The Citroen C4 Cactus was widely sold on
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and
Hire Purchase (HP) finance agreements during the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) investigation period, which ran from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024. This investigation revealed significant issues with
discretionary commission arrangements in motor finance, affecting millions of consumers across the UK.
How the Citroen C4 Cactus was Typically Financed
The Citroen C4 Cactus was often financed through Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and Hire Purchase (HP) agreements that typically ranged from £15,000 to £30,000. Common terms for PCP agreements were 36 to 48 months, with lenders such as
Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance,
Close Brothers Motor Finance,
MotoNovo Finance, and
Santander Consumer Finance providing the financing. These finance arrangements often included a balloon payment at the end of the term, which consumers would need to pay or refinance if they wanted to keep the vehicle.
The FCA Motor Finance Investigation
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) conducted an extensive investigation into discretionary commission arrangements in motor finance from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024. This investigation found that many car dealerships and lenders received additional payments based on the type of finance agreement a customer chose, often incentivizing them to recommend more expensive options like PCP over HP or cash purchases. The FCA estimated that 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026) by these arrangements (FCA estimate) (FCA, March 2026). In total, the mis-selling could have cost consumers up to £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026).
How to Check Your Agreement Look for any mention of "Discretionary Contribution Arrangement" (DCA) or similar terms that indicate the lender received additional payments based on the type of finance chosen. check if the agreement was signed between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024, as these are the dates specified in the FCA's investigation period.
If you believe your Citroen C4 Cactus finance agreement was affected by discretionary commission arrangements, you can complain directly to your lender without needing a
claims management company. Common lenders that provided financing for the Citroen C4 Cactus include Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance, MotoNovo Finance, and Santander Consumer Finance. Each of these lenders has a dedicated complaints process available on their websites or through customer service.
When contacting your lender to lodge a complaint, provide detailed information about your agreement, including the dates and any relevant documentation that indicates discretionary commission arrangements may have been involved. Remember, you do not need a claims management company to handle your complaint; most lenders offer free services for addressing these issues directly with their customer support teams.
Sources and References
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates on affected agreements: 12.1 million (FCA estimate)
- FCA total mis-selling cost estimate: £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026)
- Average loss per consumer due to mis-selling: £829 (FCA estimate)
These figures and the overall investigation findings are based on data provided by the Financial Conduct Authority as part of their ongoing efforts to ensure fair and transparent motor finance practices in the UK market.
Based on 154,946 MOT tests conducted in 2024 (source: DVSA anonymised test data), the Citroen C4 has a pass rate of 72.7%. This is below the national average of 79.6%, meaning the C4 has a higher-than-average failure rate in MOT testing.
The C4 pass rate is slightly below the overall Citroen average of 75.3%. The average mileage at MOT for this model is 85,226 miles.
- MOT pass rate: 72.7%
- MOT failure rate: 27.3%
- Tests analysed: 154,946 (2024 DVSA data)
- Average mileage at test: 85,226 miles
- Citroen average pass rate: 75.3%
- National average pass rate: 79.6%
Data source: DVSA anonymised MOT test results 2024, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.