Please see our formal complaint policy below.
At ALD Automotive, we aim to provide our customers with high service standards. However, we understand that there may be occasions when you feel that you have cause for complaint. In such instances, we want to put things right first time and with the aid of your comments can improve our services still further.
How to contact us
You can contact us with details of your complaint by letter, e-mail, or telephone. If you write to us, please address your complaint to the Complaints Team, ALD Automotive, Oakwood Drive, Emersons Green, Bristol, BS16 7LB. Should you wish to register your complaint verbally, please contact your Sales consultant or Account Manager or the Complaints Team on 0117 908 6589. If you wish to contact us by e-mail, please title your e-mail “Quality Department” and send to qualityuk@aldautomotive.com
What happens next?
We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receiving it. We will always deal with complaints as quickly as we can and will carry out a full and impartial investigation of the issues you raise, although some complaints may take longer to resolve. If the investigation is still incomplete after eight weeks, we will write to you again and explain what stage the process has reached and how we are planning to proceed.
Important notice for customers with regulated credit agreements.
On the 11 January 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a temporary change to the complaint-handling rules for customers affected by Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCA). You will be an eligible DCA complainant if you used a car finance credit product prior to 28 January 2021 and a DCA was applied to your credit agreement. This includes Personal Contract Purchase, Hire Purchase and Credit Sale financial products.
The FCA announced the following changes to complaint timescales relating to DCAs only.
- The 8-week final response rule has been paused until the 25 September 2024.
- The time limit for customers to refer relevant complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has been extended from 6 to 15 months.
As a result, we will not be in a position to issue a final response to your DCA complaint whilst we await the outcome of the FCA’s work.
For further details about the FCA’s work and the reason for the pause to DCA complaints, please visit their website - https://www.fca.org.uk/carfinance.
If you wish to submit a DCA related complaint, please follow the process outlined in the ‘contact us’ section above.
Please note, all other complaints not related to a DCA will follow the normal process and timescales as laid out by the FCA. To submit a complaint, please follow the process outlined in the ‘contact us’ section above.
Financial ombudsman's service
If you are not satisfied with our conclusions or decisions or if our investigations are not completed within eight weeks, if you are an eligible complainant (e.g. a consumer, micro- enterprise, small charity or small trust), you may refer your complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We can provide you with details of how to do this. If you are not sure whether you are an eligible complainant, the Financial Ombudsman Service will be able to confirm this for you. The Financial Ombudsman Service is an independent service for eligible complainants with unresolved complaints about financial firms and offers a flexible and informal dispute resolution service.
You can contact them at:
The Financial Ombudsman Service Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
Tel: 0800 023 4567
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Web: financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help
Leaflets on their service are also available upon request.
You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge but you must do so within six months of receiving ALD Automotive’s final response.
If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.
If you are not eligible to refer your complaint to the FOS, you may still escalate your complaint to the conciliation service run by the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA), if you so wish. Their complaint form can be accessed from the following URL:
bvrla.co.uk/advice/guidance/using-bvrlas-conciliation-service
and e-mail it to complaint@bvrla.co.uk
Fax: 01494 434 499
Alternatively you can write to:
The Chief Executive, BVRLA
River Lodge ,Badminton Court, Amersham, HP7 0DD
Either party involved in the complaint can ask for the matter to be escalated to the BVRLA’s formal conciliation service. Any decisions made by this body are binding on BVRLA members.
This does not affect your statutory rights.
Complaints Data
At ALD Automotive, we aim to provide our customers with high service standards and we look to provide a fair outcome in the event a customer is unhappy.
