GAP INSURANCE

[MYE63]

Hi All

I've just purchased my car E63s Edition 1 and have full comprehensive insurance the insurance company only cover a max of £75K however I've paid slightly over that mark.

I was looking into GAP insurance and there's so many bogus companies out there I just wanted help and advise one the follow

1. Is it worth it
2. Best place to go for GAP insurance
3. Roughly what to be paying for a 2 year period to cover the car on what was paid on invoice

Thanks all much appreciated

 

[st13phil]

Can’t help with (2) or (3) but as to “is it worth it?” the answer is “it depends”.

If you have finance on the vehicle then the answer is almost certainly “yes” because the depreciation on vehicles like this is massive meaning that if it did get written off the probability that the insurance payout won’t fully cover the outstanding finance is high.

Although I didn’t have finance on it, I did take out GAP insurance on my first BMW K1600GT because they also have massive initial depreciation. At 30 months old it was written off when a moron pulled a U-turn across me. The insurance payout was actually below market value, but the GAP policy paid out too meaning that the combined payout was sufficient to fund the purchase of a brand new replacement.

I purchased a GAP policy for the new bike too.

 

[Germgh0st]

Best place to get it is definitely NOT the dealer.

Is it worth it? For peace of mind definitely. Mine cost me somewhere around the £300 mark for 3 years, so cost wise with a car of that value it's pretty much a no brainer, bought it from Insure The Gap.

Check the policy differences and make sure you're getting what you want - I always get a 'return to new' policy which should ensure you get into a new car. 'Return to invoice' may not cover it as list prices go up.

 

[Smart320]

I had gap insurance for my SLK, bought on line , very reasonable cost , much less than the dealers

 

[Smart320]

Used Totalossgapinsurance

 

[Headhurts]

I paid £174.93 for 2 years GAP insurance on my GLC which I paid £46,500 cash for from MotorEasy.

Of course I have no idea how good they are until a claim is made, I thought this to be reasonable.

Robin

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I thought GAP insurances was unnecessary as the insurance company would pay market value in the event of a total loss, and and that would be enough to buy an equivalent car, or I would top up to buy something newer or something else.

That was until I had a car stolen when it was not much more than a year old. I had always bought cars outright up until that point but I leased this one (not PCP). The best my insurer offered was almost £10k beneath Autotrader prices.

That was an uncomfortable time as I was obliged to make up the shortfall between the insurance company pay out and the settlement figure with the finance company. I would therefore never finance a car without GAP insurance.

That said I’ve bought GAP insurance for every new or newish car of any meaningful value ever since, because the cost is relatively small as long as you buy from a specialist broker and not a main dealer (where it costs a fortune for less cover!).

If you buy it from ALA there’s a discount of 12% (using code PISTON12) - see link below - which makes them even better value, assuming that the offer is still valid (has been for years so hopefully so). They seem to have a good reputation too.

Hello from ALA Insurance! - Page 1 - Car Buying - PistonHeads UK

Enjoy your new car!

 

[MYE63]

Thank you all!! Very helpful advise much appreciated

I'll definitely check it out and get it done ASAP

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , purchased GAP insurance from a Mercedes dealer on a 4 year plan. From memory the cost was in the region £400.00 that at the time I thought was good value.

 

[MYE63]

Hi All

I went with Insure The Gap as alot of companies didn't want to cover a car worth over £75,000. It cost me £310.00 for 2 years the cheapest out of thoes who where going to cover the car used a little cheeky topcashback to get 14% off that price so all in all worked out well!

Thank you all for you help much appreciated

 

[Beardz]

Glad, you've managed to source a suitable GAP Insurance policy.

For others reading this thread, one thing I would always advise, make sure the policy is "Back to Invoice". This means that whatever you paid for the vehicle is what you get back should the vehicle be a total loss. So, if you pay £75k and your insurers will only stump up £60k (for example only) then the gap cover will pay the £15k shortfall (regardless of what finance is left to pay, if at all). I wouldn't entertain any cover less than back to invoice.

