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Yes, you can challenge PCP excess mileage charges when the agreement was mis-sold or when the annual mileage cap was never properly disclosed at the point of sale. Your first move is a formal complaint to your lender, backed by any paperwork from when you signed the deal. The Financial Ombudsman Service and the FCA both have clear processes for this, and services like Make A PCP Claim offer a free agreement location check for users who no longer have the documents.
TL;DR:
- Confirm you were not clearly informed of the annual mileage cap at the point of sale, as misleading disclosure is grounds for challenge.
- Gather key paperwork, including your original finance agreement and point of sale notes, to support your claim that the agreement was mis-sold.
- If the lender rejects your complaint or no response is given within eight weeks, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service for impartial review.
- Complaints are generally valid if made within six years of the agreement date or three years of discovering the issue; gather evidence of when you first realized the problem.
- Using a claims management company is not necessary, but doing your own complaint can avoid fees and maximize your potential compensation.
Start with the lender that issued your PCP agreement, not the dealership, unless the dealer arranged the finance directly. Gov sets out the same sequence regardless of the product: raise it with the firm first, get their final answer, then escalate if you’re unhappy.
Lenders generally have eight weeks to issue a final response before you can escalate. Given that the FCA’s wider motor finance redress work has faced legal challenges and partial suspension, some lenders may be slower to respond proactively even though they remain bound by rules that haven’t been paused. Checking your specific lender’s current position is worth doing before you assume delays mean your claim has stalled.
Pro Tip: Send your complaint by email or recorded post rather than by phone, so you have a timestamped written record if the case goes to the Ombudsman.
The core question the Ombudsman asks is simple: were you clearly told about the annual mileage cap when you took out the agreement? If the answer is no, or if the disclosure was buried or misleading, the charge is open to challenge regardless of how the final bill was calculated.
Adjudicators at the Financial Ombudsman Service look closely at what happened at the point of sale rather than the size of the fee itself. Common questions include:
Where the evidence shows the cap wasn’t made sufficiently clear, the Ombudsman can order the lender to waive the excess charge entirely, reduce it, or pay compensation for the inconvenience caused.
The strength of a mileage mis-selling claim almost always comes down to paperwork from the day you signed, not arguments made years later.
If you no longer have your agreement, ask your lender directly. It’s a request they’re obliged to handle, though it can take weeks. This is also the exact situation Make A PCP Claim’s free check is built for: it finds your car finance agreements for free in under 60 seconds, so you don’t have to chase paperwork yourself before you know whether you have a case.
Pro Tip: Keep a simple timeline of dates, what you were told, and by whom; adjudicators respond well to a clear chronology rather than a pile of unsorted documents.
Most financial complaints, including PCP mileage disputes, are governed by what’s known as the six and three rule: you generally have six years from the event you’re complaining about, or three years from when you became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) of a problem, whichever is later.
Checking whether your agreement falls inside this window is one of the first things worth confirming before you invest time building a case.
Outcomes vary depending on what went wrong and how clear the evidence is. Typical remedies include a waiver of the excess mileage charge, a partial refund, compensation for distress and inconvenience, or in some cases an early end to the agreement on fairer terms.
Average compensation under the FCA’s scheme has been estimated around £830 per agreement, though this varies by case. The FCA has also warned that using a third party can cut your net payout by more than 30% once fees are deducted, so it’s worth weighing a free DIY complaint against a managed service before committing. Our guide to claiming car finance compensation covers this trade-off in more detail, and general consumer research on how claims fees affect payouts makes a similar point: fee structures matter as much as the headline award.
If you’ve got the time, the paperwork, and the patience to write a clear complaint, doing it yourself costs nothing and keeps the full award. Where it gets harder is when you’ve lost the original agreement, aren’t sure which lender to approach, or simply don’t have the hours to chase a final response and then an Ombudsman referral.
That’s the gap a managed route fills. Make A PCP Claim’s free check finds your car finance agreements for free in under 60 seconds, with no registration documents or lender paperwork needed from you, and eligible cases are passed on for hands-off handling. It suits people who want someone else to do the legwork rather than those chasing the largest possible award themselves.
— Jake
If chasing old paperwork or drafting a complaint letter isn’t how you want to spend your evening, our free check does the first step for you. It finds your car finance agreements for free in under 60 seconds, with no car registration or lender documents needed from you.
Start your free check with Make A PCP Claim and find out where you stand.
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified financial advisor. Consult a qualified financial professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
Yes, if you weren’t clearly told about the annual mileage cap when you signed, or if the agreement was mis-sold more broadly. Complain to your lender first with any point of sale paperwork you have, then escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you’re not satisfied with the response.
Generally six years from when the agreement was taken out, or three years from when you became aware of the problem, whichever is later. The FCA’s redress scheme also covers agreements from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024, so checking your agreement date matters.
No, the FCA has confirmed it isn’t necessary, and using one can reduce your net compensation through fees. Some people still prefer a managed route for convenience, such as Make A PCP Claim’s free agreement finder, when they lack the time or paperwork to pursue it alone.
The most important document is your original finance agreement showing the mileage cap, along with any point of sale notes or dealer communications. MOT records and service history can also help prove when you first realised your mileage would exceed the limit.
You can refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service once you’ve received a final response, or after eight weeks if the lender hasn’t replied. The Ombudsman will independently review the point of sale evidence and can order a waiver or compensation if it finds in your favour.