Nine Payment Saver Plan Myths, and the Facts Behind Them

New ideas attract second-hand explanations, and the Payment Saver Plan (PSP) has picked up a few. Some are innocent shortcuts; some would create expectations the plan cannot meet. This article lists the nine we hear most and puts the fact next to each one, in the same terms the Terms & Conditions use. If a myth touches a contractual point, the terms are the reference and this page is the summary.

Myths about what the plan is

Myth one: the PSP is insurance. Fact: the Payment Saver Plan is most definitely not a policy. You buy no policy, hold no policy and pay no premium, and it is not insurance cover or a benefit of any kind for the buyer. The PSP cost is incorporated into the vehicle's financeable retail price, as determined by Car4Less per deal; it is not a premium.

Myth two: the PSP is an investment. Fact: nothing is invested, nothing earns interest and nothing pays a dividend. Participating gives you no stake in Car4Less. Myth three: the performance guarantee protects the buyer. Fact: it is a contingency policy that Car4Less holds with its own underwriters, for a single premium covering the overall risk, and what it guarantees is the R3 000 funding provision, according to its policy terms. It is exercised only if Car4Less chooses to; the buyer pays no premium, is not a party to it and has no claim under it, and guaranteed funding does not mean automatic cash-back.

Myths about the money

Myth four: everyone gets R3 000. Fact: R3 000 a month is the maximum ex gratia payment. It is subject to every requirement being met in full and to Car4Less's final determination in its sole discretion, and the participant has no recourse. Some participants may receive less; some may receive nothing.

Myth five: the PSP guarantees an income. Fact: no income or earnings are promised to anyone. Only the funding provision behind the plan is guaranteed; the cash-back itself is conditional on your participation and discretionary. Myth six: the PSP reduces my bank instalment. Fact: your contractual instalment never changes and is still paid by debit order to the bank. The fixed illustration of R6 500 less potential cash-back of up to R3 000* giving an effective R3 500 (example only; T&C's apply. *Ex gratia, subject to the Payment Saver Plan terms and Car4Less's determination) shows how the cash-back sits alongside the instalment, not inside it.

Myths about participation

Myth seven: you have to sell a car to qualify. Fact: you do not. You do not have to produce, demonstrate or be credited with a vehicle sale resulting from your posts, shares or shopping; what you must do is meet the qualifying requirements in full. Myth eight: every post qualifies, and posting alone is enough. Fact: only approved content counts (three posts a day on each of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn, every day, each approved by Car4Less before it is released and capable of being verified), and posting is one requirement alongside the prescribed groups and Shop & Save.

Myth nine: Shop & Save is a second, separate R3 000. Fact: Shop & Save is the verified-shopping requirement of the Payment Saver Plan. Till slips must be uploaded and verified and the purchases must qualify, and completing it counts towards the plan's single ex gratia payment of up to R3 000 a month. Post & Share and Shop & Save are two parts of one plan.

• Social-media participation — the rules in detail →
• Shop & Save, explained →

Why the corrections matter

The plan is built on verification and on Car4Less's discretion, and both depend on the same discipline: what is described is exactly what the rules say, no more. A buyer who expects R3 000 automatically will be disappointed; a buyer who understands that the requirements must be met in full, and that the payment is ex gratia, knows precisely what they are working towards, and that nobody has to sell a car to get there. Car4Less would rather you knew that before you chose to participate.

If you have heard a description of the Payment Saver Plan that is not on this list, the knowledge centre's Core FAQs and Important Principles pages are the quickest way to check it, and your written PSP agreement and the Terms & Conditions are the final word.

• Core FAQs →
• Important PSP principles →
• Terms & Conditions →