GoSkippy and their fees.

MadManDan

Gone through Compare The Market.com and the cheapest was GoSkippy.com at £470.77

So, I bought the policy, and yes it went up as soon as I changed it to monthly payments (£595.75), which is always annoying, but was still cheaper than the others.

I waited for an hour, and all I got in my inbox was a receipt of payment.

I phone them up and asked where my covernote is, as I’d like to drive the car.
Spoke to a woman called Valencia, who said she had no record of me on their system. I explained I’ve got a receipt to which she told me that I must be insured then.
I explained that when I get pulled over by the police for no insurance, that is not going to sway them.
She told me that their online payment system and their phone system can take up to 48 hours to actually update. This is useless to me as I want the policy to start that day. Sorry, there’s nothing I can do and had better just wait.

Eventually after 4 hours, I get a letter and a cover note. Yay!

I then got my online payment to sign and noticed that the APR is different.
On my letter from GoSkippy it states 39.19% APR – On the finance form it states 44.85% APR.
Reading further they charge £25 a letter, and £50 if you ignore that letter. £10 fine if I don’t sign the agreement in time – no intention of missing any payments anyway, but still mindboggling fees.

I emailed the finance company to ask about the wrong APR stating that since this is a legally binding document, it is paramount that both parties agree what the APR figure is, and how did they come up with £25 a letter when a first class stamp is 63p – They’ve not responded

Today, I got my proper policy….with another new figure on it. £518.70, with no explanation of a change or where this comes from.
Checking through my original letter from them, it shows £470.77 and because its by installments, its £595.75...but hidden in the documents it states £596.20

Where the hell are all these figures coming from????

Thinking of cancelling and going for someone who keeps their figures in check.

Any advice?

Quentin

MadManDan wrote: »

......Thinking of cancelling and going for someone who keeps their figures in check.

Any advice?

Check the full cost to you of cancelling before going down this route.

MadManDan

Bloody hell! Just reading through their cancellation policy:

If the insurance has commenced and provided that you have not made a claim, or a claim having been made against you, you will be entitled to a refund of the premium paid, subject to a deduction for the time that you have been on cover (calculated as a proportion of the annual premium) along with a £75 deduction for our costs attributed in concluding your policy, administering your contract up until the effective cancellation date and processing the cancellation.

This translates as the whole of the upfront fee

Quentin

MadManDan wrote: »

Bloody hell! Just reading through their cancellation policy....

I know its teaching you to suck eggs, but it's too late to be getting upset when reading all that now!


When you bought the policy you will have agreed that you accepted the ts + cs before paying for it.

MadManDan

Quentin wrote: »

I know its teaching you to suck eggs, but it's too late to be getting upset when reading all that now!

I understand that part, but 3 different prices on 3 different form, and different APR%, they wouldn't have mentioned that in their T&Cs

Quentin wrote: »

When you bought the policy you will have agreed that you accepted the ts + BS before paying for it.

(Edited to reflect GoSkippy customer service team)

dunstonh

So, I bought the policy, and yes it went up as soon as I changed it to monthly payments (£595.75), which is always annoying, but was still cheaper than the others.

Borrowing money to pay car insurance is typically priced at sub-prime rates (i.e high risk). Its best not to borrow money to pay for a relatively small bill.

no intention of missing any payments anyway, but still mindboggling fees.

But many do. So, who is going to pay for that? The people that cause the work would be the logical answer. hence the fees.

By all means, question them on the difference in figures. We dont have the benefit of the paperwork in front of us but you would expect consistency. However, also be aware that borrowing money this way is expensive and should be avoided.