Martin: 'Did you use finance from Apr 07 to Nov 24 to buy a car, motorbike or camper van?'

New. Our updated free Car Finance Complaint Tool now includes all 3 ways you may've been mis-sold. Are you one of 14m due a typical £700?

A month ago, the financial regulator, the FCA, announced a consultation for the biggest consumer redress scheme since PPI, with a predicted £8.2 BILLION to be paid out.

Within that, the definition of mis-selling was expanded. So I asked you then to hold for a few weeks while we updated our tool with the new rules, and to cover the wider group of firms now impacted. Thank you for waiting. Now we're ready - the updated complaint tool has just gone live, so let me take you through who can claim? and what needs doing now (even if you complained before)?

This consultation is (hopefully) the final stage. While it's called a 'consultation', this is the regulator setting out its plans. Its focus is a simple-for-consumers redress scheme, where firms must proactively reach out to those mis-sold - to reach the max number of people. Barring legal challenge (there is some talk that firms are trying to make it difficult), my guess is there'll be few major changes. The plan is for the scheme to launch in early 2026.

This regulator's scheme is only one option. There's also the option of going to court, where if you win, you may be awarded more (though 30%+ would likely go on claims firms'/lawyers' fees, which could change the maths). This is because it's likely the regulator has compromised somewhat to pre-empt the car finance industry doing a Judicial Review (if they did, I'd probably end up pushing people to court, which'd cost the industry far more on a case-by-case basis).

Yet I've made the call to focus my and MSE's resources on supporting you through the FCA redress scheme... based on my past experience of major reclaim campaigns, the fact that court scares off many people, and as the huge majority of people contacting me say: "Can't they just make it easy and quick?" rather than how they can push it to the max. Crucially, too, the proactive nature of the scheme likely means millions more will get redress.

So, all the info below refers to that - and is based on our best estimate of what we know so far, though please remember nothing is 100% set in stone yet.

The 'am I likely impacted?' checklist. Those criteria to be covered by the regulator's scheme are..

• Motor vehicle finance: Car, van, motorbike & camper van (not caravans, though, as this is only about motor finance).
• Eligible dates: Finance from 6 Apr 07 to 1 Nov 24. (It was to 28 Jan 2021, but now that the mis-selling criteria have been expanded, later dates are possible.)