 

[st13phil]

For others reading this thread, one thing I would always advise, make sure the policy is "Back to Invoice".

"Replacement Vehicle" is even better than RTI (Return to Invoice) if you can get it - and are willing to pay the slightly higher premium - as it covers manufacturer price uplifts too.

FWIW I had a 3-year Replacement Vehicle GAP policy written through Insure the GAP on my K1600GT that was written off last year and it paid in full. The underwriter was Mapfre and the cost (in 2019) was £161

When I came to purchase a GAP policy for my new K1600GT a couple of months ago I learnt that Mapfre had exited the UK motorcycle GAP insurance market and I could find no insurer that still offered a "Replacement Vehicle" policy for motorcycles, so went with an RTI policy instead. That 3-year RTI policy cost me almost £430! (and my previous claim had no bearing on the price). There were a few slightly cheaper policies available, but all had either exclusions unacceptable to me, or were underwritten by unknown companies.

 

[Germgh0st]

Glad, you've managed to source a suitable GAP Insurance policy.

For others reading this thread, one thing I would always advise, make sure the policy is "Back to Invoice". This means that whatever you paid for the vehicle is what you get back should the vehicle be a total loss. So, if you pay £75k and your insurers will only stump up £60k (for example only) then the gap cover will pay the £15k shortfall (regardless of what finance is left to pay, if at all). I wouldn't entertain any cover less than back to invoice.

"Replacement Vehicle" is even better than RTI (Return to Invoice) if you can get it - and are willing to pay the slightly higher premium - as it covers manufacturer price uplifts too.

FWIW I had a 3-year Replacement Vehicle GAP policy written through Insure the GAP on my K1600GT that was written off last year and it paid in full. The underwriter was Mapfre and the cost (in 2019) was £161

When I came to purchase a GAP policy for my new K1600GT a couple of months ago I learnt that Mapfre had exited the UK motorcycle GAP insurance market and I could find no insurer that still offered a "Replacement Vehicle" policy for motorcycles, so went with an RTI policy instead. That 3-year RTI policy cost me almost £430! (and my previous claim had no bearing on the price). There were a few slightly cheaper policies available, but all had either exclusions unacceptable to me, or were underwritten by unknown companies.

As I said above - return to new is always the best policy, prices rise and return to invoice may not get you into a new car

 

[MYE63]

As I said above - return to new is always the best policy, prices rise and return to invoice may not get you into a new car

Unfortunately the companies that did do gap in my car only gave the option of return to invoice! Otherwise I would be super happy with return to new as the price of the car has gone up since I bought it

 

[merc estate]

i used motoreasy dealer wanted around £350, from memory motor easy was £160 for 3 years. That was 2 years ago.

 

[NewbieAMG]

Definitely shop around. A few times I did the math and dealer insurance came out at approx £700 for three years. Their justification was “ours is defacto five star insurance, etc etc”. When you really dig deeper into differences there were really none.

 

[Chuci24]

This is relevant. Will probably go with ala gap. Is return to invoice plus the option to go for? I'm getting a pcp on a 4 Yr deal

 

[Germgh0st]

This is relevant. Will probably go with ala gap. Is return to invoice plus the option to go for? I'm getting a pcp on a 4 Yr deal

I always get return to new. Return to invoice won't necessarily get you into a new car due to rising costs.

 

[markjay]

This is relevant. Will probably go with ala gap. Is return to invoice plus the option to go for? I'm getting a pcp on a 4 Yr deal

I just took out GAP cover for one of the company cars, it's a Skoda Enyaq EV on a 3-year business lease, and the GAP cover from Ala was just over £100. Really a small amount to pay for peace of mind.

 

[Chuci24]

I always get return to new. Return to invoice won't necessarily get you into a new car due to rising costs.

Hmm the only options on ala are vehicle replacement plus and return to invoice plus

What is Back to Invoice Plus GAP Insurance?
This GAP Insurance policy will, in the event of a total loss, pay the difference between the comprehensive insurer’s market value settlement and the original vehicle invoice price or the finance settlement figure, whichever is higher at the time.