The Ford Transit Custom, a popular workhorse van widely used in UK businesses, 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. This period saw many individuals and businesses purchasing their Ford Transit Customs under financing arrangements that later came under scrutiny for potential mis-selling practices.
How the Ford Transit Custom was Typically Financed
Ford Transit Custom owners often financed their vehicles through PCP or HP agreements, with typical finance amounts ranging from £20,000 to £45,000. Common lenders providing finance for Ford models include
Black Horse,
Lombard,
Close Brothers Motor Finance, and Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions. Under these financing arrangements, monthly payments were made over terms of 36 to 60 months, with PCP agreements often including a balloon payment at the end of the contract.
The FCA Motor Finance Investigation
During its investigation into motor finance practices from April 2007 to November 2024, the FCA found that
discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) were widely used. These DCAs allowed dealers and lenders to earn additional fees based on how much financing they could sell, leading to potential mis-selling of PCP agreements with high balloon payments. The investigation uncovered that 12.1 million eligible agreements were affected by these practices, resulting in an estimated £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) total cost to consumers (FCA estimate). On average, each affected consumer paid approximately £829 more than they should have due to the mis-selling (FCA estimate).
How to Check Your Agreement Look for terms such as "discretionary commission arrangement" or simply "DCA." These agreements were in place from 6 April 2007 until their phased removal between June and November 2024. If your agreement was made during this period, it is highly likely that you are affected by the FCA findings.
If you suspect that your Ford Transit Custom finance agreement was mis-sold due to a DCA arrangement, you can complain directly to your lender without needing to involve a
claims management company. Common lenders for Ford vehicles include Black Horse, Lombard, Close Brothers Motor Finance, and Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions. These institutions are required by law to handle complaints in a fair and transparent manner.
To start the complaint process:
1.
Gather Documentation: Collect your finance agreement, payment records, and any correspondence with your lender.
2.
Contact Your Lender: Write or call your lender's customer service department to express your concerns about potential mis-selling practices.
3.
Follow Up: If you do not receive a satisfactory response within eight weeks, escalate the complaint to the
Financial Ombudsman Service (
FOS).
You do not need a claims management company to handle your complaint; the process can be managed directly with your lender for free.
Sources and References
- FCA estimate of affected agreements: 12.1 million (FCA, 2024)
- FCA estimate of total cost to consumers: £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) (FCA, 2024)
- Average additional cost per consumer: £829 (FCA, 2024)
Based on 577,026 MOT tests conducted in 2024 (source: DVSA anonymised test data), the Ford Transit has a pass rate of 73.3%. This is below the national average of 79.6%, meaning the Transit has a higher-than-average failure rate in MOT testing.
The Transit pass rate is slightly below the overall Ford average of 78.3%. The average mileage at MOT for this model is 117,451 miles.
- MOT pass rate: 73.3%
- MOT failure rate: 26.7%
- Tests analysed: 577,026 (2024 DVSA data)
- Average mileage at test: 117,451 miles
- Ford average pass rate: 78.3%
- National average pass rate: 79.6%
Data source: DVSA anonymised MOT test results 2024, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.