Have you ever heard of GAP insurance? It's an insurance that pays the difference between what the regular insurance company will pay for the totaled car based on their arbitrary numbers---and what you still owe on your car loan. It's a lifesaver that generally, or so I'm told, is an easy process.
Of course, life isn't always easy. There are so often complications....
In this case, the biggest complication was that neither the bank nor the car dealership where we signed the GAP insurance contract (and received a receipt for paying for it!) accepted responsibility for the GAP insurance. Both kept sending me back to the other saying it was their responsibility. Neither could tell give me contact information for the illusive GAP insurance company on the contract.
"But you sold it to me," was part of my argument. Did it not seem reasonable to presume they could locate the company?
Obviously not. After making multiple phone calls for over an hour in the parking lot of the car dealership, I was finally able to track down the illusive GAP insurance, determine what the process really was, and find a person that agreed that I really did have GAP insurance with them!
In retrospect, I think the complications arose due to the fact that when we bought the car our loan was drawn up with one bank, who later sold out to another bank. The new bank didn't have the connections to the GAP insurance we had purchased. Understandable, but not impressive from a business point of view.
As I write this I can only presume it all went well. Once all were in the loop and we settled with the insurance company, the GAP insurance told us they would settle with the bank and we needed to do nothing further. Sounds good. It's been a lifesaver, even if in our case it wasn't the easiest of processes!
We bought a replacement car, an '07 Ford Fusion that was owned by an 81 year old woman and had low mileage. And yes, we bought GAP insurance. Hassle or no hassle, I'm a believer in GAP insurance!
Of course, life isn't always easy. There are so often complications....
In this case, the biggest complication was that neither the bank nor the car dealership where we signed the GAP insurance contract (and received a receipt for paying for it!) accepted responsibility for the GAP insurance. Both kept sending me back to the other saying it was their responsibility. Neither could tell give me contact information for the illusive GAP insurance company on the contract.
"But you sold it to me," was part of my argument. Did it not seem reasonable to presume they could locate the company?
Obviously not. After making multiple phone calls for over an hour in the parking lot of the car dealership, I was finally able to track down the illusive GAP insurance, determine what the process really was, and find a person that agreed that I really did have GAP insurance with them!
In retrospect, I think the complications arose due to the fact that when we bought the car our loan was drawn up with one bank, who later sold out to another bank. The new bank didn't have the connections to the GAP insurance we had purchased. Understandable, but not impressive from a business point of view.
As I write this I can only presume it all went well. Once all were in the loop and we settled with the insurance company, the GAP insurance told us they would settle with the bank and we needed to do nothing further. Sounds good. It's been a lifesaver, even if in our case it wasn't the easiest of processes!
We bought a replacement car, an '07 Ford Fusion that was owned by an 81 year old woman and had low mileage. And yes, we bought GAP insurance. Hassle or no hassle, I'm a believer in GAP insurance!
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