Can the Financial Ombudsman Service look at end of lease charges?

Yes, if your agreement is regulated, which most personal leases and PCP agreements are. You must complain to the company first. Once it sends a final response, or eight weeks pass without one, you have six months to refer the complaint. The service is free and can tell the company to waive charges and pay compensation.

Last reviewed 13 November 2026. Every figure links to its source.

Who can use it

The service covers regulated agreements. That includes personal contract hire, PCP and hire purchase taken out by an individual. Sole traders and small partnerships are often covered too: one decision involved a three-partner business.¹ The company's final response letter should tell you that you can refer the complaint to the ombudsman, and by when.²

The deadlines

The six month limit runs only from a response that tells you about it.³⁴

What the ombudsman looks at

For damage charges the service says it considers:⁵

• what the agreement says about charges
• the inspection report, and your own photos or video
• industry guidance, and the car's age and mileage
• whether the charge is proportionate, or a cheaper repair was possible
• whether a delay in collection or in the report made a difference
• whether you had the chance to repair the damage before return

What it can order

It can tell the company to waive some or all of the charges and to pay compensation for distress or inconvenience.⁵ In decisions we have read it has also ordered refunds with 8% simple interest, correction of credit files and the removal of collection fees.⁶⁷

How decisions have gone

Of the 23 published decisions on lease return charges we have read, 6 were upheld, 6 partly upheld and 11 not upheld. That is a sample, not a statistic. The pattern is clearer than the count: charges fall where the photographs do not prove them, and stand where they do. See the decisions digest.

How the process runs

An investigator gives a view first. If either side disagrees, an ombudsman makes a final decision. It binds the company only if you accept it, and you can still go to court if you reject it.