RE: Car Finance decision29 Jul 2025 07:48
Reading between the lines, THIS IS GOING TO BE A TRAIN WRECK FOR LENDERS ON MONDAY!!!!
The Supreme Court usually delivers its decisions at 9.45am.
However due to the sensitivity of their decision, they have taken the highly unusual step of issuing its heavily anticipated ruling in the car finance cases at 4.35pm this Friday.
Millions of potential claims worth up to £40bn or more rest on the outcome of the ruling, and law firms and claims management companies have been advertising aggressively in recent months to recruit clients.
In three conjoined cases last year, the Court of Appeal found it unlawful for car dealers, acting as credit brokers, to receive a commission from the lender without obtaining the customer’s informed consent.
In one, the dealer failed to disclose the commission they received from the lender, Close Brothers, and in the other two partially disclosed it in the small print of the credit agreement. The lender in both of those cases was FirstRand Bank.
The customers were all successful in the Court of Appeal either on the basis of the tort of bribery or on the basis of dishonest assistance. One of the claimants was also successful in his claim that it was an “unfair” relationship under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.