Can you give me a better deal?

[20vKarlos]

Just purchased GAP through Progress Skoda Northampton, price was £399

What can you do for me?

Bought the car this week

Price of my car was £13,700

Registered Janurary 2013

Look forward to your reply!

Karlos

Edited 8 November, 2015 by 20vKarlos

[LGM]

Just purchased GAP through Progress Skoda Northampton, price was £399

What can you do for me?

Bought the car this week

Price of my car was £13,700

Registered Janurary 2013

Look forward to your reply!

Karlos

Get that refunded right away! It will be atleast half the price of that!

Mine was £68.

[David@GAPInsurance]

Just purchased GAP through Progress Skoda Northampton, price was £399

What can you do for me?

Bought the car this week

Price of my car was £13,700

Registered Janurary 2013

Look forward to your reply!

Karlos

 

 

£399, is insane!

 

For the sake of a comparison, I'm assuming their policy is a 3yr Invoice GAP insurance policy with what they claim is an "unlimited" Claim Limit.

 

I can do the same for £78.99 (all inclusive) note though that you wouldn't normally require such a high Claim Limit and also that other durations and claim limits are available (note that since LGM bought their policy, IPT (Insurance Premium Tax) has increased from 6% to 9.5% so there's a minor increase in cost since then).

 

As an alternative, we can also offer you a superior (than Invoice GAP insurance) Replacement GAP insurance policy (see links below) for £109.78 based on the same duration and Claim Limit (again, wouldn't normally require such a high Claim Limit and that different durations and Claim Limits are available).

 

To see more about our Invoice GAP insurance policy, see here.

To see more about our Replacement GAP insurance policy, see here.

To see the terms and conditions of either, see here.

 

If you're interested, we recently had a dispute with a SKODA salesman who took offence at our "Your motor dealer will rip you off for GAP insurance" adverts on Facebook - we compared our policy with the official SKODA policy... click here to see how that went :-)

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

Just to let you know that we offer a product called Total Loss Protection. Whilst it's not exactly the same as our traditional Gap insurance we feel it can offer a cost effective alternative. If you'd like any further details at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[Huskoda]

I paid just over £100 for 4 years return to invoice on my Subaru.

 

Never, ever, ever let the dealer sell you gap insurance.

Edited 10 November, 2015 by Huskoda

[David@GAPInsurance]

 

Hi,

Just to let you know that we offer a product called Total Loss Protection. Whilst it's not exactly the same as our traditional Gap insurance we feel it can offer a cost effective alternative. If you'd like any further details at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

 

 

Dan,

 

Having looked at your website here and the policy booklet here, I think it's stretching it a bit to suggest that your Total Loss policy is a "cost effective" alternative.  Granted it's not entirely clear, but your website states that your Total Loss policy premium is based on what the customer would pay for their Car Insurance and if, for example, the Car Insurance premium was up to £500 the cost of your Total Loss policy is stated as £36.99. However the inference (with Car Insurance premiums being an annual thing) is that this would be £36.99 per year (possibly more in subsequent years if a Car Insurance claim resulted in a higher premium at the point of renewal).

 

Let's assume for a second that it is £36.99 per year, that's £110.97 for a 3-year duration, compared to my quote 3 posts back for a 3-year Invoice GAP insurance policy £31.98 cheaper at £78.99. In fact it'd be cheaper still because I forgot to deduct the 10% forum-member discount so the actual price to Karlos would be £39.88 cheaper at £71.09

 

Assuming I'm wrong and it's actually just £36.99 for 3 years cover... it doesn't detract from the fact that it's a considerably inferior policy to an Invoice GAP insurance policy.  With an Invoice GAP insurance policy, the potential gap (the difference between a Motor Insurance payout and the original invoice price) increases over time specifically because the older the vehicle gets the less a Motor Insurer would be willing to pay out in the event of a Total Loss claim, therefore the potential payout from an Invoice GAP insurance policy increases over time... your Total Loss Protection however is quite the opposite due to the fact that it pays out 25% of the amount paid by the Motor Insurer - which, is an amount that decreases over time.

