1 August 2025, 20:30 | Updated: 1 August 2025, 20:32

By Daniel Barnett

You’re at a car showroom, eyeing up that reliable Ford Focus. The salesman offers finance at what seems like a fair rate.

You shake hands, sign the paperwork, and drive off, only to discover later that the dealer took a substantial commission from the lender. This week, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling that draws sensible lines around when such arrangements cross into unfair territory.

The judgment in Hopcraft v Close Brothers and related cases strikes a fair, balanced deal for both borrowers and lenders. It rejects the sweeping ‘secret commission’ claims that threatened to upend everyday car finance, while still protecting consumers from genuinely egregious conduct.

The Supreme firmly rejected claims that car dealers owe customers fiduciary duties (meaning they must put customers' interests above their own profit) when arranging finance. The judges recognised what most of us already knew: car dealers are commercial operators, not altruistic advisers.

However, one customer (Mr........

© LBC