As the pandemic has put pressure on all manner of industries, one thing we have heard, from new clients and long-standing clients alike, is how difficult it can be to get through to speak to someone about their existing car, whether that be its finance contract or servicing needs.
As a broker for a number of large companies, we’re fortunate that we have a direct line in to the manufacturers, the finance companies, and the dealerships who can make the process of buying, owning or leasing a new car both heaven and hell.
We’re delighted to be launching our dedicated Client Services team, wholly tasked with removing the hassle around your in-contract queries, just as our sales account manager team has been doing through the ordering and delivering process for years.
We believe it is not enough to defer to ‘speak to the finance company’ or, ‘that is a manufacturer problem, take it to your local dealer’.
Here are some of the things you can ask our Client Services team about, we’re here to help. Look out for more information in the coming weeks…
1) Mileage amendments
This is a hot topic as many people have gone under their contracted mileage due to such a reduced mileage over the last 12 months.
You could be saving money on your lease payments, but the leasing company probably won’t be telling you that. Whilst it may not make a huge difference to the monthly payment, it is definitely worth getting in touch if you’d like us to review this for you.
2) GAP Insurance
For years, this has been seen as a product that dealerships were ‘tacking on’ at outrageous profit margins to maximise the profit they were making from selling you a car (not entirely untrue). However, GAP can be a really valuable insurance product, particularly for leases with a small deposit. Essentially if you were to write off your car early in your lease, your standard car insurance may not cover the settlement balance on the lease.
3) How early should I be looking at my next car?
Most of us would not plan a year ahead for a car change, but as we examined recently [link to top 5 blog], many car manufacturers are experiencing long delays on deliveries. Depending on the type of car you are looking for, particularly electric, it may be worth picking the brains of our Client Services team around which models are delayed and what new models are coming to market in the next 12-18 months.
4) Servicing
We know that servicing is often the least enjoyable part of any car ownership, and there is often a lot of confusion around when the car needs serviced, and who you are allowed to use to ensure you do not invalidate your warranty. Our team can answer all your questions and point you in the right direction of some great partners for many of our most popular models, often saving you hundreds of pounds over main dealer pricing.
5) End of Lease Charges – avoid the pain of unfair damage, usage or mileage charges…
We know big organisations don’t always get this right, and we’ve certainly seen a marked increase in disputed end of fleet charges. At times like this, you need someone to go into bat on your behalf, who speaks the language, and understands the rules.
We’ve had some great successes recently, with one client receiving over £800 in refunds back from the leasing company in unfair charges.
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Over the next few weeks, we’ll be asking our two most experienced team members to head up this team, now wholly dedicating themselves to serving our existing clients with their expertise, built up over thousands of variations, from travel abroad to accident management and beyond.
