Self-styled as the Erin Brockovich of the Potteries, and described by the court of appeal as “a postman with a penchant for fast cars”, Andrew Wrench is a force to be reckoned with.
In 2015, he bought the Audi for his wife for £8,995, paying a deposit of £3,000 and financing £5,995 on a 48-month credit agreement. “It was a car that my partner, Louise, had always wanted,” Wrench said. “I took four years out of work, and the APR was lower, when I returned to work in 2019 the interest rate was higher by 5% and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s strange’,” he said. “So I started reading in depth the paperwork, and came across this clause about commissions.”
The money-saving expert Martin Lewis said in his newsletter that “a shock exploded through the car finance world” with the judges’ ruling. He added: “It’s made me feel good about it, how I’ve done it, and all those people coming forward to open up some sort of small claim. They’re probably doing it in principle, not for the money, but it is nice to know that they’re going to get their justified rewards.”