header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
23 May 2025 / Ceri Morgan
Issue: 8117 / Categories: Features , Company , Liability , Financial services litigation , Consumer , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail

Forecourt finance: what’s next?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
Ceri Morgan analyses the response to lender liability in motor finance broker commission cases
  • In Hopcraft, the Court of Appeal found lenders liable for undisclosed commissions paid to secondhand car dealers arranging finance for their customers.
  • The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, with the Financial Conduct Authority intervening to express concerns that the Court of Appeal’s approach went ‘too far’.
  • The article explores the market response to the Court of Appeal’s decision, the current state of the law in terms of the duties owed by motor dealer brokers, and the potential impact on the separation of powers debate.

The Court of Appeal’s decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd (London Branch) (t/a MotoNovo Finance) [2024] EWCA Civ 1282 (Hopcraft) has sparked significant debate within the legal and financial sectors. The ruling, which has since been appealed to the Supreme Court, found lenders liable for undisclosed (or only partially disclosed) commissions paid to secondhand car dealers who were also arranging the finance for their customers.

The

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

Keystone Law—Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel & Ian Hopkinson

International arbitration team strengthened by double partner hire

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Coodes Solicitors—Pam Johns, Rachel Pearce & Bradley Kaine

Firm celebrates trio holding senior regional law society and junior lawyers division roles

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Michelman Robinson—Sukhi Kaler

Partner joins commercial and business litigation team in London

NEWS
Read All
Legal Action Group set out 2026 events calendar
The Legal Action Group (LAG)—the UK charity dedicated to advancing access to justice—has unveiled its calendar of training courses, seminars and conferences designed to support lawyers, advisers and other legal professionals in tackling key areas of public interest law
NLJ this week: 40 years on, has PACE lost its edge?
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 transformed criminal justice. Writing in NLJ this week, Ed Cape of UWE and Matthew Hardcastle and Sandra Paul of Kingsley Napley trace its ‘seismic impact’
NLJ this week: Stress-testing the City
Operational resilience is no longer optional. Writing in NLJ this week, Emma Radmore and Michael Lewis of Womble Bond Dickinson explain how UK regulators expect firms to identify ‘important business services’ that could cause ‘intolerable levels of harm’ if disrupted
NLJ this week: Mandelson, Epstein & the court of popular opinion
As the drip-feed of Epstein disclosures fuels ‘collateral damage’, the rush to cry misconduct in public office may be premature. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke of Hill Dickinson warns that the offence is no catch-all for political embarrassment. It demands a ‘grave departure’ from proper standards, an ‘abuse of the public’s trust’ and conduct ‘sufficiently serious to warrant criminal punishment’
NLJ this week: Volunteers, promotions & perilous appeals
Employment law is shifting at the margins. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ this week, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School examines a Court of Appeal ruling confirming that volunteers are not a special legal species and may qualify as ‘workers’
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll