Gap insurance?

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Ryanytchan

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Hi all,

Just been offered gap for 3 years by the dealer for £400, did all of you get it? Sounds like a good deal to me but just wanted more input
Cheers
 
I took a 5 year GAP policy with https://www.directgap.co.uk/

I paid less than that from memory for a longer policy. The dealer said he "didn't blame me" for taking a 3rd party GAP policy
 
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£419 is the usual rate for cars upto £30K i believe, So £400 isn't that much of a good deal. I didnt bother with it this time and took it privately through ALA, for £170 for 3 years. Same back to invoice policy.
 
Ryanytchan said:
Hi all,

Just been offered gap for 3 years by the dealer for £400, did all of you get it? Sounds like a good deal to me but just wanted more input
Cheers
Click to expand...

Doesn't seem that great a deal. Shop around - I went with ALA in the end.
 
I havent taken it out with the dealer yet, but doing some looking around on the net there are a lot of 3rd parties offering 3 years for under £200. The one i think i will be going with is AutoTraderGap who quoted £165 for 3 years with 20k's worth of cover.... seems pretty good to me.
 
Autotrader GAP is done through ALA anyway, who are one of the bigger and more reputable firms :icon_thumright:
 
I use a company called AMS, £155 for 4 years on my s3
 
What's this insurance! I don't get this... Is it the regular car insurance that you guys are talking about or what...?
:)
it...
 
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mjcourtney said:
No it's not normal car insurance, it's primarily aimed at cars purchased through finance. It covers the 'gap' between what your normal insurance pays out and the amount you paid for the car - in the event you write it off.

Good info here:
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/do-you-need-gap-insurance
Click to expand...

Oh I see... Didn't know coz I never bought cars on finance...

Thanks for the info, I'll look into this... Who knows, might need it for my next car :)

Cheers
 
farzad said:
Oh I see... Didn't know coz I never bought cars on finance...

Thanks for the info, I'll look into this... Who knows, might need it for my next car :)

Cheers
Click to expand...

I bought it even though I bought the car as a cash payment. If the worst happens I want to get exactly the same car which I would never find on the 2nd hard market, I had too many options fitted. If you just order a standard spec car, then its less of an issue
 
Rather than just going for "return to invoice", i went for "combined vehicle replacement" for £169 for 3 years. This goes 1 better than RTV and gives you what it would cost to replace the car at the time of the claim instead of what you originally paid. Therefore you are covered for future increases in price too.
 
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Psyman79 said:
Rather than just going for "return to invoice", i went for "combined vehicle replacement" for £169 for 3 years. This goes 1 better than RTV and gives you what it would cost to replace the car at the time of the claim instead of what you originally paid. Therefore you are covered for future increases in price too.
Click to expand...

I have RTV Gap Insurance on my current Sportback and will definitely buy it again for any new 8V I purchase. Nothing worse that your car being written off or stolen and you only getting the insurance valuation for it and having to find quite a bit more to replace the car with what you had.

Another insurance worth considering is Excess Protection Insurance. This covers the cost of any Excess that you may have to pay if you have an accident and you cannot recover the excess from anyone else. It also allows you to accept a higher excess on your normal policy. I have £750 cover for £47.00 premium. Google Excess Protection Insurance to find out more.
 
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I have never seen then point of GAP insurance.

2 questions

1. How many times have you had a total right off
2. How many times have you had a car stolen and not returned.


As an aside in the first year most insurers give you FREE RTV insurance so why bother (certainly in year one)

There will be those who suggest why bother with House Insurance.. slightly different and protecting a major asset. Insurance on a £500,000 house is similar to a £30,000 car for many and is generally compulsory when property is mortgaged.

Again Dave MY Opinion .
 
GAP Insurance, like any other non-mandatory statute insurance, reflects personal circumstances, and your outlook on risk.

The choice of whether to buy life insurance, unable-to-work insurance, travel insurance or any other sort of insurance etc. depends on your personal circumstances, and your aversion to risk. Nothing more, nothing less.



Two very useful previous threads (for those considering GAP Insurance)

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-s3-8v-chassis/201513-gap-insurance.html

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-s3-8v-chassis/197614-gap-insurance-again.html
 
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PilotAudi said:
I have never seen then point of GAP insurance.

2 questions

1. How many times have you had a total right off
2. How many times have you had a car stolen and not returned.


As an aside in the first year most insurers give you FREE RTV insurance so why bother (certainly in year one)

There will be those who suggest why bother with House Insurance.. slightly different and protecting a major asset. Insurance on a £500,000 house is similar to a £30,000 car for many and is generally compulsory when property is mortgaged.

