Yes PA's figures do not take into account the uninsured losses if your car is written off through no fault of your own...
Gap insurance?
- Thread starter Ryanytchan
- Start date
My insurance company replaces with brand new for up to 2 years, so GAP is not really necessary for me.
Working in Insurance, I only advise GAP to my clients if they are financing a large amount. At the end of the 2 years new for old period, how much finance will be left on the car? If you still owe more than the current value of the car, then GAP is for you.
On the other hand, take out GAP as an added insurance, so that if you ever write off the vehicle, regardless of how much is owed, you will get a brand new car even in year 3. Is that worth 3 years of premium? That is totally down to individual choice.
In short GAP works in 2 ways depending on your circumstances:-
1) It offers protection to those who owe a lot of money on the car and the finance doesn't depreciate as fast as the car is depreciating
2) For those who don't owe finance, your effectively paying for new for old for the lifetime of your ownership, which some people really like.
Just as a non technical point, retailers inc car dealers and manufacturers don't sell anything that doesn't make them s**t loads of money and leaves them with tiny amounts of risk!! Whether that be car GAP insurance or extended warranties on fridge freezers or washing machines etc. I personally am very wary of accepting any form of insurance or warranty from any company who's main business is NOT insurance!!!
Thats my 2 pence worth anyway, and I will not be paying for GAP insurance.
Working in Insurance, I only advise GAP to my clients if they are financing a large amount. At the end of the 2 years new for old period, how much finance will be left on the car? If you still owe more than the current value of the car, then GAP is for you.
On the other hand, take out GAP as an added insurance, so that if you ever write off the vehicle, regardless of how much is owed, you will get a brand new car even in year 3. Is that worth 3 years of premium? That is totally down to individual choice.
In short GAP works in 2 ways depending on your circumstances:-
1) It offers protection to those who owe a lot of money on the car and the finance doesn't depreciate as fast as the car is depreciating
2) For those who don't owe finance, your effectively paying for new for old for the lifetime of your ownership, which some people really like.
Just as a non technical point, retailers inc car dealers and manufacturers don't sell anything that doesn't make them s**t loads of money and leaves them with tiny amounts of risk!! Whether that be car GAP insurance or extended warranties on fridge freezers or washing machines etc. I personally am very wary of accepting any form of insurance or warranty from any company who's main business is NOT insurance!!!
Thats my 2 pence worth anyway, and I will not be paying for GAP insurance.
And insurance companies don't make loads of money either by ripping us off either? I've never seen a policy that extends new for old after the first year so maybe, as you are working on the inside, you could reveal which one that is?
You've also listed reasons why we choose GAP and I don't think that paying £6.20 a month, or £74.00 a year, is much of a premium to pay.
You've also listed reasons why we choose GAP and I don't think that paying £6.20 a month, or £74.00 a year, is much of a premium to pay.
RTI gap is worth the £40 a year it costs simple as that. If you car gets written off you stand to do well financially out of the settlement as you get all your money back that you've laid out for the car. Why wouldn't you want that for less than £4 a month, I know it's a waste if you don't claim but come on, £150 over 4 years it's pittance
The ALA Vehicle Replacement+ cover cost me around £170 for 3 years, so this works out at £4.70 per month.... for a potential payout of £10k+ in the event the car is written off. This is worth the peace of mind alone for me knowing that I won't be massively out of pocket if someone were to crash into me.
As said earlier, you have to assess your perception of the risk on an individual basis, and for me it's worth it.
As said earlier, you have to assess your perception of the risk on an individual basis, and for me it's worth it.
Can gap insurance be bought anytime after buying regular insurance? So for example, I collect the car on 1st March and I've already got normal insurance. Could I at some point in the future, say in 6 months time, buy the gap insurance? Or do you have to buy gap insurance at the same time as buying normal car insurance?
Also, if I wanted to see if the dealer can match a quote (I like ALA's quote of £123), is it better to negotiate this with the dealer on the day I collect the car, or negotiate before collecting?
Also, if I wanted to see if the dealer can match a quote (I like ALA's quote of £123), is it better to negotiate this with the dealer on the day I collect the car, or negotiate before collecting?
You can buy it afterwards, but there is a limit I think. Although it might be quite long - a year or something, can't remember.
