VJ_STi

iTrader: (1)

What are peoples opinions on GAP insurance. The one I am being offered is £495 for 3 years, this would pay out the difference between what my normal insurance would pay out in the event of a write off and the original purchase price (£17K).

Over to you guys for opinions.

jho!

With the value of used scoobs falling fast, if you have bought the car on some sort of finace a total loss could result in you having no car and the insurance company paying out less than you owe.

I personally would allways buy GAP insurance, however, £495 is a bit high you should be able to neogotiate and get for £350 to £395. It cost's a dealer les than £200.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

buy it but not from the dealer, do some research and you will get better cover than they are offering for a lot less pennies spent

VJ_STi

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, had a quick search and found it for about £250ish for 4 years.

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

Check with your insurance company as well, they might do it. . . . less hassle as well in the event of a payout

VJ_STi

iTrader: (1)

The car insurance is due up in a week or so anyway so a good idea, thanks .

Don't you just love scoobynet, always full of help and great advice.

R 14NS R

as above really, i would go for gap, however do try to get it from your own insurer, i did mine through norwich union.

i had a customer when i worked for peugeot, bought a 307cc on cheap pcp finance with low deposit ( about £500), car was about 22k, was written off four months down the line, insurance co paid out 17k, settlement on finance was about 21k, so no car and owed about 4k.

worth doing it but check the max payouts as there are different values/amounts of cover.

RyanSTI

iTrader: (1)

yer its a really good product to have, that price isa little bit on the high side, but its defo worth it

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Its not necessary tbh, the only real reason to take it out is to cover the loss of a car though a total right off, and the only reason you will need it is if you have taken out a huge loan to cover the car, otherwise its not worth it.

Tony

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

OK so say the car is 20k, and at 3 yrs old it gets stolen.

Insurance co. pay out market value (prob 8k in current market give or take)

Gap pays 12k (assuming you've got retail price gap) you got 20k to go out and buy a new car.

My wife has it on her beetle cab, and that's not financed . . . .

VJ_STi

iTrader: (1)

The one being offered is 'Retail price Gap' and no there is not a huge amount on finance only about £5k, but having had a look on the net it looks like I should be able to get this for less than £300 and upto 4 years which is far better.

But as RJM25R said if the gap insurance pays out you effectively have the same amount again to go out and buy a new car should the worst happen, and this is all insurance is for anyway.....'IF the worst happens'

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I had GAP on my second scoob that was written off and well worth the pennies. I got it free as a deal when bought it new

Note

1) Two forms of GAP one pays the diffference between Invoice of Car bougt and the insurance payout.

If PPP etc fitted after invoice, don't quibble with main insurance as this won't be include in final payout ammount.

eg. As PPP was not on the Invoice Price £26K insurance £15K GAP would pay £11K. so I argued and got an extra £1K for PPP from my insurers, that takes time and got £16K but GAP just payed out £10K.

(if you settle to low with main insurers, GAP can deduct that from the difference).

So remove everything, put back to "Invoice" condition

2) GAP on the finance which just covers the amount left on your loan, not as good value IMHO

3)If you take out GAP by shopping around, it MUST be taken out no later than a month or so after you bought it. Check with GAP company first or they won't let you join

IMHO IIRC

Tony

Phil Harrison

Hi Tony,
Long time no see/hear, mainly 'cos the Scoob is now alas long gone, and I tune in only occasionally to ask a question on the computer board.

I had GAP on the X-Trail which replaced the Sti (Diesel; tows horses; economic decision coupled with increasing age!) and had the misfortune to write it off with 6 months to go. So an extra Nine grand (unexpected 'cos I had at first forgotten I even had the GAP) came as a most welcome surpise. Paid £299 for it on a £20K car, tho'. Insured by Pinnacle, claim handled promptly.

It does seem to present an open invitation to fraud tho' - get a new car every three years for the cost of inflation on the new-car price? However, running into the back of someone is no-one's choice of ensuring a write-off!!

Trust you've not been running wide on any more trackdays......

Cheers

Phil

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

You do understand that with GAP insurance they make a considerable gain and not a loss dont you?
It wouldnt be offered otherwise
Now you sell your car after 3 years and presto, your out of pocket, thats for the majority (99%) of people who take gap insurance out, as I have stated, its not worth it.

Tony

Brun

Of course they make a gain - the amount of people who take out Gap against the amount who claim i'm guessing is huge.
What i don't get Tony is - how can it not be worth it? If for instance you bought a car for £30k cash and you wrote it off after a couple of years and your ins co only paid out £14k, at what exact point is spending £300 for Gap not worth £16k?????

R 14NS R

gap is the same as any insurance product, if you need it, best thing in the world, if you dont then its there as piece of mind.

for the sake of £2 per week over the 3 years, which could save you money, as any insurance is there for, why would you not have it? especialy when more and more cars are being written off because of spirraling labour costs.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

When was the last time you wrote your car off?
Oh and read the small print very carefully modify the car in anyway from the manufacturers specification and presto! no longer covered

Tony

as355f1

RTI is Better (return to invoice) they give you back the original amount you paid for the car, so say you paid 30k for your car after 3 years its stolen and your insurance pays market value of say 15k the rti insurance pays you the other £15k

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

Phil I looked there for my latest scoob but there is a time limit once youve bought it, and I was just too late

The bugeye STI was my very first new Car and love it to bits

Phil long time no see hows things with you?

