As a motor dealer for a reputable company I disagree with that last statement "all just moneymaking schemes" and hese is why under FSA law we are required to give you the OPTION to purchase these items - they have their uses when properly instigated, but you should be under no obligation to buy it! where this system falls down is underhanded companies like this taking the option away. i sell a lot of Gap, Paint Protection and extended warranties from my dealership, safe in the knowledge if it's needed we'll come good on the agreement. however, as my previous posts state, TFC's are not worth the paper they are printed on! anyone actually get anywhere with this lot???? They came to reposess the car at 5:30 this morning!!!!!!!!!!!! (funilly enough when i called them for a "chat" there was nobody in the office!) having said that, when the phrase "i'm sure you got up real early and travelled an awfully long way, but you ain't taking anything without a court order!" got the response "oh, ok" it felt great!!!! anyone taken an IVA against these people before? not to cancel the debt per say, but to make it small enough to not notice it going out each month? also they say they have legal power to write of proportions of the debt from interest charges etc (albeit through negotiation with the debtor). it's something i'll be looking into today i think......... i'll keep you all posted! AJ

also forgot to mention in previous post. GAP insurance is also knows as VRIP insurance. this stands for Vehicle Return to Invioce Price. now upon detailed inspection of the docs we have the renumeration that the insurance offers is wildly inaccurate for the vehicle. it is what's known as a hybrid policy - covering both buying the car outright and on finance, and is designed to repay all of the finance or "top up" to original invoice price any monies following the vehicle being subjected to a total loss claim through their own road risk insurers (written off in English) for the period of the cover (in this case a 62 month policy) now the invoice price of the vehicle as i have said before is a nats bumhair under £19,000, yet the GAP insurance policy is valued at just £5000. this means that there would ALWAYS have been a shortfall that would have been our responsibility to make up - IE NOT returning us to invoice price. Now i am aware that the insurance does not cover the cost of insurances taken out (ironically) which would total about £7,000 of this cover (which by the way is nothing short of extortion!) but even so we're left with this worrying sum: £19,000 - £7000 = £12,000 TOT. INS. REMAINDER £12,000 - £6,600 = £5,400 REM CAR REM.2 £5,400 - £5000 = £600 REM.2 GAP SHORTFALL So by this token if the car had been written of by a passing lorry as we drove away from the forecourt, we would have been £600 out of pocket on the finance agreement without even getting to the insurances So in summary, even if the gap insurances were usable, and from what i have read they are not, they do not adequately cover the costs that the policy is designed to cover. now it may just be me, but if thats not a completely mis-sold insurance policy i don't know what is. incidentally, now, with our car worth the princely sum of just £1,500, + the GAP insurances £5,000 that leaves us with £6,500 on a balance of about £13,000 halfway through our deal. so take that 7,000 insurance fee and half it to £3,500 leaves a balance of £9,500....... thats £3,000 short for the gap policy even if we maxed it out it may be worth some of you checking these figures out on your agreements as there could be cause for a claim. to get an accurate representation of what your vehicle is worth, go to www.webuyanycar.com (i think or .co.uk) and punch the details of your car in. they will gove you a trade valuation of your vehicle at current auction prices, which is what road risk insurers pay out against NOT the price on autotrader! hopefully armed with this info some of us can take the b4st4rds to the cleaners!!! thanks AJ

Hi all More of the same I am afraid.... my other half has a car she bought with a bill of sale from TFC. windscreen price was £6600 approx, and the deal ends up with a total payment of a shade under £19k. i am a motor dealer by trade now, and was present when she signed her life away in the middle of 2006. all of the insurances she was sold (PPI, GAP, Warranty, MOT insurace, Tyre insurace, Key insurace, unisured driver insurace etc etc etc) were completely mis-sold under the financial services authority regulations (i think the phrase was you need all of this so we can get your finance for you - NOT TRUE!!!!) again, as noted in so many posts, the ring gear went on the car to the tune of £1400 (meaning i had to sell my car to pay for the repayments) and this, as i'm sure you have all guessed was a, and i quote, "common fault with the Mondeo and as such is not covered under the warranty" I AM A FORD DEALER AND HAVE ONLY SEEN THIS PROBLEM ONCE ON A MONDEO DIESEL SUB 100,000 MILES!!!!! warranty and all insurances are not worth the paper they are written on, let alone the thousands fo pounds they overcharge for them. (FYI gap insurance on a new Bentley is only £440!) the car is now worth all of about £1500, with about £9,000 or so still owing. we have never missed a payment, but we both have company cars now and £260+ per month on a 62 month agreement is rediculous. we're paying for the current market value of the car every 6 months! i wonder if anyone has reported these conmen to the FSA (financial services authority)? all of the paperwork that "'er indoors" recieved has the key facts logo on it, indicating they are governed by the FSA, so presumbaly they are covered by the FSCS (financial services compensation scheme) this could be a way to get all of the money from the mis-sold insurances back, potentially halving the repayment costs. I have read this thread with great interest, Stevensons should expect a call i think, and, with the industry contacts i have from a legal standing, i'm confident we can make some progress. Screw it, if they take the car i dont care, it's gathering moss at the end of the drive! keep the pressure on people!!! AJ