Motor Finance Consumer Redress Scheme – Loss Based APR Adjustment
Overview
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has launched a consultation for motor finance customers who have been treated unfairly. The FCA proposes a mechanism for redress for customers who have suffered a loss, based on an actuarial calculation – “Loss based APR Adjustment”.
Derivation of Loss Based APR
According to the consultation this derivation is a floor for the amount of redress that can be paid to a consumer who has been assessed to have suffered a loss from (typically) a Discretionary Commission Arrangement (“DCA”) where appropriate disclosure was not made. This loss-based redress assumes that if disclosure had been appropriate the APR would have been 17% lower (or equivalently 83% of the actual APR).
The Loss Based APR is derived using the formulae:
P / A(N)
Where P is the principal of the loan and A(N) is the annuity determined using the actuarial formulae:
A(N) = V × (1 – VN) ÷ (1 – V)
Where:
A(N) = annuity factor for N periods
V = discount factor per period
N = number of periods (monthly repayments)
The redress calculation (floor) is therefore Actual APR – Loss Based APR which gives the overpayment on the car finance agreement (typically a “PCP” type arrangement).
An example
Assume a PCP type consumer finance contract where the amount financed is £20,000, the term is 4 years or 48 months (which is typical for this type of arrangement) with the APR rate of 10% per annum. The monthly repayment (capital and interest) based on the actuarial formulae above is £507.25. Repeating the derivation based on 83% of the APR i.e. 8.3% the monthly repayment is £491.08 which means the monthly overpayment is £16.17.
This overpayment needs to be rolled up to the calculation date on a simple interest basis using Bank of England base rate + 1% from the date of payment to calculation date. Using the above example and assuming that the start date of the loan was 01/01/2020 and an end date of 01/01/2024 (i.e. a 4-year PCP contract) with calculation date of 01/10/2025 we have derived the compensation amount equal to £909.57.
Congruent’s view
The compensation for the above example is ~ £1000 – which is higher than the average compensation derived in the FCA consultation but it is clearly driven by choice of APR, which is a function of general interest rates and consumer credit worthiness.
Note this derivation is a floor for the compensation i.e. the loss-based APR remedy (as described in this note) whereas the actual remedy (depending on the consumer’s circumstances) may instead be a commission repayment remedy, – or a “hybrid” remedy which is the average of the loss-based APR remedy and commission repayment remedy.
The FCA will publish its policy statement and final rules in early 2026, with the launch of the redress scheme shortly after.