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 July 2023 - 31 December 2023
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
998 |
1075 |
24.7% |
54.7% |
58.2% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 24.4 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 998 complaints received during this period:
785 or 78.6% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 19.2 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
213 complaints or 21.4% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 5.2 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 January 2023 - 30 June 2023
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
1342 |
1428 |
N/A |
N/A |
63% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 34.0 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1342 complaints received during this period:
1103 or 82.1% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 27.9 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
239 complaints or 17.8% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 6.1 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 July 2022 - 31 December 2022
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
1768 |
2140 |
N/A |
N/A |
63% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 35 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1768 complaints received during this period:
1500 or 85% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 30 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
268 complaints or 15% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 5.3 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 January 2022 - 30 June 2022
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
2992 |
2631 |
N/A |
N/A |
72% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 50.7 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 2992 complaints received during this period:
2673 or 89.3% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 45.4 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
319 complaints or 10.7% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 5.3 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 July 2021 - 31 December 2021
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
1766 |
1480 |
N/A |
N/A |
58% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 27 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1766 complaints received during this period:
1514 or 86% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 23 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
252 complaints or 14% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 3.9 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 January 2021 - 30 June 2021
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
0 |
0 |
N/A |
N/A |
0% |
N/A |
| Credit Related |
1875 |
1879 |
N/A |
N/A |
63% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 27 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1875 complaints received during this period:
1634 or 87% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 24 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
241 complaints or 13% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 3.5 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 July 2020 - 31 Dec 2020
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance, Polestar Leasing.
|
Product/Service
Grouping
|
Complaints
opened
|
Complaints
closed
|
% closed
within
3 days
|
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks
|
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints
|
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
1 |
2 |
0% |
100% |
100% |
Mis-selling |
| Credit Related |
1463 |
1308 |
N/A |
N/A |
70% |
N/A |
To put these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 20 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1463 complaints received during this period:
1264 or 86% of complaints are regarding the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 17.52 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
199 complaints or 14% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 2.75 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 January 2020 - 30 June 2020
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
1 |
1 |
100% |
N/A |
100% |
Mis-selling |
| Credit Related |
778 |
832 |
N/A |
N/A |
56% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 10.16 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 778 complaints received during this period:
630 or 81% of complaints received in this period relate to the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 8.23 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
148 complaints or 19% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 1.93 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 July 2019 - 31 December 2019
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance.
Product/Service
Grouping |
Complaints
opened |
Complaints
closed |
% closed
within
3 days |
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks |
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints |
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
3 |
3 |
9% |
100% |
100% |
Mis-selling |
| Credit Related |
1058 |
989 |
N/A |
N/A |
57% |
N/A |
Putting these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 13.58 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 1058 complaints received during this period:
218 or 20% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 2.79 per 1000 Regulated accounts).
Firm Name: ALD Automotive
Group: Societe General Group
Other Firms included in this report (if any) : N/A
Period covered in this report: 01 January 2019 - 30 June 2019
Brands/Trading names covered: ALD Automotive, Ford Lease, Vauxhall Leasing, Hyundai Contract Hire, Lombard Vehicle Solutions, Mazda Contract Hire, Kia Contract Hire, NatWest Flex Car Finance.
|
Product/Service
Grouping
|
Complaints
opened
|
Complaints
closed
|
% closed
within
3 days
|
% closed
after 3 days
within 8 weeks
|
% Upheld |
Main cause
of opened
complaints
|
Insurance and
Pure Protection |
7 |
8 |
25% |
75% |
100% |
Mis-selling |
| Credit Related |
730 |
669 |
N/A |
N/A |
49% |
N/A |
To put these figures into context:
Insurance and Pure Protection: ALD Automotive has not been involved with the selling of Payment Protection Insurance products since 2007 and we have no current policies in force. The number noted above is in relation to customers who had a complaint upheld with a successful PPI reclaim. The figure excludes those customers who complained but were not upheld as they did not have PPI cover included in their agreement.
Credit Related: The total number of complaints received is equivalent to 10.13 per 1000 accounts against our total fleet size of Regulated customers.
This figure is further broken down as follows.
Of the 730 complaints received during this period:
582 or 80% of complaints are regarding the product provided by ALD Automotive (This equates to 8.07 per 1000 Regulated accounts)
148 complaints or 20% of complaints received in this period represent mechanical or technical issues with the vehicle financed by ALD, though not necessarily supplied by ALD (This equates to 2.05 per 1000 Regulated accounts)