Gosh that was 2004!!! Yes still doing trackdays and keeping it on the black stuff, more luck than judgment LOL

Tony

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

I work for VW mate, I sell gap for a living! It's like any insurance. It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it!

My scoob is only worth £4k at best, but I still pay £600 to cover it fully comp when 3rd party would only be £400. . . .

ALL insurance is a profit-making exercise, of course. The way it works is related to risk. Obviously, thats why women are cheaper to insure than men, because they write off cars less often than blokes do.

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

Not necessarily true. Our gap will still cover you, but ONLY for the the retail price of the car, NOT any accessories or modifications/ / /

EG, £25k GTI, go and fit £2000 wheels/£1000 exhaust, and if it ends up a total loss, you cannot get more than £25k back from insurance/gap. . . . .

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Not really a comparison as 3rd party means your onto a loss anyway, hence fully comp is better (and that 400-600 quid, damn who are you with! about 20 quid difference here )

GAP is not worth it in most cases, to start with i would only get it on a new car, IF i intend to keep that new car for over 3 years, in the first year of ownership your insurance co, should you have an accident will pay out the full value of the car, but still no need for gap, plus your now looking at 2 differences here, your insurance policy and their terms and conditions, and the gap insurance co's terms and conditions, both can be totally different.
For instance, you go take your car on the track, you have it insured with your main company for xxx and trackdays, the gap insurance states that if you race/rally/time trials/track your car and crash it, they wont pay out, you unfortunately crash the car, and thinking they will pay out they wont
leaving you out of pocket and fuming (hence you should read the small print very carefully )

Gap insurance is a bit of a rip off really, you may as well get life insurance, atleast that pays out in the end

Tony

R 14NS R

very few insurance companies pay out the invoice price for the first year, some do for the first 3 months, i have had a number of customers who have had cars written off upto 6 months into ownership and been screwed by insurace companies, where i have written letters to their insurance companies to show that their valuation is not even close to even market value of an equivalent car.

the insurance company is a business so obviously wants to pay out as little (or none at all, gap or regular car insurance) as possible in any circumstance, if they come back with a tiny amount our gap company argues the case for you to get more money from them too, stopping you having to argue with your insurance company to get more, as their experts do it.

as i said before under £200 (what i paid), about £1 per week over 3 years is good cover for what, for most people is is their second biggest outlay.

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

Please don't take this the wrong way, I do mean this with the utmost respect intended

I work for VW mate, I sell gap every day so trust me when I say I know more about it than you do! I have it on my wifes car because she will keep it for 3 years and trade it in. I want security that IF the worst happens, she gets the full £16k back that she paid for the car.

She covers 3,000 miles a year and the car is valeted twice a week with Autoglym products, not smoked in and treated like a baby. The insurance company (in the event of a total loss) will look in glass's guide and offer her average condition value for it.

The only conditions with the return-to-invoice GAP that she has are:

The insurance pay out their quota, and that she doesn't accept a lowball bid, and the limit is £10,000 gap (but a beetle cab at 3 years wil retain 48-52% of it's original price, not that the insurance company would offer that first of all!)

As far as 3rd party/fully comp, it's a risk assessment just the same. I have 12 years without a claim, but I won't risk going 3rd party even though that would save me money..............


My wife has never written a car off, but I insisted she still had gap. . . .

IF you did my job, and had ever sat with a customer who'd saved to buy their dream car and had it written off, only to find that the insurance are paying them a pittance, maybe you'd see it my way. Until then, you'll only see it as a money making opportunity.

RJM25R

iTrader: (1)

Oh, and anybody who thinks gap would pay them on a track day wants their head examining! The risk on a track day is so much higher than on the road!

I'd be interested to know if anyone had ever managed to secure a trackday payout anyway (even if they'd paid an extra premium, you usually find there's a very high excess)

Gary C

I had my 3 1/2 year old STi stolen, Direct line paid £12000 the GAP paid £10000

£22000 for a 3 1/2 year old car........Humm, obviously not worth it

Its fairly cheap compared to the price of a new car, and if you use it, its wonderful, if you don't it pales into insignificance compared to the road insurance.

Gary C

See above

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

I used to get seperate Track Insurance which did have high excess

I did my road insurance with L&V, did and still does cover me on the Track or road. I also know another who had same insurance and Paid out on a P1.

YouTube - STi SUBARU CRASH JAPFEST 2004 ALL LAPS

The car crashed on the Saturday japfest 2004, a driver improvement day . Insurance was fully aware that it was done on Track and not "Up the road"

By the Wednesday , insurance assessor agreed the £9-10K repair costs and Friday Insurance gave Paint shop permission to go ahead and order parts a Top service by L&V, complete with curtousy Car. The car was fully repaired but 10 months later totalled in a RTA where GAP payed out

Paid my £500 excess and have Full Protected NCB

Tony

IIRC since these two track payouts I believe L&V no longer cover Trackdays on new Policies

IMHO if My isurance agreed to write it off and payout on that driver improvement day I'd been covered by GAP , I fully read the small print in the book just incase