Gap Insurance

JB_One

Hi to all,

The below is a 100% genuine instance that occurred yesterday while completing the purchase and collecting a car, from a very well know German car manufacturer and well know large national dealership.

I arrive and the salesman I have been dealing with says casually 'have you sorted out gap insurance', I reply 'yes all sorted', nothing more was said. I am then 5 minutes later signing the paperwork with the finance man, he asks have you got gap insurance to which I reply yes. The dealership finance man had emailed me earlier in the day with the gap insurance quote for the second time. The dealers cover was 3 times higher than the offer I got from a recommendation on MSE, hence I gave it a wide berth.

Finance man asks who did you go with, I say the companies name, slight pause and oh yes I have heard of them yes yes someone else used them, we should be able to offer you a better rate if you change your mind, to which I think why not offer the better rate first time. He then starts saying to me yes I know that company I would recommend you investigate the company as they are not what they seem and he would not want me to have a problem if ever an issue arose. I am sitting there thinking well they are governed by the Financial bodies and regulator, recommended on MSE, surely it cannot be that bad?

Finance man walks away and then comes back to me 5 minutes later waving a companies house print off which I highlighted to him is from early 2016 listing the companies accounts print off from what must have been 2014 / 15 saying look they have almost no money in the bank and have gone into receivership a number of times in the past 5 years. I am speechless, either this guy is genuinely trying to help me and I have been duped, or he is so desperate to get his couple of hundred pound kickback he will do almost anything to get it.

Lets not forget I am buying a car signing the paperwork and about to drive it away. Something which should be a happy moment, is tarnished by this bickering in my ear.

I will also highlight that the Gap Insurer company I went with as recommended on MSE, is FCA registered with number provided, BIBA Member & lists FSCS on their web site, surely this means something?

Any comments would be very welcomed. On the antics of the finance man at the dealership, are they allowed to pressurise a situation in that way? given the insistence of the dealerships finance man, how I may investigate that the insurance provider is genuine?

Thankyou for taking the time to read through.

foxy-stoat

Well done for sticking to your guns and not signed up to their Gap Insurance provider. They can say what they like really to sell you stuff.


Nothing more to say.

neilmcl

Who was the provider you went with?

waamo

The salesman might be telling the truth about the insurance company and have genuine concern for you.

On the other hand it may be a way of pressuring you into buying something you don't need.

It's difficult to say which without knowing the name of the company.

CB1878

If by the 'provider' you mean the broker you are buying the Gap Insurance from then their company status is not that relevant anyway. They are only the 'retailer' of the policy and not the insurer. Just the same was the dealer is not the insurer (or indeed the manufacturer).

As soon as you pay for the policy the agreement between the broker and the insurer means you are covered by either 'risk transfer' or 'delegated authority'. Basically that means you are on cover even if the broker goes bust without giving the funds to the insurer.

Check the policy is underwritten by an insurer and if it is so then you should have automatic protection under the FSCS if the insurer goes bust anyway.

The fact that you have bought the policy from a 'provider' who has little money in the bank is not unusual. They are simply an insurance broker after all and many smaller ones do not have much cash in the business. There are other Gap Insurance providers on the MSE report that have pretty robust company accounts at Companies House if you are concerned at all (I am not saying you should be).

The tactic of the salesman is pretty poor and shows he, and his managers who have told him to do it, have no idea what they are talking about.

If they keep pushing you then simply report them to the FCA.

neilmcl

I suspect the "provider" is gapinsurance.co.uk and I had to correct another poster regarding this sort of rubbish about them being a fly by night concern with little money in the bank etc, when in fact the broker concerned is actually a well respected independent that's been in business for nearly 70 years and sells policies underwritten by well known and respected insurance companies fully compliant and protected by the FSCS.

BJV

Sounds like the typical underhand rubbish dealers spout to try and justify you into spending hundreds more on their policy. When will they ever been trained to understand that it is not the broker who signs any cheque it is the underwriter.

Monkeys and peanuts springs to mind !

Did your sales person look anything like this ?

BJV

P.s almost forgot, as the other posts have already said just check the regulatory bodies which you already have and don't worry. They will just be upset that they are missing out on their commission

I am so sorry that they managed to spoil your day and really hope that you enjoy your car.

NornIron70

I bought a new motorbike this week and as I was signing for it the dealer said "I cant legally talk to you about GAP insurance today as you have just bought your bike, but I will give you a ring in a couple of days to see if you are interested". His gap was £300... ALA (online offered the exact same cover for £114), guess who will be getting my custom?


Upon further investigation I came across this information from the MSE website:


There are strict rules around selling gap insurance

As the selling of gap insurance was historically done by pushy car salesmen, to tackle this the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) brought in new rules on 1 September 2015 for those selling it. Dealers selling gap insurance are now NOT allowed to sell it at the same time as you buy a car.
There needs to be at least two days between the date you buy the car and the day you buy the gap insurance so people have time to check the prices elsewhere and aren't bullied into buying at the dealers (although MSE Jo recently asked for car finance quotes from a dealer and they included gap insurance so be warned).


If you think your dealer hasn't abided by the FCA's rules, you can complain directly to the free Financial Ombudsman.


Personally I would be speaking to the Dealer and informing him of his sales persons hard sell techniques and what exactly he was going to do about it, otherwise complain to the FCA.

Cameron1590_2

Sorry to hijack this thread, just reading the above regarding gap insurance.

I recently purchased a second hand car from a well known dealer who offered gap insurance at the time of selling.

Does this mean they breached the rules set by teFFA?

Thanks

neilmcl

Cameron1590 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this thread, just reading the above regarding gap insurance.

I recently purchased a second hand car from a well known dealer who offered gap insurance at the time of selling.

Does this mean they breached the rules set by teFFA?

Thanks

You can be "offered" GAP insurance during the car sale but you must be allowed 2 days before deciding to take them up on the offer. However, I think you can sign a disclaimer that will allow you to buy the GAP insurance straight away but this is something you must read and agree to.