"£5,000 off a new car was the smooth ride we needed after the accident."

Jenefer Cockerill had only bought her brand-new car 14 months ago when it was written off in an accident. “A car drove straight into us. The insurance was going to pay out, but we knew we’d have to pay something from our own pocket. So to get a discount of nearly 20% on our new car certainly helped.”

After their accident in Brixham, South Devon – in which Jenefer, a 69-year-old retired special needs teacher, was a passenger and her partner Richard was the driver – the couple decided to see if the Motor Source Group discount scheme could help them. “I had accidentally learnt about the scheme in 2019 from the teacher discount emails I regularly receive,” explains Jenefer.


Teachers, NHS workers, armed forces personnel, police and any other public sector workers, like firefighters and civil servants – either working or retired – are eligible for savings of up to £5,000 on a car through the scheme. 


“The driver admitted liability so we were immediately entitled to a hire car for five weeks,” says Jenefer. “We went to our holiday home in Brittany [in France] and organised everything from there.”


After Richard had done some research, the couple decided to buy a new Citroën C5 Aircross Flair Plus in blue silver – automatic, diesel, higher specification – to replace their SpaceTourer. A brand-new model usually retails at about £29,000 but was offered to them by Motor Source Group for £23,911. This meant a 17.5% saving of just over £5,100. The closest alternative deal from the car platform Carwow offered only £2,900 off.


Two types of insurance covered £22,000 of the total cost. “The insurance from the driver [who drove into us] paid out £16,500 and the ‘gap’ [guaranteed asset protection] insurance we pay for [a one-off £250 from PSA Finance to cover three years] paid £5,500,” says Jenefer. 


Gap insurance covers the difference between the amount you paid for your car and the amount an insurance company would give you if it was written off or stolen. It’s useful because, according to the AA, the average car’s value drops as soon as you drive it off the dealership’s forecourt, and could fall by 40% in the first year. If the car is written off or stolen, an insurer will pay out what it’s worth at the time – which will be less than what you paid when you bought it, especially if it was brand new. 


“The gap insurance makes up the devaluation – when we bought our Citroen C4 SpaceTourer, it was worth £22,000,” Jenefer explains. “We then paid just under £2,000 from our own pocket for the higher-specification Aircross.”


Motor Source Group even hastened its free delivery when it learnt of the couple’s circumstances and advised them to shop around for a better gap insurance deal. “Five weeks after the accident, we received our new car,” says Jenefer. “And we now pay £173 gap insurance with Total Insurance for three years.”


Their new car will be used for the couple’s regular trips to their Brittany holiday home. “The car has definitely lived up to our expectations,” says Jenefer. Richard’s daughter, an infant school teacher, has also been inspired to use the scheme to buy a Hyundai Tucson and save herself £5,000. 


What I did

  1. My partner Richard researched and chose the make and model of our new car
  2. We emailed Motor Source Group about our situation and the replacement car we had set our sights on. It responded within 24 hours.
  3. We liaised with one person regarding purchasing and another person regarding delivery.
  4. Our Citroen C5 Aircross, in blue silver, arrived five weeks later.


What worked

  • Having gap insurance to make up the devaluation. The £173 it cost us delivered and paid out £5,500.
  • Checking the competition. We checked deals on the same car and model with other dealers. The closest alternative offered only £2,900 off.
  • Motor Source Group provided a great and reassuring service – while we were on holiday in France, too. We dealt with just two people throughout the process and they hastened the free delivery when they learnt about our personal circumstances.
  • The whole buying process was a smooth ride despite the trauma of the accident


MSG Summary

We are so pleased to have been able to support Jenefer and Richard at their time of need. We work hard to ensure our process not just saves them money but is simple and convenient, removing all the stress from the car buying experience.

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