Close Brothers Motor Finance Review

What Close Brothers is

Close Brothers Motor Finance is a division of Close Brothers Group plc, a FTSE-listed merchant banking group founded in 1878. Unlike brokers such as CarFinance247 or Zuto, Close Brothers is a direct lender — they provide the capital themselves rather than matching you with another lender's money.

They operate through approximately 8,000 dealer partnerships across the UK. When a dealer offers you Close Brothers finance, the dealer acts as a credit broker. Close Brothers provides HP (Hire Purchase) and PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) products. They also finance used cars, motorbikes, and light commercial vehicles.

The FCA fine

In March 2018, the FCA fined Close Brothers Motor Finance £2,000,000 for systematic failures in how they treated customers who fell into financial difficulty. The failings occurred between April 2014 and December 2017.

Specifically, the FCA found that Close Brothers:

Failed to properly assess customers' financial circumstances before taking enforcement action, including repossessing vehicles.
Did not consistently offer forbearance options — such as reduced payments, payment holidays, or term extensions — before escalating to default.
Had inadequate systems for identifying vulnerable customers, meaning people with health problems, bereavement, or job loss were treated the same as everyone else.

The FCA described these as "systematic" failures — not isolated incidents but embedded in their processes. Close Brothers accepted the fine and implemented remediation.

The commission question

Like all dealer-panel lenders, Close Brothers is caught up in the FCA's ongoing motor finance commission investigation. Before the ban on Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs) in January 2021, dealers could increase the interest rate on Close Brothers agreements and keep the difference as commission.

The FCA's complaint deadline has been extended to 29 July 2026. If you took out car finance through a dealer before January 2021 and the dealer used Close Brothers as the lender, you may have been paying an inflated interest rate without knowing about the commission arrangement.

The complaints

Close Brothers Motor Finance has a low Trustpilot rating. The recurring themes mirror other dealer-panel lenders:

End-of-agreement charges. Customers returning PCP vehicles report unexpected damage charges for minor cosmetic issues.
Settlement figure disputes. Several reviews describe difficulty obtaining accurate settlement figures in a timely manner, particularly when trying to refinance elsewhere.
Communication. Complaints about phone wait times and difficulty reaching someone who can resolve issues beyond standard queries.

The verdict

Close Brothers is a legitimate, established lender — not a predatory subprime operation. The £2 million FCA fine, however, reveals something specific: when their customers hit financial trouble, the system for handling that was broken for three years. Vehicles were repossessed when forbearance should have been offered. That's not a technicality.

The dealer-set rate model means you can't shop for a Close Brothers rate online. You'll only encounter them at a dealership, where the rate will already be baked into the monthly payment the salesperson quotes you. Always ask for the APR and total amount payable separately.

Before you sign

Ask for the APR and total amount payable as separate line items — don't accept "just £299/month".
Get a personal loan comparison quote before visiting the dealership. Even a 6-7% bank loan will beat most dealer finance.
If you had a Close Brothers agreement before January 2021, check whether commission was paid. Deadline: 29 July 2026.
Run the total cost through our calculator to see the real number.