Insurance Claim / GAP cover for stolen car

[ferris]

I'm afrer a bit of advice if anyone out there can help me.
I bought a new S3 last June 09 for £25,800 ( i got a 10% discount)
It was stolen in July 10 with approx 7k miles on the clock. I have an insurance policy with 1st Direct and a GAP policy with Surf & Protect.
I thought i would be entitled to what i paid for the car from the 2 insurance companies, however, 1st direct have offered me £23,300 (even though an 09 plate are still between £24.5 and £25k) which i haven't accepted.
I told the GAP people and they said they go on the Glass's guide and the car was worth £26.5k when stolen so if i accepted 1st direct's offer, they wouldn't pay any money out.
I have forwarded the Glass's info to 1st direct. What are the chances of them upping their offer and if i'm still not happy what can i do about it? And is there any other advice anyine can offer me?

 

[akash_sky1]

I thought GAP insurance should pay the market value? sorry about your loss mate

 

[jungleman]

I thought gap paid the difference between Market value and what you paid. Or so I was told by audi.

 

[Jamiekip]

Depends what GAP policy you took out?
Return to Value
Return to Invoice
Vehicle Replacement

 

[sub39h]

sorry to hear that mate. hope you get it sorted. this is kinda the reason why i didn't get Gap cover - i thought there might be a catch somewhere.

 

[WelshWoody83]

Yeah I had something like this happen a few months back, my car wasnt stolen but written off. I had the return to invoice Gap insurance. Im insured with Tesco and had Gap insurance through Auto Trader, AMA or something? Anyway Tesco gave me a quote for the car after inspecting it which I accepted, called the GAP people who told me Tesco undervalued it and were a bit pee`d off about it but at the end of the day thats what they are there for. Had the full value of the invoice back minus two charges which pee`d me off from the GAP people, first a £498 refferal fee and then a £506 ADMIN fee? so over a grand in pointless fees....
What Im trying to say though is like someone above said, if its return to invoice like mine then youll get back what you paid. If its market value you should get more than you paid as thats what its value. As for replacement then its what it costs to replace but if i remember correctly they only go up to a certain amount whatever happens, like mine was for a maximum of £25k

 

[Scott]

I'm not sure what to suggest mate but gutted to hear it's still on going. Financial Ombudsman next?

 

[kirsty76]

when i had my car written off i just had ordinary insurance i was offered a price which i did not agree with at all, the insurance company then advised me if i can find cars that are the same spec as mine and mileage for a dearer price they will be willing to give me more money as they have to give you enough money to be able to buy the exact same car again in your area as i live in a dear area for cars this worked out better. so i looked through ebay putting in my spec starting with nearest and dearest cars and found ones that were at least 1k more than what they were offering i then printed these out and sent them to the insurance company and they offered me a price that was the same as the dearest cars i had found.

 

[Cmann78]

I'm afrer a bit of advice if anyone out there can help me.
I bought a new S3 last June 09 for £25,800 ( i got a 10% discount)
It was stolen in July 10 with approx 7k miles on the clock. I have an insurance policy with 1st Direct and a GAP policy with Surf & Protect.
I thought i would be entitled to what i paid for the car from the 2 insurance companies, however, 1st direct have offered me £23,300 (even though an 09 plate are still between £24.5 and £25k) which i haven't accepted.
I told the GAP people and they said they go on the Glass's guide and the car was worth £26.5k when stolen so if i accepted 1st direct's offer, they wouldn't pay any money out.
I have forwarded the Glass's info to 1st direct. What are the chances of them upping their offer and if i'm still not happy what can i do about it? And is there any other advice anyine can offer me?

PM me or post the details/spec for your car and i'll get you an actual Glass's guide value as the one available to Joe public is different to the one Ins Co's use. (If you read the small print on GG ont t'interweb it says can not be used for insurance valuations....).

AFAIK Gap generally covers difference between current list price and amount outstanding on finance. i.e. if you've got 26k left on finance and 1st Direct offer you £24k Gap cover cough up the £2k deficit. As stated before though it does depend on what type of Gap cover you have.

 

[ferris]

Thanks for the replies.
The car was an 09 S3 3 door in metallic black with rear parking sensor, light & rain sensor pack, bose speakers and ipod dock. Bought JUne 09 and stolen in Jul 10 with approx £7k miles on it.
The GAP policy is called GAP insurance Plus+ and says they will pay the difference between the insured value and the purchase price or if greater, the amount of the finance early settlement figure. If the net invoice selling price exceeds glass's guide retail value the insurer reserves the right to adjust the claimed amount to reflect the actual market value of the vehicle at time of purchase.
Either way, i feel i've been stithced up by 1st direct for offereing me too low an amount (i've gone back to them with a glass's guide figure and showed them details of a similar car on ebay) and also by the GAP people. Seems completely pointless having a GAP pilicy to me.
It also says on the GAP policy that if the insured accepts an offer from the insurance company of less than the market value of the vehicle, the insurer (Surf & Protect) reservces the right to calculate the losss at the current market value of the vehicle according to the glass's guide at the time of loss.
Hope that's clear!

 

[Cmann78]

Assuming its a manual i have:

Glass code; TNLW @ 16K MILES
RETAIL £26075 + 495 FOR MILEAGE = £26570
TRADE £24075 + 495 FOR MILEAGE = £24570

The option you specified are classed as 'non-valued options' so do increase the value in any way.

This would indicate that the GAP people are correct and 1st Direct are chancing it, hoping they can pay out less. If you car has not been found and they cannot justify a reduction in Pre-Accident value and you went F.O.S. they would probably end up paying full retail.

Also try and get some other valuations from CAP and Parkers as if it does go FOS (Financial Ombudsmen Service) they will take an average of all the guide values and award you that figure.

I would suggest Parkers value your car differently:

Used car valuation

Audi A3 S3 (06 on)

S3 Quattro (08) 3d 2009/09

Original Price£27,135 Franchised Dealer£22,520 Independent Dealer£22,100 Private Good £21,475 Private Poor £18,350 Part Exchange£20,225 Adjust for mileage and options for an accurate price.
Average mileage10,000

All I can suggest is gather as many examples as you can (preferably from main dealer as they have more 'weight' than auction sites), stand your ground and refuse to accept their offer until its something both you, and the GAP company can agree to. Alternatively just say you aren't accepting the value and leave the GAP people to fight it out with 1st Direct themselves...

 

[ferris]

As a tip for everyone, when you get your car insured in it's 2nd year, don't under insure it! Because i said the vale of the car was £24k in it's 2nd year, that is the price they are paying out on it, even though i couldn't buy a year old S3 for that sort of money.
Basically i've cost myself £2k by saying it was worth £24k instead of £26k! The GAP people won't pay out as they go on what the car is worth. Farce