GAP Insurance

[mordred1973]

Hi guys and gals,

Anyone been offered and properly considered GAP insurance on their new car? Whilst it isn't a massive premium (£400 for 3 years) but at the same time how often do you have a car that is written off?

Can't quite work out if it is good value because of the potential or just a waste with a big commission for the dealer.....

Anyone got any thoughts?

Cheers

Chris

[iAmbu]

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 99&p=20453" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 46&p=21535" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[trix]

cheers for posting the links iAmbu
Mordred not sure if you meant to put it in help/testing/suggestions but have moved it to a more suitable place anyway

S

[iAmbu]

No probs trix.

mordred1973 - Hope my above post doesn't seem blunt, as I literally just posted the links on their own! Not meant to be blunt!

[lancs_lad]

I used ALA when my wife bought her Yaris last year. They were one of the few that would cover a driving school car and also good value. http://www.ala.co.uk/?source=webgains&siteid=21585" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anakin]

A must on a new Car and available much cheaper than the dealership quoted you in OP.

[littleyellowspider]

A must on a new Car and available much cheaper than the dealership quoted you in OP.

No it's not.

Absolutely not.

Just another insurance premium that you won't see the benefit of paying.

[spamdog]

A must on a new Car and available much cheaper than the dealership quoted you in OP.

No it's not.

Absolutely not.

Just another insurance premium that you won't see the benefit of paying.

worth every penny if some idiot drives into you in a years time but I did manage to get it for £200 off my dealer.

[RW1]

A must on a new Car and available much cheaper than the dealership quoted you in OP.

No it's not.

Absolutely not.

Just another insurance premium that you won't see the benefit of paying.

Well...... beg to differ.... on 3rd Jan 1994 I wished I had what I had now have, ie GAP. I owned an exactly 2 years 11 months and 30 day old car. That day, an idiot ran a red light and I had no choice but to T bone him. Scirocco front was wiped out and car eventually written off.

Insurance after bitter arguement coughed up £5,300 but all identical secondhand Sciroccos were £7,500ish and if still made would have been about £14,500 on the road new. So I ended up dipping into my own pocket just to put myself back on the road even with an identically aged/mileage/condition car. Not so much a "must have" more a "no-brainer" for me 2 months ago. I paid £316 premium for GAP replacement to new, rather than return to invoice for the next 4 years.

C.

[littleyellowspider]

Of course it's worth every penny if the worst happens. But the chances are slim, aren't they? Really.

Just the same as any other insurance.

The fact of the matter is, if you'd saved all of your premiums (house, car, dog, teeth, shed, medical etc) over the years and subtracted the cost of any claims that you may have had against them, you'd be quids in.

Yes?

Or no?

[stevieboy]

The bottom line here is that GAP is insurance insurance!

You are insuring yourself against your insurance not paying up enough to cover any potential loss.

Basically its a rip off, even though it may save you pounds/hassle in the event of a loss.

If the insurance companies paid out the true value of your vehicle in the event of total loss, ie enough to buy you a similar condition/spec/milage/year car then you'd never need it.

But they don't so the 'risk' then becomes yours - risk spending the GAP money or risk losing out in the case of total loss.

Just in case you wondered, I'm employed buy one of the worlds largest insurance companies! And no, I don't insure my car or house with them because they are bloody expensive even with a staff discount.

[AndyInGlasgow]

It's like people have said, one of life's gambles.

A waste of money if you don't claim it, but the wisest policy in the world if some uninsured prat rights you car off!!

A normal insurance policy as I understand it will give you market value for you car at that point in time. This is typically the lowest market value they can get away with, so at best if your car was 3 years old you will be lucky to buy an equivalent 2nd hand 3 year old car.

The GAP insurance should allow you to buy a brand spanking new car as they will add onto the settlement that your insurance company pays out back to the original purchase price.

So you could argue if you car has lost £10,000 in value over 3 years and is written off, then the £300 GAP insurance will effectively give you £10,000 top up on the insurance payout and you can buy a brand new car again.

So guess it comes down to, do you feel lucky punk, well do you?!!

[mordred1973]

cheers for posting the links iAmbu
Mordred not sure if you meant to put it in help/testing/suggestions but have moved it to a more suitable place anyway

S

oops sorry Trix, thanks for re-locating the post for me :-)

Chris

[RW1]

Just remember the distinction between 1) return to invoice GAP and 2) return to value GAP.

1) is get back to what you paid today, no more and 2) is get back to what you have to pay in say 3 or 4 years time for a new replacement.

Add the latter up with VW price increases of say 6%ish per annum and also don't forget the +2.5% VAT re-instated. (That's how I calculated my RTV GAP for 4 years plus the car's depreciation to half what I've paid, after 4 years).

Over 4 years the price change is eye popping

C.

[ashley1407]

Just to let you all know that if you bargain hard enough, the dealer will sell you GAP at their cost price. I went into the dealer armed with online quotes and in the end I got the official VW policy for 5 years and it only cost about £160.00.

I guess you don't see the true value of these policies until you have an accident, then it pays dividends and I think that for 9 pence a day, the peace of mind is worth it.

[littleyellowspider]

Another salesmans dream!

[Gary_Monkey]

Can you take out GAP insurance at any time during ownership? Or, does it have to be when you first buy the vehicle?

Excuse my ignorance.
Novice in the house.

Gaz (insurance brings me out in spots)

[mordred1973]

VW dealer said I had 30days to decide....the site quoted above by lanc_lad http://www.ala.co.uk/?source=webgains&siteid=21585" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; seems to be saying they offer 2 different option one within 45 days of purchase and one for post 45 days....and the price changes depending on which it is....

[trix]

i think it depends where you go to..

some linkies http://www.click4gap.co.uk/index.asp
http://www.directgap.co.uk/
http://www.gap2go.co.uk/Home

[lancs_lad]

Another salesmans dream!

GAP insurance is always going to be one of those things that stirs up a lot of feeling to those people buying new cars. You are after all insuring against the chances of a total loss within the first 3 or 4 years of your cars life ( And how often does that happen? ). You also need to bear in mind that most insurers will replace your car if it's written off in the first 12 months of it's life so in effect the GAP insurance is normally 2 or 3 years rather than 3 or 4.

Unfortuntely my wife was one of those victims a few years back and although we had a fair payout from the insurers we still had to find money to buy a new car that we hadn't budgeted for, hence the reason why she took out a GAP policy when she bought her latest car.

Considering the cost of the Scirocco and the way prices are rising in the UK at the moment I will also be taking out GAP insurance when I get mine as I know I won't be able to replace it like for like if it's written off after 12 months.

If money isn't that big an issue to you then I agree, GAP is probably an unnecessary extra but some people will always like to sleep at night knowing that if they wake up and find their pride and joy stolen then at least they'll be able to replace it pretty much straight away (depending on delivery schedules )

There are a number of other insurances that are also of dubious use - life insurance, health insurance and redundancy insurance to name a few. Insurance will always only be value for money if you need it.