Business
Claims firm investigated by watchdog over car finance sales tactics
A claims management company is being investigated by the UK’s finance watchdog over concerns about its sales practices in relation to the car finance saga.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened an enforcement investigation into Manchester-based The Claims Protection Agency (TCPA), which is behind the brand My Claim Group.
The regulator said it was investigating what customers were told about the amount of compensation they might get, whether they were told they could make a claim for free and if they were pressurised to sign up.
Concerns centre around TCPA’s sales and advertising tactics to appeal to people who believe they might be entitled to compensation for being mis-sold a car loan.
The saga escalated during 2025 when the FCA announced plans to launch an industry-wide compensation scheme for an estimated 14 million car finance agreements it thinks were mis-sold.
The FCA has repeatedly said consumers do not need to use a claims management company (CMC) or a law firm to access its scheme, and warned that people risk losing more than 30% of their compensation as a result of unnecessary fees.
But a report backed by MPs and peers in November found that potential victims could get more redress by going through the UK courts than under the FCA’s scheme.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on fair banking said it thinks the redress scheme could short-change millions of customers.
TCPA, which the regulator said has also gone by trading names such as Martin’s Tips and Karen’s Claims, advertises for motor finance claims and refers its customers to solicitors to handle the case.
A message on the homepage of the My Claim Group website says it has “temporarily paused new customer sign-ups” while it makes improvements to its advertising and sign-up processes.
It also refers to the FCA’s estimates that, under its scheme, consumers can typically expect to receive an average payout of £700 per car finance agreement.
“This is lower than earlier industry estimates. Any older figures you may have seen – including estimates around £4,000 – are no longer accurate following the FCA’s updated position,” a website post in December reads.
A report in The Times earlier in 2025 uncovered a promotional video by boxer Tyson Fury for My Claim Group, in which he says he is “fighting for the people” to claim money back, adding: “If you bought a vehicle on finance after 2007, you could be owed up to £4,000 in compensation.”
The post on Instagram has since been taken down, but the Facebook post remains available.
TCPA is required to stop onboarding new customers, stop publicising new financial promotions and withdraw all existing ones after making an application to the FCA in August.
The FCA said that publicising the fact it is investigating the company means its customers can consider their options.
It has not yet reached any conclusions on whether TCPA breached any regulatory requirements.
A spokesman for TCPA said it had “fully co-operated with the FCA in relation to its investigation, which we believe will exonerate our position”.
“Consumers have always been made aware that they do not need to use a claims management company in order to seek redress,” the spokesman said.
“However, many people choose to do so for a variety of reasons, including peace of mind and access to professional expertise.
“Estimates for compensation levels in our historic advertising prior to test cases in the Supreme Court were based upon reasonable assumptions at the time of publication, and we look forward to further co-operating with the FCA in relation to this matter.”
The company added: “In the meantime, we wish to reassure consumers that we are fully able to continue to manage their compensation claims for car finance mis-selling.”
Business
Serial rail fare evader faces jail over 112 unpaid tickets
One of Britain’s most prolific rail fare dodgers could face jail after admitting dozens of travel offences.
Charles Brohiri, 29, pleaded guilty to travelling without buying a ticket a total of 112 times over a two-year period, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
He could be ordered to pay more than £18,000 in unpaid fares and legal costs, the court was told.
He will be sentenced next month.
District Judge Nina Tempia warned Brohiri “could face a custodial sentence because of the number of offences he has committed”.
He pleaded guilty to 76 offences on Thursday.
It came after he was convicted in his absence of 36 charges at a previous hearing.
During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Tempia dismissed a bid by Brohiri’s lawyers to have the 36 convictions overturned.
They had argued the prosecutions were unlawful because they had not been brought by a qualified legal professional.
But Judge Tempia rejected the argument, saying there had been “no abuse of this court’s process”.
Business
JSW Likely To Launch Jetour T2 SUV In India This Year: Reports
JSW Jetour T2 Launch: JSW Motors Limited, the passenger vehicle arm of the JSW Group, is reportedly preparing to enter the Indian car market this year. It has partnered with Jetour, a China-based automotive brand owned by Chery Automobile, and the Jetour T2 SUV could be the company’s first product, according to the reports.
Media reports suggest that the launch will happen independently and not under the JSW MG Motor India joint venture. The SUV will wear a JSW badge and name, instead of the Jetour branding. The upcoming SUV will be assembled at JSW’s upcoming greenfield manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra.
According to the reports, the company plans to have the vehicle on sale by the third quarter of this year. With this move, JSW aims to establish itself as a standalone carmaker in India.