Again Dave MY Opinion .
Click to expand...

Whilst I disagree with the usefulness of many of the insurance products available (Excess Protection Insurance, for example, or Wheel/Tyre Insurance).....I think Gap is a good investment and I would always purchase it, especially as it can be purchased (not through a dealership) for a few pounds per month, and has recently been changed so that you can cancel and receive a pro rata refund at any point, such as if you sell the car after 2 years. I am insured with Elephant and they do NOT provide a new car within the first year of ownership. Besides, even if insurance companies do offer this, you are also able to defer some (maybe all?) Gap policies to start at any time up to a year from taking the policy out.

It's definitely one of those policies which you hope to never use - but would be VERY glad of, if you ever did, especially 2-3 years into ownership of the vehicle.
 
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I had my 1.4 s-line 8v wrote off and my gap/RTI cover enabled be to 'up' models for hardly any increase on my payments (considering the cars worth £15,000 more) so for £150 or whatever it costs it's worth it in my eyes and I'm speaking from experience. The gap returned me to invoice price and my settlement was obviously a lot less than that so had a nice chunk to put down on my s3, hence keeping payments reasonable.
 
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I got it for free,didn't even asked for it.:rock:
 
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Oyster said:
I got it for free,didn't even asked for it.:rock:
Click to expand...

Well that could be a bit naughty on the dealers part there. Although it was 'free' to you it was certainly included in the price you paid (as the dealer pays a trade price for it) therefore you could have probably negotiated a cheaper price for your car by removing it. From a certain perspective that could be viewed as miss-selling, as you neither wanted or asked for it.

Just my opinion!
 
mjcourtney said:
Well that could be a bit naughty on the dealers part there. Although it was 'free' to you it was certainly included in the price you paid (as the dealer pays a trade price for it) therefore you could have probably negotiated a cheaper price for your car by removing it. From a certain perspective that could be viewed as miss-selling, as you neither wanted or asked for it.

Just my opinion!
Click to expand...

I agree. Nothing is free.
 
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Trust me, it's free, when it comes to money I am a tight fistted old man:moa:
 
Scott said:
Whilst I disagree with the usefulness of many of the insurance products available (Excess Protection Insurance, for example, or Wheel/Tyre Insurance).....I think Gap is a good investment and I would always purchase it, especially as it can be purchased (not through a dealership) for a few pounds per month, and has recently been changed so that you can cancel and receive a pro rata refund at any point, such as if you sell the car after 2 years. I am insured with Elephant and they do NOT provide a new car within the first year of ownership. Besides, even if insurance companies do offer this, you are also able to defer some (maybe all?) Gap policies to start at any time up to a year from taking the policy out.

It's definitely one of those policies which you hope to never use - but would be VERY glad of, if you ever did, especially 2-3 years into ownership of the vehicle.
Click to expand...

You only need one two year old car to be written off or stolen for GAP Insurance to be worth while. Not a great deal of money for three years peace of mind. That's what any type of insurance is all about.
 
Ok so feel free to challenge my logic.

Car costs £30k (after discount)
Sell after 3 years for 18k

End of year one value Circa 25k
End year 2 value circa 21k

If the car is a Total right off I get back £30k. Car worth between 18-25k when it happens. So for £400 I am insuring a highly unlikely loss of between 5-12k.

Over 50 years I could spend £6800 17x400 on Gap insurance.

I love statistics 97% of the time but don't see this as good value. I might consider if I could buy years 2/3 for about. £100 however!

There is of course no right answer Dave, just informed opinion.
 
Only informed opinion means nobody would buy GAP at £400 for three years. Common sense also comes into it...
 
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Have to agree with Pilots logic.

Its the balance betwen insuring the chance to get the ful amount back while accepting the depriciation should you want to sell the car.

The biggest risk gap insurnace covers you for is gap in the finance and insurance value of the car, i.e. car finance is worth 25k car is worth 22K, so if the car is written of you owe 3k to the finance company.

But the reality is if you needed to sell the car becuase your financial circumstances changed this would be the same position, and this is accepted when you buy any car because its always a risk of having a car on finance.
 
