complaints handling process and your complaint will be subject to longer than usual complaints handling timescales.

Please note:

  • If you have a relevant non-DCA complaint, you will not receive a final response from us within the usual 8-week deadline. This is because the FCA has extended the deadline, and, as a result, most relevant customer complaints will not receive a final response until 04 December 2025 at the earliest.
  • If you currently have a non-DCA complaint in progress with us, the 8-week deadline has been paused and will resume on 04 December 2025.
  • If we sent you a final response to your complaint between 21 June 2024 and 19 December 2024 inclusive, or if we send you a final response to your DCA complaint between 20 December 2024 and 29 April 2025, and you remain unhappy, you will have longer to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Usually, you have six (6) months from the date of our final response to refer your complaint to the FOS, however you now have up to fifteen (15) months from the date of our final response or 29 July 2026, whichever is the later, to refer your complaint to the FOS. If we send you a final response to your non-DCA complaint between 30 April 2025 and 29 January 2026, you will have fifteen (15) months from the date of our final response to refer your complaint to the FOS.
  • If your complaint does not relate to a non-discretionary commission arrangement (non-DCA), the revised complaints handling timescales do not apply and the standard Complaints Procedure will be followed.
  • For full details of the temporary complaints handling timescales and how the rules affect you, please visit the FCA’s dedicated webpage for consumers at https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/car-finance-complaints

If you have a Complaint about Motor Finance Commission

You can notify us of your complaint through the following channels.:

By Post: Automotive Compliance Ltd, The Factory, 44 Alfred Street, Gloucester, GL1 4DD

By Phone: 01452 671560

By Email: complaints@automotive-compliance.co.uk

If you are not sure if you have a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA) complaint, you can ask us to check. We will aim to find out and respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.

On receipt of your motor finance commission complaint, we will carry out a detailed review and we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five (5) working days.

We will keep you updated, as appropriate, while the FCA carries out its review and during the period the pause for responding to customer complaints about discretionary arrangements (DCAs) and non-discretionary commission arrangements (non-DCAs) is in place.