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The FCA isn’t messing around. Britain’s financial watchdog just dropped a £2 million national campaign — TV, radio, billboards, social media, the works — to get car finance customers filing complaints without paying a penny to claims firms or lawyers.
The campaign kicked off July 27 and runs through September 6, 2026. The core message is pretty simple: you don’t need to hire anyone. The FCA has free tools on its website, including a template complaint letter, and it wants consumers to use them instead of handing money to claims management companies that’ll take a cut of any payout.
And the numbers behind this campaign are big.
What the FCA’s Own Research Found
The regulator commissioned a Kantar survey of 1,000 motor finance customers to get a read on sentiment. What came back was a mixed picture. On the encouraging side, 59% of respondents had already made a complaint or were actively thinking about it. But 27% said they’d feel hesitant to lodge a complaint without first hiring a claims management company or legal firm — even though the FCA’s free resources exist specifically to make that unnecessary. And 23% said they were flat-out uncertain about what their options even were.
That’s a lot of people leaving potential compensation on the table because they don’t know what’s available to them.
The template complaint letter on the FCA’s website seems to be the tool most likely to move the needle. More than 80% of the people surveyed said it would boost their confidence in going directly to lenders without outside help. That’s a strong signal, and it’s probably why the letter is a focal point of the whole campaign.
Not everyone is engaged yet, though. The 23% who reported uncertainty about their options represent a real gap — and closing it seems to be the campaign’s main job.
Scale of the Advertising Push
The reach here is genuinely large. Video content across various platforms is projected to be viewed nearly 11 million times. There are 2,180 outdoor placements — billboards and similar formats — spread across the country. National radio and print coverage adds a combined circulation of nearly 3 million. And the social media side spans Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which helps the campaign land with younger demographics who might not be watching traditional TV or reading print.
It’s a multi-channel strategy, basically. The FCA is trying to make sure the message finds people wherever they actually spend time, rather than betting everything on one medium.
The £2 million budget for all this is a real commitment. It’s not a token effort. The FCA is treating this like a genuine consumer awareness problem that needs serious advertising spend to fix.
The £7.5 Billion Redress Scheme
Behind the campaign sits something much larger. Back in March, the FCA introduced a redress scheme that could see consumers compensated to the tune of £7.5 billion. That’s a massive potential payout for people who were mis-sold car finance products.
But part of the scheme is currently suspended due to legal challenges. The FCA hasn’t walked away from it — the regulator says it’s prepared to defend the scheme. So the legal situation is still live, still unresolved, and the outcome matters enormously for how much compensation actually flows to consumers.
The campaign doesn’t wait for that fight to be settled. It runs now, pushing people to file complaints through the free process that already exists, so that eligible customers are in the queue and engaged with the system regardless of how the legal proceedings play out.
That’s a smart move, probably. Getting consumers to act early means fewer people miss out because they waited too long or didn’t realize they had a valid claim.
The FCA’s position is that financial institutions need to be held accountable, and that consumers shouldn’t need to pay intermediaries just to access a complaints process that’s already free. Claims management companies make money by inserting themselves into a process that doesn’t require them. The FCA is essentially trying to cut them out of the equation.
Whether the campaign actually shifts behavior among that 27% who feel hesitant — or the 23% who are still confused about their options — is unclear yet. The advertising reach looks solid on paper. Nearly 11 million projected video views and 2,180 outdoor placements is a serious footprint.
The Kantar survey gave the FCA a baseline. It’ll be worth watching whether complaint volumes actually rise before September 6.
The redress scheme’s legal challenges remain the bigger wildcard. £7.5 billion in potential compensation is sitting in the balance, and the FCA’s defense of the scheme is still ongoing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FCA’s £2 million car finance campaign?
The FCA launched a £2 million national advertising campaign on July 27, 2026, running until September 6, 2026, to encourage car finance customers to file complaints for free using tools on the FCA website, without hiring claims management companies or lawyers.
How much compensation could car finance customers receive under the FCA redress scheme?
The FCA’s redress scheme, introduced in March 2026, aims to compensate consumers £7.5 billion, though part of the scheme is currently suspended due to legal challenges that the FCA says it is prepared to defend.
