The Cupra Born, a popular electric vehicle model, was commonly sold on Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and Hire Purchase (HP) finance agreements during the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) investigation period from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024. The FCA's investigation uncovered widespread mis-selling practices in motor finance agreements, affecting millions of consumers across the UK.
How the Cupra Born was Typically Financed
The Cupra Born, a compact electric vehicle designed for urban driving and long-distance travel alike, was often sold to customers through PCP and HP agreements. Under these financing plans, typical loan amounts ranged from £15,000 to £30,000, with terms commonly lasting 36 to 48 months. The finance companies that frequently provided loans for the Cupra Born included
Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance,
Close Brothers Motor Finance,
MotoNovo Finance, and
Santander Consumer Finance.
In PCP agreements, a "balloon payment" or final lump sum was typically required at the end of the term to fully own the vehicle. This balloon payment could be substantial, often amounting to thousands of pounds more than the initial loan value, depending on factors such as depreciation rates and residual values set by the lender.
The FCA Motor Finance Investigation
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched an investigation into motor finance agreements due to concerns about
discretionary commission arrangements between lenders and dealerships. These arrangements incentivised dealers to push customers towards PCP deals rather than other potentially better-suited financing options such as HP or cash purchases. As a result, the FCA found that 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026) by these practices (FCA estimate), with an FCA-estimated average of £829 per eligible agreement and a total impact of £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) across all agreements (FCA estimate).
The investigation revealed that customers often paid more for their Cupra Born than they should have due to the mis-selling of PCP deals, which were not always in their best interest.
How to Check Your Agreement Discretionary commission arrangements often resulted in higher interest rates and additional fees being charged under misleading terms and conditions. The agreements that were most likely to be impacted are those entered into between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024.
If you see phrases such as "Discretionary Commission Arrangement" (DCA) or similar terminology in your finance agreement, it is highly advisable to seek further information about whether your deal was mis-sold. if the terms of your agreement seem overly complex or disadvantageous compared to other financing options available at the time, you should investigate this further.
If you suspect that your Cupra Born finance agreement was affected by the FCA investigation into discretionary commission arrangements, you can complain directly to your lender without needing a
claims management company. Common lenders associated with Cupra Born financing include Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance, MotoNovo Finance, and Santander Consumer Finance.
When lodging your complaint, provide specific details about any discrepancies or misleading information in your finance agreement. You do not need to pay for legal representation; most lenders have a process for handling complaints free of charge under their internal procedures. If you are unsatisfied with the response from your lender, you can escalate the matter further by contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Sources and References
- FCA Estimate: 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026), £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) total impact, £829 average per eligible agreement loss per customer (FCA estimate)
- Common lenders for Cupra Born finance (Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance, MotoNovo Finance, Santander Consumer Finance)