From the ala website:
"If your car was purchased more than 90 days ago we may still be able to offer you a Back to Invoice policy for up to 180 days after delivery. If you have purchased your vehicle more than 180 days ago we are unable to offer you a policy at this time."
"If your car was purchased more than 90 days ago we may still be able to offer you a Back to Invoice policy for up to 180 days after delivery. If you have purchased your vehicle more than 180 days ago we are unable to offer you a policy at this time."
From the direct Gap Insurance website (for vehicle replacement insurance):
You can defer the start date for up to a maximum of 12 months but the cover must be taken within 180 days of purchasing the vehicle.
The policy start date must not exceed the anniversary of the vehicles first registration.
It is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate cover provided by your motor insurer during the first 12 months.
You can defer the start date for up to a maximum of 12 months but the cover must be taken within 180 days of purchasing the vehicle.
The policy start date must not exceed the anniversary of the vehicles first registration.
It is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate cover provided by your motor insurer during the first 12 months.
It's personal choice.
Policies differ but in broad terms:
Return to invoice does just that. Plugs the gap between settlement fee from insurer and the invoice price you paid. If you got a 1k discount off list then do don't get that 1k.
Vehicle replacement is against list price (before any discounts). It also takes into account any increase in list price in the 1, 2, 3 years since you purchased so you get a payout total (insurer+GAP) to get a new car (at the same spec) even if list price has increased in the interim.
I went for vehicle replacement GAP. Premium slightly higher but only by about £30 when compared to return to invoice.
John.
Policies differ but in broad terms:
Return to invoice does just that. Plugs the gap between settlement fee from insurer and the invoice price you paid. If you got a 1k discount off list then do don't get that 1k.
Vehicle replacement is against list price (before any discounts). It also takes into account any increase in list price in the 1, 2, 3 years since you purchased so you get a payout total (insurer+GAP) to get a new car (at the same spec) even if list price has increased in the interim.
I went for vehicle replacement GAP. Premium slightly higher but only by about £30 when compared to return to invoice.
John.
I apologise if this came across in the wrong way, I didn't mean it in a preachy fashion, just trying to advise from an insurance mans point of view.
I think those figure you speak of are perfectly good value for money and I would consider it at that price if I didn't have the 24 month new for old guarantee on my insurance policy.
Anything you buy and don't use will always seem like a rip off and insurance rightly has itself a bad name for many reasons. I fortunately work for a Mutual, and the premiums represent personal service and a willingness to pay up, so I sleep comfortable at night knowing I help my customers, but I fully accept not all insurers are like that.
I think my point is, go to an insurer for insurance and let Audi make great cars! Audi will only be selling you an insurance policy that someone else is underwriting and they will almost definitely be making money on top.
However misguided, I really only posted here to try and help and offer an insiders point of view. Enjoy your cars, they are well earned.
My wife had her A1 insured through Saga. Their price was good at the time and their policy gave 2 years car replacement providing the car had not done more than 12,000 miles. She only does around 6,000 a year. After 12 months their renewal was quite high so we decided to go with another company.
I have obtained quotes from NFU in the past and their policies cover 2 year new car replacement but I cannot remember if there was any mileage limit. Their quotes have always been been quite expensive.
Not really, my first years insurance covers the full value of the car. I sold my last car at 2 years 4 months with more value returned the car was worth, and the dealer still was able to sell it at a profit, if the car was written off I would have been in a better position as the insurance would likely pay more than the dealer trade in price.
As with any insurance its relative to you appetite for risk, also the liklihood and impact of the risk becomming true. i.e. High finance car, and high milage driver who live in a rough area where the car could also be stolen. Then GAP is actually a must.
As with any insurance its offering you a payout should something go wrong, same as tyre or alloy wheel. Its not a bad cost for a potential high payout, if you need it in the first year (with my deal) it would be a complete waste of money. If you can get insurance in the 11th month for the remaining two years at a low cost then that could be a better value deal, £140 for two years gap insurance for total write off and pay up to 50 % value of the car.
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Any decent insurance company will cover tyres and alloys under accidental damage, there really is no need for this additional insurance. I have recently paid out for 2 Q7 alloy wheels damaged by a pothole under normal fully comp cover subject to excess!!!!
If you have a high accidental damage excess, pay more premium to lower your excess rather than take out more policies.
