Paying off a fixed-rate car loan early

I have just under a year of loan repayments left on a 5 year car loan from Tesco Finance and now want to pay off the balance. I recall hearing some time ago that new regulations were introduced whereby if you have made a certain number of payments or the balance remaining is less than a certain amount the lender cannot charge a penalty for paying off the loan early. I would be grateful if anyone could confirm that this is the case as I would prefer to know the facts before I contact the lender to request details of the balance due.

Aren't you going to need this information to make the call re the legislation, assuming it is in place?