HD Law

HD Law: financial mis-selling claims with Supreme Court backing

HD Law is a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the UK, founded in 2015 in Manchester and led by Kevin Durkin and Adam Hizzet. The firm focuses on financial mis-selling, i.e., the improper marketing of financial products, and has represented over 65,000 clients, with an average compensation of £1,846.23 per settlement.

The firm presents itself as the only law firm in the country to have taken a car finance hidden commission case to the Supreme Court and won. That status as a litigator in higher courts is one of its distinguishing features and has shaped its public trajectory.

Legal milestones: from the Potter case to the Johnson case

The firm details a sequence of rulings that have expanded the scope for UK consumers to claim:

• March 2020: HD Law wins in the High Court the Potter v Canada Square Operations Limited case, a decision on limitation that gave consumers more time to bring their claims to court. The lender appealed.
• January 2021: the firm wins in the Court of Appeal in the Potter case. The lender appeals again.
• June 2022: HD Law wins in the Supreme Court in the Potter case. The decision becomes part of UK constitutional law and establishes the correct limitation period for victims of financial mis-selling where there has been deliberate concealment of a fact relevant to their claim, such as undisclosed commissions.
• January 2023: the firm wins in the Court of Appeal the Owen v Black Horse Limited case. The ruling corrects an error by the lower courts in defining the term 'claimant', which should extend to the legal representative. This was relevant for claimants who cannot attend court in person but can be represented.
• July 2024: HD Law wins in the Court of Appeal the Johnson v FirstRand Bank case, heard with two other cases. The decision concerns a consumer who was a victim of mis-selling in a motor finance agreement where the lender paid an undisclosed commission to the dealer without informing the customer. The court held that such conduct constitutes an 'unfair relationship' under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and that the consumer is entitled to receive a sum equivalent to the commission, plus interest, as compensation. The lender appealed.
• April 2025: HD Law takes the Johnson case to the Supreme Court, heard with two other cases. The UK government tried to intervene on behalf of the lenders.
• August 2025: HD Law wins in the Supreme Court in the Johnson case, while the other two cases were unsuccessful. The firm describes this decision as one of the biggest consumer protection rulings in UK history, and argues it opens the way for millions of consumers to receive billions of pounds in compensation.

The Johnson case was resolved in favour of the firm's client, Mr Johnson, to whom FirstRand Bank had wrongly mis-sold his finance agreement. HD Law states that it remains the only law firm in the country to have taken a car finance mis-selling case to the Supreme Court and won.

Car finance claims

Following the Supreme Court decision, the firm notes a surge in drivers questioning whether they were mis-sold by their dealers and whether they could be entitled to compensation. According to its data, over 490,000 drivers have already checked their eligibility for a potential claim through HD Law and its partners. In Mr Johnson's case, the amount obtained was £2,493.52.

The firm indicates that, after the August decision, millions of UK drivers could still be entitled to compensation worth hundreds or thousands of pounds. The firm offers a free check to determine whether the vehicle finance was mis-sold.

Management team

HD Law's leadership combines litigation experience and management of regulated financial services:

• Kevin Durkin, Director: Solicitor-Advocate with over 18 years of qualification and 23 years of litigation experience. He has represented tens of thousands of mis-selling claimants in PPI and PCP cases, with appearances in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The firm credits him with an instrumental role in defining the litigation path for mass PCP redress and describes him as the leading lawyer in his field.
• Mal Carter, Chief Executive Officer: entrepreneur and executive with over 20 years of experience in creating and scaling regulated legal and financial services businesses. He drove digital client onboarding, developed high-volume claims infrastructures and managed over 200,000 clients for a specialist law firm.
• Andrew Holgate, Chief Financial and Operating Officer: chartered management accountant with extensive board-level experience in the legal and financial sectors in the UK and Europe. He has built, scaled and led companies from start-ups to established national organisations, with a focus on client-centred solutions, governance and sustainable growth.

The firm also highlights the role of its paralegals, responsible for investigating, managing and preparing each case.

Public recognition and press presence

HD Law states it has appeared in some of the UK's leading media and publications, which have covered its work on behalf of consumers. Its press and articles section includes a piece from June 2026 about a controversy between the BBC and a consumer law firm over the accuracy of advice given to drivers in the car finance compensation scandal.

The firm maintains a frequently asked questions page addressing issues such as comparison with other claims companies, trust in the firm, Kevin Durkin's track record, cases demonstrating its success, years in operation, eligibility to claim, types of finance agreements affected, compensation amounts, the possibility of claiming without owning the vehicle or with the agreement already paid off, and cases of vehicle repossession or voluntary return.