FCA fines VW Finance Services fined £5.4 million for mistreating UK customers in financial difficulty

VW Finance Services (VWFS) has been fined £5.4 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), for mistreating UK customers in financial difficulty.

VWFS, which provides a range of products to help customers buy several well-known brands including Volkswagen, Skoda and Porsche, has agreed to pay over £21.5 million in redress to the affected 110,000 customers who suffered harm because of what the FCA believes are  VWFS’ failings.

The FCA’s findings said that VW Finance had failed to treat customers in financial difficulty fairly and to communicate information in a clear and fair way, in dealings between January 2017 and July 2023. In some cases, cars were taken away from vulnerable customers without considering their options.

Failings that were further compounded, the FCA believes, by poorly formatted and automated communication.