 

Confusion over the pricing and duration aside (perhaps you could clarify?) what you're offering is indeed an alternative option, but let's be clear.... the two policies offer considerably different levels of cover with Invoice GAP insurance clearly being the superior of the two.

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

Our Total Loss Protection policy runs for a period of 12 months. As you rightly point our the premiums is dependent on your car insurance premium so it may not be competitive for every risk. We just offer it as an alternative type of insurance. I agree it's not a direct comparison to traditional GAP policies.

Regards,

Dan.

[Banjaminion]

Never had gap insurance before, i would be grateful if members could suggest a few companies i can phone to give me a quote.

 

Thanks

[LGM]

No need to ring around, speak to David above (gap insurance). Got an absolute cracker from them, paid £68 for 3 years. He even had the courtesy to message me back saying I'm a freedom member so get 10% off and refunded me the difference.

[David@GAPInsurance]

Never had gap insurance before, i would be grateful if members could suggest a few companies i can phone to give me a quote.

 

Thanks

 

Give us a call on 01943 850999.  We're more than happy to discuss the circumstances of your purchase, educate you as to how either of our policies will potentially assist you and provide you with numerous options to consider.

No pressure nor obligation on you.  Just an honest, friendly service with great prices for some of (if not *the*) best GAP insurance policies you can buy.

[Banjaminion]

Thank you, I will give you a call one evening this week, apologies in advance for any silly questions.

 

Thanks

[David@GAPInsurance]

Thank you, I will give you a call one evening this week, apologies in advance for any silly questions.

 

Thanks

 

In this game, there's no such thing as silly questions. A somewhat recent study determined that >90% of the UK car-buying public have never heard of GAP insurance and as a result, we get asked the same questions day in/out.  But we enjoy what we do and we do it well :-)

[Radu75dinamo]

Hello Dan

 

I saw you're a specialist in here, about GAP insurance policy... Please help me with an answer....

I bought online a GAP policy from GapInsurance123...my car is a Superb 2.0 TDI L&K (first reg April 2015)..I use this car as taxi (private hire vehicle)...I wanted this policy for 4 years and £10000 claim limit...This policy is a normal one, not invoice or replacement, with deposit protect...

What I didn't understand, when they quoted me the price was £198,35 (£35 included for deposit protection)....and when I paid (online, by debit card) the price was £140 !!! Not bad, but... Are they real? Did you here about them? Was weird for me to ask for a price and pay other one!

 

Many thanks in advance for your help,

Radu

[David@GAPInsurance]

Hello Dan

 

I saw you're a specialist in here, about GAP insurance policy... Please help me with an answer....

I bought online a GAP policy from GapInsurance123...my car is a Superb 2.0 TDI L&K (first reg April 2015)..I use this car as taxi (private hire vehicle)...I wanted this policy for 4 years and £10000 claim limit...This policy is a normal one, not invoice or replacement, with deposit protect...

What I didn't understand, when they quoted me the price was £198,35 (£35 included for deposit protection)....and when I paid (online, by debit card) the price was £140 !!! Not bad, but... Are they real? Did you here about them? Was weird for me to ask for a price and pay other one!

 

Many thanks in advance for your help,

Radu

 

GapInsurance123.co.uk is a competitor of ours.  It's one of a number of trading styles of Aequitas Automotive who sell GAP insurance via the likes of EasyGap.co.uk and Shortfall.co.uk.   They've been around for a fair while and are reputable.

 

In terms of your reference to "Deposit Protection" it sounds like you have a Finance/Contract Hire GAP insurance policy.  Now, there's nothing too unusual about a discrepancy between prices when you seek out quotes online compared to over the phone etc (which I assume is what you're referring to) but, for there to be such a difference I'd suggest that you were either quoted wrong initially (more likely) or, you've bought the wrong type of policy for your circumstances (less likely, but certainly possible).

