Approved for Car Finance You Couldn’t Afford? You Might Have a Claim
Did you know that lenders are required to check whether your monthly repayments are genuinely affordable, not just whether you qualify for credit? If they failed to carry out those checks, your car finance agreement may have left you struggling financially. And if that happened, there’s a real chance the agreement was mis-sold.
At Elmwood Law, we help drivers challenge unfair finance deals and recover compensation where affordability checks were inadequate or ignored altogether.
How It Works
Challenging an unaffordable finance agreement might sound daunting, but we’ve made the process simple, transparent, and fully online.
1. Tell us about your agreement
Answer a few quick questions about your car finance, including when you signed it and what your monthly repayments were like at the time.
2. We review your affordability
Our team use secure tools to assess whether the lender followed the rules when approving your finance. We’ll look at your financial situation, income, and any signs the payments were unrealistic.
3. We build and submit your claim
If we believe your agreement was mis-sold, we’ll put together the legal case and handle all the correspondence with the lender or finance provider.
4. You receive compensation
If your claim is successful, your compensation is processed and sent to you.
What Are Affordability Checks?
Before approving finance, lenders must assess whether the repayments are sustainable based on your income, outgoings, and financial situation. This ensures the agreement won’t cause financial hardship.
If no meaningful checks were done, or if the lender overlooked signs that the payments would be difficult to manage, they may have acted irresponsibly. In legal terms, this can amount to mis-selling.
You May Have an Affordability Claim If:
- Your monthly payments were unaffordable.
- The lender didn’t ask for any proof of income or financial details.
- You had other debts that weren’t taken into account.
- The finance left you unable to meet basic living expenses.
- You were approved despite a poor credit history or known financial difficulties.
Even if you’ve since paid off the agreement, you may still be eligible to claim compensation.
Why It Matters
Approving someone for finance they can’t realistically repay is considered a failure of duty. These agreements can cause long-term financial strain, missed payments, and even damage your credit file.
Regulators have made it clear: affordability should never be an afterthought. If your lender got it wrong, you have the right to challenge the agreement.
How Elmwood Law Can Help
We use smart tools and expert legal insight to assess whether your finance was responsibly approved. If it wasn’t, we’ll handle the process of challenging the agreement and securing the redress you may be owed.
