Shortfall.co.uk would like to say thanks

Like the launch of any new product in a market, great interest is stirred within the independent online providers. Of course this can lead to 'in depth' analysis of product terms by competitors to compare the relative strengths against their own products. Clearly this is also a process that Shortfall.co.uk has gone through before agreeing terms and conditions with our underwriters.

As part of the new Shortfall.co.uk Gap products, we had stated clearly that any claim would not be subject to a 'Market Value Clause', and had made clear reference to this on Press Releases and various articles and information on the Shortfall.co.uk website. This feature was agreed with our underwriters on Shortfall.co.uk prior to launch.

It was reported on the Gap Insurance comparison page on rival provider GapInsurance.co.uk that they felt that the 'no Market Value Clause' feature on Shortfall.co.uk was not clear in the policy terms. They indicated that the Shortfall.co.uk products did indeed have such a clause in their comparison table.

Accepting that a rival competitor could not know our business terms with our underwriter, plus the fact that Shortfall.co.uk had been very specific on this point, and that this could cause some confusion with the public.

We are pleased to say that upon contacting GapInsurance.co.uk that they have now amended the original information to show that indeed Shortfall.co.uk products do not contain a 'market value clause'. We would like to thank those at GapInsurance.co.uk for taking swift action over this.

Our competitors did point out that in fact the two brand products could be seen as quite similar, and of course sharing the same underwriter (who have also underwritten our sister Easy Gap brand since November 2012) and many common features. We would like to point out that there are several differences also, with the option for 5 year cover and payment by monthly premiums chief amongst them in favour of Shortfall.co.uk.

It is the policy of our company, Aequitas Automotive, to not directly name our online rivals in the past, as we have always felt that it can only detract from the emphasis, and confidence, in the strength of our policies. That said, we would be happy to go on record to say we have always happily recommended customer enquiries that fall outside our underwriting criteria to GapInsurance.co.uk.

As for their comment that a good reason to buy from them is that they are 'better looking', I would remind our competitors that the home of Shortfall.co.uk, GapInsurance123 and Easy Gap (Gap Towers as we like to call it) has been the base of two Hollywood film sets in the last 12 months, and that some of our office space was provided for dressing rooms for Hollywood stars such as Chris Pine and Keira Knightley in that time.

Your Gap Insurance policies may be pretty good but you cannot compete on the glamour stakes I are afraid!