Gap Insurance

R

ronk

Lifer
 Durham
Does anybody have any views on the best value,reliable route and how much insurance to buy?
I thought about half the purchase price for a three year period ?
 
I took out a policy with a broker called Frank Pickles (gapinsurance.co.uk)

Couldnt decide how much cover to take out initially, but in the end went roughly 2/3rds of the invoice price over 3 years. Premium being £166.
 
I went with ala.co.uk

They have a tool on their site to help you decide how much, but as mines a 4 yr pcp I decided to get enough based on the guaranteed future value at the end of the 4 yrs (which is £12.5k) and the purchase price after discounts was just over £32k, so I actually think I went for something like £22.5k of cover for 4 yrs.

The dealer offer was only £10k of cover, so longer into the policy it wouldn't pay out enough.

Cant remember the cost, I think it was about £225 cos I had a code.
 
Motorway Direct for me:

Back to model (not invoice - this is the highest level of cover); I get the same spec car or equivalent even if the price goes up

£25k cover for four years cost around £230 iirc
 
I wonder if I should've got a policy like that, considering the huge discount I got on the car, just getting the invoice price back won't buy me another one....

oh well...
 
kevinmarkwhite said:
I wonder if I should've got a policy like that, considering the huge discount I got on the car, just getting the invoice price back won't buy me another one....

oh well...
Click to expand...

Exactly my thinking, especially since I luckily waited to take it out on the replacement auto which is £2k more...!

Fingers crossed none of us ever have to claim
 
Some UK polices include gap coverage. LV in particular includes new car replacement gap coverage for cars less than one year old. Read your master policy carefully before purchasing additional insurance.

Note to lurkers: In the US, insurance policies are required by law to provide gap coverage. In America, "gap" is the difference between the loan balance and the current value of the car.
 
Andrew*Debbie said:
Some UK polices include gap coverage. LV in particular includes new car replacement gap coverage for cars less than one year old. Read your master policy carefully before purchasing additional insurance.

Note to lurkers: In the US, insurance policies are required by law to provide gap coverage. In America, "gap" is the difference between the loan balance and the current value of the car.
Click to expand...

Be careful though, thats not the same. Some policies will replace you car for new in the first 12 months if its damaged too much or stolen, but most of these GAP policies need to be purchased within a time limit of buying the car (if you want original value of the car).

My ala policy will transfer free of charge to a replacement car if the insurance company replace it in the 1st year.
 
All insurance is a ripp off unless you need to either prove you have it, or make a claim!

You buy your car for £30k.

3yrs later you write it off. Your car insurance will pay the then current market value, say £15k.

The GAP insurance is meant to pay the remaining £15k, so you end up with the £30k you originally paid.

Which is why I got p$ssed with BMW for wrongly selling me their policy, selling it as "it will give you back the shortfall between what your insurer pays out and the original cost of the car" and then finding out it would only pay up to a max of £10k.

That might be ok early on, but at the end of 3 or 4 years it wont cover the difference, which is why you choose a cover level.
 
Thanks all, There's some some sound advice and experience to ponder!

Like all insurance, its a waste of money - unless there is a claim - but I don't feel brave enough to gamble.
 
Andrew*Debbie said:
kevinmarkwhite said:
Be careful though, thats not the same.
Click to expand...

We've learned to be very careful. Words like "lease" and "gap" mean entirely different things in American.
Click to expand...

Good point. I think its a shame that sales are not transparent and some sales people are just vultures who will say anything to get a sale.

I for one need to sharpen up my "bullshit" detector when dealing with car sales in the future.

I know most things are "buyer beware" but with some things you just expect the salesman to have your best interests at heart...sadly thats not always the case.
 
The new car was delivered yesterday so I have got the GAP sorted today! I went with ALA - The chap was ok to talk to and seemed to know his stuff. More important tho was it was not a call center!

£175 for 4 Years - £20,000 claim limit!

I hope that is a waste of £175 :D
 
"I hope that is a waste of £175 "

haha, never looked at it like that!!!
 
The dealer we purchased our AUC from offered us a discounted price of £500 for a three year GAP policy for a car that was already less than 50% of its original full retail price.

Let's just say we politely declined.
 
Exactly, the dealer option is an outright ripp off.

We've done it on 2 previous cars from the dealer, but it was with the Z4 that I opened my eyes, so to speak.

I gave the dealer the option to match ala - told him the price (£224 I think), the duration (4 yrs) and the cover value (£22,500) and he came back saying they could do 3 yrs for £250.

I went with that, then found out it was only for £10,000 cover! Cancelled it and went with ala.
 
My dealer wanted nearly £500 for gap insurance. They couldn't match ALA for very similar cover at £130.
Guess what I did.
 
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