 

The only way you're conclusively going to get to the bottom of that though would be to speak to GapInsurance123 directly and raise your concerns with them.

 

Best wishes

 

David

[Radu75dinamo]

GapInsurance123.co.uk is a competitor of ours.  It's one of a number of trading styles of Aequitas Automotive who sell GAP insurance via the likes of EasyGap.co.uk and Shortfall.co.uk.   They've been around for a fair while and are reputable.

 

In terms of your reference to "Deposit Protection" it sounds like you have a Finance/Contract Hire GAP insurance policy.  Now, there's nothing too unusual about a discrepancy between prices when you seek out quotes online compared to over the phone etc (which I assume is what you're referring to) but, for there to be such a difference I'd suggest that you were either quoted wrong initially (more likely) or, you've bought the wrong type of policy for your circumstances (less likely, but certainly possible).

 

The only way you're conclusively going to get to the bottom of that though would be to speak to GapInsurance123 directly and raise your concerns with them.

 

Best wishes

 

David

Hi David

 

Thanks again for your very prompt answer! I never speak with somebody from Gapinsurance123, only quoted online, their price £198,35, I accepted this price, tapped "buy" button...then payment page, with new price of £140... That was it! But I think you're right and maybe I have to call them and see why was that...

 

Wish you all the best!

Radu

[David@GAPInsurance]

Hi David

 

Thanks again for your very prompt answer! I never speak with somebody from Gapinsurance123, only quoted online, their price £198,35, I accepted this price, tapped "buy" button...then payment page, with new price of £140... That was it! But I think you're right and maybe I have to call them and see why was that...

 

Wish you all the best!

Radu

 

That's very curious then... definitely speak to them and ensure you're covered correctly.

 

Regards

 

David

[OCScene]

Hi, I've got a Superb on order which I am going to be leasing over 24 months. Is there any form of GAP type insurance that would cover the cost of the car and my lease payments over 2 years should the car be in a major accident?

[David@GAPInsurance]

Hi, I've got a Superb on order which I am going to be leasing over 24 months. Is there any form of GAP type insurance that would cover the cost of the car and my lease payments over 2 years should the car be in a major accident?

Hello OCScene,

 

The below advice is based upon an assumption that by "leasing" you're referring to a Contract Hire agreement under which you have no contractual option to purchase the vehicle and NOT a PCP agreement under which you have the option to pay a final lump sum in order to keep the vehicle should you elect to do so.  If it IS a PCP agreement... my advice would be very different.

 

Assuming the above is in order, read on

 

Firstly, you need to check the terms of your Lease Agreemet to see if you actually need GAP insurance because it's not always the case that you do... the reason, is as follows:

 

In the event of your vehicle becoming a Total Loss, your finance company will calculate the remaining balance of the agreement.  This will be the combined sum of what they believe the vehicle to be worth and the as yet unpaid monthly rentals.

Your Motor Insurance will then pay (directly to the finance company) the amount that they (your motor insurer) believe your car to be worth.  This will either be sufficient to clear the remaining balance of the Contract Hire Agreement (and if so *some* finance houses will refund you the surplus funds) OR it will fall short of clearing the remaining balance.

If it falls short, the terms of your Contract Hire Agreement will require you to pay one of the following:

1. ALL of the remaining balance
2. SOME of the remaining balance
3. NONE of the remaining balance

Clearly you would have a greater need for GAP insurance if you're liable for ALL of the remaining balance (1), but no need for GAP insurance at all if the finance house would take your Motor Insurer's payout and allow you to walk away (3).

You should therefore check the terms of your lease carefully in order to determine if you actually need GAP insurance.

 

As for what policy you need... strictly speaking you need a Contract Hire GAP insurance policy which, in the event of your vehicle being written off will pay the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the amount required to settle the remaining balance of the Contract Hire Agreement. 