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Thanks Bob! I think the same logic applies if you buy the car too. ;-)
 
I've only had 1 car written off so far and didn't have GAP at the time. I was in a pretty bad position financially at the time and ended up having to buy another car on finance while still paying off the balance of my old car. This obviously had a huge impact on my well being at the time. Had i had GAP it would've cleared the balance and i wouldn't have gotten myself in such a mess.
I'm in a much better position these days but would still be in a mess if i wrote off a £25k car and had to find the uninsured amount.
Thats just my story though and everyone is different. I, for one, will continue to buy GAP, just not at Audis prices :)
 
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Psyman79 said:
I've only had 1 car written off so far and didn't have GAP at the time. I was in a pretty bad position financially at the time and ended up having to buy another car on finance while still paying off the balance of my old car. This obviously had a huge impact on my well being at the time. Had i had GAP it would've cleared the balance and i wouldn't have gotten myself in such a mess.
I'm in a much better position these days but would still be in a mess if i wrote off a £25k car and had to find the uninsured amount.
Thats just my story though and everyone is different. I, for one, will continue to buy GAP, just not at Audis prices :)
Click to expand...

Just never know what's round the corner,however good driver is.
 
Was originally offered it from the dealer for £419, but after some negotiation got it for £239 for 3 years. Whilst it can be had cheaper elsewhere I'm happier to go with Audi and it's one less thing to arrange elsewhere.
 
Oyster said:
Trust me, it's free, when it comes to money I am a tight fistted old man:moa:
Click to expand...

It can't be given for free as it is illegal to give insurance policies away. The price of the GAP will have been discounted off the car or elsewhere.

I paid 235 from my dealer for an S3.
 
Around 4/5 years ago I had a brand new car. Which I had owned for 2 years and was unfortunately written off. The insurance company paid me more than what I originally bought the car for. I guess I got very lucky on that occasion. But I'm going to be buying GAP for the audi.

People rave about this ALA, which does get good reviews, also if you sign up to Quidco you can get £50 cashback on any new policy with them!
 
Another vote for ALA, also suggest getting vehicle replacement cover rather than just return to invoice. It's not much more expensive.
 
Dealer offered £210 29k list price for car, not bad however I had existing policy with ala and simply transferred it over
 
Ryanytchan said:
Hi all,

Just been offered gap for 3 years by the dealer for £400, did all of you get it? Sounds like a good deal to me but just wanted more input
Cheers
Click to expand...

That's horrendous! Audi pump up 'their' GAP with commission. I have used ALA a couple of times, around £200 for a better policy than Audi will offer and that was on a TTRS two and a half years ago. GAP is essential on a new or financed car - I have claimed on a GAP Policy when my car was stolen - trust me - you'll be very glad you had it if you have to claim a total loss. I was - ended up getting the full £35k back, which was the original invoice price of the car when I took delivery of it - 2.5 years old when stolen and the insurance company paid me £17k, the GAP insurance then paid me £18k. That's £18k I would not have got had I not taken out GAP. So if people think GAP is pointless, jog on I say ...
 
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SilureMark said:
That's horrendous! Audi pump up 'their' GAP with commission. I have used ALA a couple of times, around £200 for a better policy than Audi will offer and that was on a TTRS two and a half years ago. GAP is essential on a new or financed car - I have claimed on a GAP Policy when my car was stolen - trust me - you'll be very glad you had it if you have to claim a total loss. I was - ended up getting the full £35k back, which was the original invoice price of the car when I took delivery of it - 2.5 years old when stolen and the insurance company paid me £17k, the GAP insurance then paid me £18k. That's £18k I would not have got had I not taken out GAP. So if people think GAP is pointless, jog on I say ...
Click to expand...

Exactly my friend!
 
But that's what all dealership do regardless of the company. It is our job then to beat them down...
 
Cumbrian_bob said:
Have to agree with Pilots logic.

Its the balance betwen insuring the chance to get the ful amount back while accepting the depriciation should you want to sell the car.

The biggest risk gap insurnace covers you for is gap in the finance and insurance value of the car, i.e. car finance is worth 25k car is worth 22K, so if the car is written of you owe 3k to the finance company.

But the reality is if you needed to sell the car becuase your financial circumstances changed this would be the same position, and this is accepted when you buy any car because its always a risk of having a car on finance.
Click to expand...

But when you decide to sell the car, that is YOUR choice, and obviously you can stomach the depreciation otherwise you wouldn't buy a new or nearly new car to begin with. But if someone crashes into you, perhaps even when your car when parked in a car park or on a road, and your car is written off, this could be 2 months or even 2 years into ownership and then you are penalised because you have to buy a used car, which could have 1-2 previous owners more than yours did, an unknown history (who knows if it's been in an accident?) and probably a lower spec....then that is a risk which I would rather be insured for, especially when we're talking the cost of 2 tanks of fuel which covers you for 3-4 years.
 
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