UK officials seize devices in crackdown on car finance spam texts

Laptops, mobile phones and documents have been seized after officials carried out search warrants in a crackdown on claims companies plaguing people with spam text messages about the car finance mis-selling scandal.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) executed warrants at homes and businesses linked to five companies in London, Liverpool, Bolton, Burnley and Swansea on Wednesday.

More than 12m complaints about nuisance marketing text messages have been submitted by the public since September 2025 as claims management companies (CMCs) and other firms attempt to grab a share of the billions of pounds in compensation expected to be paid out to motorists who were mis-sold car loans.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a £7.5bn industry-wide compensation scheme for the millions of victims of the scandal in March.

Legal challenges, however, forced the regulator to partly suspend the scheme.

The FCA had expected to start paying out £829 on average this year to those affected by the scandal – in which drivers were overcharged for loans as a result of commission payments between lenders and car dealers between 2007 and 2024 – but a court ordered the regulator to suspend parts of the scheme until a hearing in December or February next year.

The head of investigations at the ICO, Andy Curry, said: “People are fed up with being bombarded by unwanted calls, texts and emails about car finance claims, and we’re taking action.”

This week’s raids “send a clear message to the claims management sector: comply with the law or expect to hear from us”, he said.

The companies linked to the searches are subject to continuing investigation. They are believed to be responsible for sending a combined 170m texts to members of the public between September 2025 and May this year.

The ICO is working with the FCA, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Solicitors Regulation Authority to tackle poor practices relating to motor finance claims by some CMCs, law firms and lead generation companies.

The raids represent an escalation of the crackdown on rogue CMCs and other businesses. As a result of the FCA’s work, more than 1,200 misleading adverts have been removed or amended since January 2024.

Some firms face enforcement investigations, while others have had to reduce their “unreasonable” fees or allow consumers to walk away from contracts free of charge.

The ICO has the power to apply to the courts for a warrant to search premises as part of investigations under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, where evidence may be seized. This can include mobile phones, laptops and sim farms: collections of devices that house hundreds or thousands of mobile phone sim cards.