Be wary of this insurance and speak to your insurance company, it could save you some ££££££'s
h5djr - Yes NFU do 2 year replacement, but they aren't cheap. Not bad value for money if you live in a rural area though.
If you have a high accidental damage excess, pay more premium to lower your excess rather than take out more policies.
Be wary of this insurance and speak to your insurance company, it could save you some ££££££'s
h5djr - Yes NFU do 2 year replacement, but they aren't cheap. Not bad value for money if you live in a rural area though.
What's this insurance! I don't get this... Is it the regular car insurance that you guys are talking about or what...?
it...
its an insurance con - why we have to take out extra ruddy insurance because the insurer wont pay out the full amount - I think its outrageous - what next motorway insurance, day time driving insurance, night time insurance, idiot insurance
im reluctantly getting it as ive bought a lot of options
Mike071288
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At time of ordering i said yes to gap insurance with audi, but after a couple of months i realised i could get it cheaper elsewhere, so when i went to audi to sign the final papers and pay my second half of the deposit i told them i didn't need it anymore.
2 weeks down the line and i took delivery of my car. I got a email thanking me for taking out audi gap insurance, with the policy documents enclosed!!
Saved me some money, still not sure if it was sent by mistake or the guy at audi just did it as a gesture of good will as they haven't exactly been easy to deal with.
2 weeks down the line and i took delivery of my car. I got a email thanking me for taking out audi gap insurance, with the policy documents enclosed!!
Saved me some money, still not sure if it was sent by mistake or the guy at audi just did it as a gesture of good will as they haven't exactly been easy to deal with.
Options make little / no difference to settlement. In that you get nothing back for them.
These guys use book prices to value cars when written off, book prices are based on ROTR price of base cars only.
Options are largely valueless when it comes to trade in too, unless you can stick to one marque and one dealership, then you might be okay (ish).
Best thing to do if not taking GAP and speccing a shed load of options is not write the car off.
I think for most that's an achievable target, but my concern would be uninsured drivers, and theft, of which how you drive makes no difference.
Insurance is all about risk.
Those that self insure take risk and save money, those that insure don't.
I tend to ensure items of value are adequately covered by insurance. House, cars, watches, life. For me, very much better safe than sorry.
Insurers should pay out market value, not book price!! If you do happen to smash your car up, arm yourself with printouts from Autotrader etc of similar spec and mileage cars and don't accept their 1st offer. They should be paying what it costs like for like, but many try and screw you down. I suppose we do it with dealers on price, as every other business does too.
A decent insurer will want to keep you happy, as they'll want you to stay with them and help pay some of the claim back in premium, so just negotiate in a professional manner and you'll be fine.
A decent insurer will want to keep you happy, as they'll want you to stay with them and help pay some of the claim back in premium, so just negotiate in a professional manner and you'll be fine.
Decent insurers when it comes to claims are few and far between.
They will pay market value, but market trade value, where options don't make any difference.
But you lose most of the value of options as soon as you drive it away from the showroom, so Autotrader prices already have that hit or they are overpriced and will likely not sell.
Options are personal choice, with probably only top level sat nav making any difference.
The difference to that rule is an options package such as "Plus" models as adding that package changes the model effectively and therefore the ROTR base price.
AP, LV are filling your head full of mince. Hopefully you never have to find that out.
Yes, I think your spot on there. Autotrader & forecourt prices are all you have to negotiate with though, so use them if required.
Bearing in mind I've seen people paying £250 -£300 a year for their S3 insurance, then I'm really not surprised that people get offered cr$p money in the event of a write off. Those are amazingly cheap premiums, and I'd be concerned at that money!
Not paying that much insurance ! It's all down to risk and if our 3 year old car gets written off and we get offered 20 k settlement and a replacement is 22k so be it . I have no intention of paying £100 a year to reinstate invoice price of 34k.
Thats my thoughts exactly Pilot! But then that's just our opinion, and I appreciate others have differing views which is why forums are generally good reading.
If offered a clearly wrong settlement figure I feel sure my Audi dealer would support a reasonable settlement figure to present to insurers . The ultimate challenge would be to ask the insurer to source a replacement . Evidence usually works in such cases IMHO .