Expected Powertrain
The SUV is likely to arrive with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid setup. Internationally, this hybrid powertrain is offered with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. It is still unclear which version will be introduced in India.
Design
In terms of design, the T2 is a large and rugged-looking SUV. It has a boxy and upright stance, similar to vehicles like the Land Rover Defender. Despite its tough appearance, it uses a monocoque chassis instead of a ladder-frame construction.
Size
The SUV measures around 4.7 metres in length and nearly 2 metres in width. This makes it larger than the Tata Safari, even though it is a five-seater. A longer 7-seat version is also sold in some markets.
Price
Pricing details for India are yet to be announced. For reference, the front-wheel-drive five-seat T2 i-DM is priced at AED 1,44,000 (around Rs 35 lakh) in the UAE.
Jetour
Jetour is a brand owned by Chinese automaker Chery. Launched in 2018, it focuses mainly on SUVs and is present in markets across China, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Business
John Swinney under fire over ‘smallest tax cut in history’ after Scottish Budget
John Swinney has been pressed over whether this week’s Scottish Budget gives some workers the “smallest tax cut in history” – with Tory leader Russell Findlay branding the reduction “miserly” and “insulting”.
The Scottish Conservative leader challenged the First Minister after Tuesday’s Holyrood Budget effectively cut taxes for lower earners, by increasing the threshold for the basic and intermediate bands of income tax.
But Mr Findlay said that would leave workers at most £31.75 a year better off – saying this amounts to a saving of just £61p a week
“That wouldn’t even buy you a bag of peanuts,” the Scottish Tory leader said.
“John Swinney’s Budget might even have broken a world record, because a Scottish Government tax adviser says it ‘maybe the smallest tax cut in history’.”
Raising the “miserly cut” at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Findlay demanded to know if the SNP leader believed his “insulting tax cut will actually help Scotland’s struggling households”.
The attack came as the Tory accused the SNP government of increasing taxes on higher earners, with its freeze on higher income tax thresholds, which will pull more Scots into these brackets.
This is needed to pay for the “SNP’s out of control, unaffordable benefits bill”, the Conservative added.
Mr Findlay said: “The Scottish Conservatives will not back and cannot back a Budget that does nothing to help Scotland’s workers and businesses.
“It hammers people with higher taxes to fund a bloated benefits system.”
Hitting out at Labour – whose leader Anas Sarwar has already declared they will not block the government’s Budget – Mr Findlay said: “It is absolutely mind-blowing that Labour and other so-called opposition parties will let this SNP boorach of a budget pass.
“Don’t the people of Scotland deserve lower taxes, fairer benefits and a government focused on economic growth?”
Mr Swinney said the Budget “delivers on the priorities of the people of Scotland” by “strengthening our National Health Service and supporting people and businesses with the challenges of the cost of living”.
He insisted income tax decisions in the Budget would mean that in 2026-27 “55% of Scottish taxpayers are now expected to pay less income tax than if they lived in England”.
The First Minister went on to say that showed “the people of Scotland have a Government that is on their side”.
Referring to polls putting his party on course to win the Holyrood elections in May, the SNP leader added that “all the current indications show the people of Scotland want to have this Government here for the long term”.
Benefits funding is “keeping children out of poverty”, he told MSPs, adding the Budget contained a “range of measures” that would build on existing support.
The First Minister said: “What that is a demonstration of is a Government that is on the side of the people of Scotland and I am proud of the measures we set out in the Budget on Tuesday.”
Meanwhile he said the Tories wanted to make tax cuts that would cost £1 billion, with “not a scrap of detail about how that would be delivered”.
With the weekly leaders’ question time clash coming less than 48 hours after the draft 2026-27 Budget was unveiled, the First Minister also faced questions from Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, who insisted that the proposals “lacks ambition for Scotland”.
Pressing his SNP rival, the Scottish Labour leader said: “While he brags about his £6 a year tax cut for the lowest paid, one million Scots including nurses, teachers and police officers face being forced to pay more.
“Even his own tax adviser says this is a political stunt. So why does John Swinney believe that someone earning £33,500 has the broadest shoulders and therefore should pay more tax in Scotland?”
Mr Swinney, however, said that many public sector workers would be better off in Scotland.
He told the Scottish Labour leader: “A band six nurse at the bottom of the scale will take home an additional £1,994 after tax compared to the same band in England.
“A qualified teacher at the bottom of the band will take home £6,365 more after tax in Scotland than the equivalent in England. There are the facts for Mr Sarwar.”
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