Under Section 99 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you have the statutory right to voluntarily terminate a regulated hire purchase or PCP agreement at any time, provided you have paid at least 50% of the total amount payable (including interest and fees). If you have not yet paid 50%, you can top up the difference and still terminate. The lender cannot add termination charges or penalise you for reasonable use of this right.

A finance agreement may be mis-sold if the broker or dealer received a commission they did not disclose to you, and that commission influenced the interest rate you were charged — a practice known as discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs). The FCA has confirmed that undisclosed DCAs were widespread in car finance before January 2021. If you took out car finance before that date, you may have a valid complaint to the FCA review or via the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If a lender gave you credit that was clearly unaffordable — for example, approving a loan you could not repay given your income and existing debts — this may breach the FCA's responsible lending rules. You can complain to the lender, and if unresolved, to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Successful affordability complaints can result in interest being refunded and the remaining balance being reduced.

If you believe a default or negative entry on your credit file is inaccurate — for example, because you were making payments under an agreed arrangement, or the debt is not yours — write formally to the lender requesting it be corrected or removed. You can also raise a dispute directly with the credit reference agency (Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion). If the lender refuses to correct an accurate entry, you can add a Notice of Correction to your credit file explaining the circumstances.