I have GAP insurance on my existing 8P Sportback and will probably take it out on the new 8V I have on order, although not with Audi. It cost me £215 for 3 years cover starting from the end of the first year which is covered by my normal insurance on a car replacement basis. To me the problem is not so much the difference between what the insurance will pay out and the cost of buying a used replacement but the cost of buying another new car as there is no way I would find a used car with anything like the spec I would want. If you buy a car that is the current trend in colour and options buying a similar used one would probably be quite easy, but in my case it would me ordering another new car. Therefore I would need to find the difference between the current value as determined by the insurance company and the cost of another new A3 which could be up to around 50% of the cost of the new one. To me personally, the extra £215 for three years cover on a £26k car is well worth it.
And that is the perfect explanation as to why GAP is a useful product. I'm on a PCP with a large deposit, so I would just order another new one too, but there would be more than enough equity to cover another deposit, hence why I don't require GAP.
As I said before, different needs require different solutions.
I normally buy cars for cash, so havent bothered with GAP before.
However, a business colleague has just had a bad experience having had his E-class written off in an accident - which was a lease car. He lost out when the insurer and lease company disagreed.
On the new S3, I have therefore elected for GAP for the first time. I went with vehicle replacement and wheel/tyre cover.
Interestingly, the clincher was the optional excess cover. It only cost £35 to cover a £500 excess. The saving with my insurer bringing the excess up to £500 was considerably more than this.
Having been in a couple of unpleasant incidents in which insurers were involved (2 aggrevated burglary thefts and a serious accident with car impounded for months) - I don't pi55 about scrimping on insurance.
However, a business colleague has just had a bad experience having had his E-class written off in an accident - which was a lease car. He lost out when the insurer and lease company disagreed.
On the new S3, I have therefore elected for GAP for the first time. I went with vehicle replacement and wheel/tyre cover.
Interestingly, the clincher was the optional excess cover. It only cost £35 to cover a £500 excess. The saving with my insurer bringing the excess up to £500 was considerably more than this.
Having been in a couple of unpleasant incidents in which insurers were involved (2 aggrevated burglary thefts and a serious accident with car impounded for months) - I don't pi55 about scrimping on insurance.
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Which company did you take out your GAP insurance with the Excess cover with?
I also have Excess cover which cost me less than the additional premium for a lower excess.
That is true Dave I doubt there are many around with your spec!!! BUT scenario could be you have Gap insurance and then have to wait 3/6/9 months before your new Silver A3 with 'SE' suspension and quieter music system etc arrives.. what do you do in the meantime? You may just have to get something you do not like or maybe track down one of your old silver A3's and try to buy it back..
I think what we are saying is that folks are happy spending several hundreds of pounds insuring for a total loss that is unlikely to happen and giving the ability to buy a new car (with long delays)... Free to do what you like but I reckon on our various cars (we have a few) we must have saved enough to buy a new A1 :-o
In answer to soulboy.. we don't pi55 about with insurance.. just want good cover appropriate to our needs at a bargain price.
In my particular case I think my wife and myself would share her A1 until a new A3 arrived or if it happened to her, share my A3 until her new A1 arrived. Unless it's for purely driving pleasure I generally only 'have' to go out one day a week and even that I could do from home by phone and email! Better that than spend money on something we don't like or want. I'm always quite happy to wait to get exactly what I want.
If you have a 'few' cars to choose from that it's would be less of a problem and you would need to spend a lot more more to cover them all.
I know where my last two 'Silver A3s with SE suspension' went and I also know that both owners like them so much there is no way they would part with them at the moment.
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flawed logic as its not £400/year
nearer £400 for 3 years which is approx. £130 a year. however you can get it for between 1/3 and half that
what has the yearly premium go to do with the payout. paying more doesn't mean youll get a bigger payout. insurance is a con/complete scam, so is gap. however I will buy gap insurance as ive spent £8-9000 on options
For me Gap Insurance is invaluable for buying a car on finance especially at my age, luckily i found out that my insurance will do new for old in the first year to match, make model and spec, saved me some coins on the gap anyway as now i can defer for a year, saved me £60 anyway. RTI for 3 years insured up too £20000 for £104.
seems cheap but what does that cover - not all gap insurance is the same not even if they are all rti based gap due to T&Cs/restrictions - ala were 220 for £20K on a £40K car
with ala you can get a discount with code vri4434 of 7.5% or go via quidco for 10% off
oops I missed read it though I would be id be surprised if youd get £25K after a year one on a £30K car unless its rare