 

In our case, we chose to merge our Invoice and Contract Hire GAP insurance policies in to one document in so much that if you're leasing the vehicle and it's subsequently written off, our policy will pay the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the Contact Hire agreement settlement figure, but if you bought the vehicle (cash or finance) and it's written off it'll pay the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the original invoice price.

 

Albeit somewhat confusingly, we decided (because we cover far more vehicles that are being purchased, than leased) to leave our policy with the name of "Invoice GAP insurance".

 

• Read more about Invoice GAP insurance here.
• Read the current Key Facts document here.
• Read the current full policy wordings here.

 

If I can be of any further assistance, please ask.

 

Best wishes

 

David

[OCScene]

That's fab info, thanks very much. Ill look into my small print but will certainly come to you for some insurance once I have a delivery date for the car. Thanks again

[AirborneVRS]

Hi David,

I am going to be taking delivery of a new Octavia VRS in a few weeks (hopefully).

I have purchased it through a dealer (who did try to sell me Skoda GAP insurance) and I am paying it off on the PCP plan over 3.5 years.

Which is the best GAP insurance to purchase from you?

Thank in advance.

Seb

[David@GAPInsurance]

That's fab info, thanks very much. Ill look into my small print but will certainly come to you for some insurance once I have a delivery date for the car. Thanks again

 

Just noticed your location OCScene!  We're only in Otley ourselves! :-)  Just give us a shout when you're ready to discuss further.

 

Hi David,

I am going to be taking delivery of a new Octavia VRS in a few weeks (hopefully).

I have purchased it through a dealer (who did try to sell me Skoda GAP insurance) and I am paying it off on the PCP plan over 3.5 years.

Which is the best GAP insurance to purchase from you?

Thank in advance.

Seb

 

Hi Seb,

 

You'd have the choice of either Invoice or Replacement GAP insurance and as for which is best... Replacement GAP insurance is technically superior of the two, but it really depends what you want to get out of the GAP insurance in the event of a claim.

 

In the event of your vehicle being written off (accident, fire, theft, flood etc), they work as follows:

 

Invoice GAP insurance

 

Pays the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the greater of either:

• The amount outstanding on finance at the time of claim OR
• The original invoice price that you paid for the vehicle (AFTER discount).

Replacement GAP insurance

 

Pays the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the greater of either:

• The amount outstanding on finance at the time of claim OR
• The original invoice price that you paid for the vehicle (AFTER discount).
• What it would cost at the time of claim to replace the vehicle with a brand new version of the same (or nearest equivalent) vehicle.

 

If you DID NOT get any discount off the manufacturer's RRP (list price) there's potentially not too much between the two policies other than the potential for the list price of the new equivalent to increase over time (which the Replacement GAP insurance policy would track), but if you DID get a discount off the manufacturer's list price, it's usually the case that Replacement GAP insurance is the best policy hands down!

 

Out of interest:

• What is the full list price of the vehicle according to the manufacturer's price list (including factory and/or dealer fitted extras)?
• How much are you paying for the vehicle AFTER discount but BEFORE p/x allowance, deposit and/or finance & interest charges?
• What is the sum of the final repayment due at the end of the PCP term?

Best wishes

 

David

Edited 25 February, 2016 by David@GAPInsurance

[AirborneVRS]

Hi David,

Thanks for replying so quickly. That does help.

Please find the answers to your questions below:

1. £25745.00 (but I'm hoping to get some other retro-fitted at dealers due to very fast processing).

2. £22348.00.

3. £9890.00 (approx because I cant find the paperwork currently) after 3.5 year term.

If it's any help, I will be payingthe monthly amount along with saving enough per month extra that will accumulate to pay off the final sum.

[David@GAPInsurance]

Hi David,

Thanks for replying so quickly. That does help.

Please find the answers to your questions below:

1. £25745.00 (but I'm hoping to get some other retro-fitted at dealers due to very fast processing).

2. £22348.00.

3. £9890.00 (approx because I cant find the paperwork currently) after 3.5 year term.

If it's any help, I will be payingthe monthly amount along with saving enough per month extra that will accumulate to pay off the final sum.

 

Sorry for the delay Seb.

 

Based on the figures above then...

 

POLICY TYPES:

 

in the event of your vehicle being written off during the policy term, our policies would work as follows:

 

Invoice GAP insurance

 

Would pay the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the greater of either:

• The amount outstanding on finance at the time of claim, OR
• The original purchase price of £22,348

Replacement GAP insurance

 

Would pay the difference between your Motor Insurance payout and the greater of either:

• The amount outstanding on finance at the time of claim, OR
• The original purchase price of £22,348, OR
• The cost of replacing the vehicle at the time of claim with a brand new version of the same (or nearest equivalent) vehicle again.  Unless the retail price drops over time, we know this will be a figure of £25,745 or higher.

In either case, both policies (after clearing any finance that was outstanding at the time of claim) would see any excess funds being paid to you.  You would then be able to use those funds against the cost of any vehicle from any dealership of your choice.  E.g. they'd be your funds to dispose of as you saw fit.

 

POLICY DURATION

 

You mention that your PCP agreement is for 3.5 years, but you clearly demonstrate an appetite for keeping the car at the end of the term too. In which case I'd recommend that you to a policy providing cover for at least 4-years of depreciation.  Basically... we can only provide cover for whole years, but if there is a good chance that you will keep the vehicle past the end of the PCP term, this could work to your advantage... if you purchase only 3 year cover, the policy will potentially (see below about the ability to defer the GAP policy start date) end before the end of the PCP term concludes and a write-off event at that time would have the potential to see you lose out to a financial liability with the finance company.  However if you purchase 4-year cover, the duration of the policy will clearly exceed the term of the PCP agreement - but that's no bad thing if you intend to keep the vehicle longer than the PCP term!

 

Ultimately however, whatever policy duration you purchase... if you sell the vehicle before the policy ends, we'd cancel the policy, generate a daily-pro-rata rebate of unused premium and then you'd be able to either claim that back as a refund or carry it forward against the cost of a new policy on a new vehicle - no cancellation, admin or transfer fees would apply either way.

 

POLICY START DATE

 

If this vehicle is brand new and you are to be the first registered keeper, it's possible that you already have  form of GAP insurance by way of your Motor Insurance policy through what's commonly referred to as "New-For-Old" cover.  In principle this means that if your vehicle was written off before it was one year old, the motor insurer would aim to replace the vehicle with a brand new equivalent at the time of claim.

 

Note though that it's not all plain sailing because whilst the New-For-Old cover from some Motor Insurer's is really very good, some really aren't very good at all.  Read this blog article here for guidance on what red flags to watch out for.

 

If you DO have New-For-Old cover from your Motor Insurer and (having read the guidance in my blog article above) you're happy that the cover provided by it is sufficient, we would permit you to elect to delay the start date of the GAP insurance policy by up to 12 months from when the vehicle was first registered.  This would be a no-cost option too!  This means that you could potentially end up with a 3-year policy that actually covers you for years 2, 3, and 4... OR... if you really wanted to work it to your advantage  4-year policy that ends up covering you for years 2, 3, 4 and 5.

 

If nothing else, if your Motor Insurer offers New-For-Old cover but it's not quite sufficient cover for the whole 12 months (I can explain more to you in due course about why/how this may be the case) it might be that you simply take the opportunity to defer by just 6-months, in which case could end up with a 3-year policy which ends up covering you only up and until the end of your PCP term.

 

RENEWALS

 

Whatever policy duration you purchase, we will give you the ability to renew that policy upon expiry, for a further 12 or 24 months.

 

CLAIM LIMIT

 

The purpose of asking for those figures was because with it being a PCP agreement, knowing what residual value the finance company has predicted of the vehicle gives us a good indication of where we need to set the GAP insurance policy Claim Limit.

 

To clarify, the "Claim Limit" refers to the most that our policy would be prepared to pay (in addition to that which you receive from your Motor Insurer) towards either the original purchase price (Invoice GAP insurance) or the full replacement price (Replacement GAP insurance).

 

In terms of an Invoice GAP insurance policy, we take the purchase price that you're paying for the vehicle (£22,348) and deduct from that, the residual value predicted by the finance company (£9,890) the difference equates to £12,458.  The inference therefore is that in the event of a claim occurring just before the end of the PCP term, an Invoice GAP insurance policy would need to be paying you circa £12,458 in order to get you back up to the original purchase price.  This being the case my recommendation would be that you take a £12,500 Claim Limit as a minimum, though with their predicted depreciation figure being so close you may wish to up it to £15,000 for belt and braces on the grounds that it wouldn't be so impossible for you to require more than £12,500 to cover the entire "gap" that *could* occur.

 

In terms of Replacement GAP insurance we do much the same calculation, but this time starting with today's full list price (£25,745), deduct the residual value (£9,890) and we end up with a figure of £15,855.  The inference being that if a claim was to occur just before the end of the PCP term, a Replacement GAP insurance policy would need to be paying you circa £15,855 to get you back up to at least today's list price, but of course this doesn't take in to account that the list price at the time of claim could be higher!  My suggestion therefore would be that a £17,500 Claim Limit should be the minimum you consider, though again, for a belt-and-braces approach £20,000 as the Claim Limit may be prudent.

 

PRICES

 

The bit you've been waiting for! :-)

 

Based on all the above, we could offer you the following policies. Note that the prices below are for a policy covering the entire stated duration and are all-inclusive.  As mentioned above, you may choose to have a policy start immediately on the day you take ownership of the vehicle or elect to delay the start date (at no extra cost) by up to 12 months from when the vehicle was first registered:

 

Invoice GAP insurance:

 

3yr, £12,500 Claim Limit = £105.36 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £94.82

3yr, £15,000 Claim Limit = £108.46 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £97.61

4yr, £15,000 Claim Limit = £175.65 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £158.08

 

Replacement GAP insurance:

 

3yr, £17,500 Claim Limit = £155.76 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £140.18

3yr, £20,000 Claim Limit = £167.12 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £150.41

4yr, £20,000 Claim Limit = £199.48 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £179.54

 

 

I hope this helps.

 

Let me have your thoughts in due course.

 

Best wishes

 

David

[FOX1429]

Hi,

Just wondering if you could quote me on the following:

New VW Polo GTI (due April)

4 year PCP (£10,000 limit)

List price - £20863.90

Paid - £19955.90

GFV - £8000 (give or take don't have exact)

Many thanks in advance.

[David@GAPInsurance]

Hi,

Just wondering if you could quote me on the following:

New VW Polo GTI (due April)

4 year PCP (£10,000 limit)

List price - £20863.90

Paid - £19955.90

GFV - £8000 (give or take don't have exact)

Many thanks in advance.

 

Two posts back is a thorough explanation of how the policies function so to save time (and avoid duplication) I've not repeated the same here - I hope you don't mind.

Prices would be as follows:

 

Invoice GAP insurance:

 

4yr, £10,000 Claim Limit = £165.34 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £148.81

4yr, £12,500 Claim Limit = £171.52 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £154.37

4yr, £15,000 Claim Limit = £175.65 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £158.08

 

Replacement GAP insurance:

 

4yr, £10,000 Claim Limit = £176.28 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £158.65

4yr, £12,500 Claim Limit = £181.44 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £163.30

4yr, £15,000 Claim Limit = £184.54 less 10% BRISKODA discount = £166.09

 

 

Let me know if these are of interest.

 

Best wishes

 

David