What do you guys think of GAP insurance?

 

I know the question will come up when I collect my Citigo Black Edition, so just thought I'd see what you thought?

 

GreyBear.

Waste of money IMO unless you regularly write off cars or have a poor accident record. Don't forget most insurers will replace a new car if it's written off in the 1st 12 months anyway. The dealers 'recommend them' because its a nice little earner for them.

But if you want the security of knowing you'll get the difference between what the car was worth and a new one so you can replace it if you do write it off that's fine, but obviously it comes at a cost.

Don't......but if you do, get an independent quote, it will be way cheaper than a dealer policy

I got fleeced of £395 by my dealer, for a policy which came through showing the premium as £200

I cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period, and am awaiting the return of my £395 in full

Picked ours up yesterday and they seemed to be trying all the tricks to get us to buy extras, GAP insurance being one of them. Not impressed.

If it's on finance it's worth it, insurance will pay trade value on car if you write it off.

Trade price compared to purchased price is where gap steps in.

Auto traders gap policy is £100 for 3 years and underwritten by one of top uk insurers.

Dealer prices are ridiculous, but for £100 it's worth it just incase.

After all it's there if someone writes your car off, not just if you do it.

I got it just for peace of mind more than anything, although not from Skoda! I think they wanted something stupid like £399! Ended up paying £70 for 3years cover return to invoice!

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£160 well spent for piece of mind.

Search online comparison sites, don't buy from the dealer.

Echo really what other have said, if you like the idea then look to one of the independents. A three year RTI policy for a Citigo should be easily less than £100. Also, as someone has mentioned, if the vehicle is new then most motor insurers cover a replacement in the first year. Most of the better Gap Insurance independents let you defer a Gap policy start date, giving you maximum value for the cover you are getting. No point paying for the same insurance twice?

 

If you can get Gap Insurance for circa £30 a year (pro rata) then it does not seem bad value for the risk covered IMHO. Anything like the dealer prices is just ridiculous.

 

Most of the online brands use the same underwriters as the ones you find in motor dealers anyway, so do not get suckered for the sales patter from your car sales person!

Don't......but if you do, get an independent quote, it will be way cheaper than a dealer policy

I got fleeced of £395 by my dealer, for a policy which came through showing the premium as £200

I cancelled within the 14 day cooling off period, and am awaiting the return of my £395 in full

 

Sounds to me like the sales man just tweaked the figures to make himself more money. You obviously agreed £395 within the deal. This is wrong but doesnt mean you were fleeced.

Personally I think it's a must if you've taken finance, you don't want to owe more than you get from insurance if a bus takes the side out your new car.

 

As others have said though, do it yourself online. We used ALA for ours, paid less than £80 for return to invoice price. Dealers prices are ridiculous!

Personally I think it's a must if you've taken finance, you don't want to owe more than you get from insurance if a bus takes the side out your new car.

 

As others have said though, do it yourself online. We used ALA for ours, paid less than £80 for return to invoice price. Dealers prices are ridiculous!

 

I was initially offered the GAP insurance at the dealership for £250 - I've to think about it and decide for when I collect the vehicle. I've just checked ALA. If I've filled the quote sheet in correctly I'd be looking at £77. Quite a saving. So if I get GAP insurance at all, it will be separate from the dealership.

horses for courses, I had it once on a much more expensive car than the citigo, where I knew the risk of value vs new price would be 5 figures and I was driving it in snow bound mountains.. not so bothered on the citigo.

Sounds to me like the sales man just tweaked the figures to make himself more money. You obviously agreed £395 within the deal. This is wrong but doesnt mean you were fleeced.

I beg to differ

If GAP only repay me £200 for a service the dealer charged me £395 for I've been fleeced of £195, which is why they will be refunding any difference

Personally I think it's a must if you've taken finance, you don't want to owe more than you get from insurance if a bus takes the side out your new car.

 

If you put down a large deposit and it's a 0% deal, you might well manage to sit under the depreciation curve and actually have some equity in the event of a write off. No deposit and high APR is a different story.

 

Doing the sums is worth a few minutes, how much negative equity will you be in? Maybe £2-3k on a citigo worst case? Can you afford for this to happen? What are the chances of a complete write off during your ownership? 1 in 100, maybe more? What price is it, £300? If it were a horse would you bet on it? 

Echo really what other have said, if you like the idea then look to one of the independents. A three year RTI policy for a Citigo should be easily less than £100. Also, as someone has mentioned, if the vehicle is new then most motor insurers cover a replacement in the first year. Most of the better Gap Insurance independents let you defer a Gap policy start date, giving you maximum value for the cover you are getting. No point paying for the same insurance twice?

 

I just checked with the RAC (I have a quote saved currently) - they advised that as the vehicle is new it would be replaced by a new vehicle if the car was written off in its first year under the insurance policy I have saved. BUT, not been able to find any GAP insurance as yet where I'm able to defer the start of the policy after the first year.

Gap insurance 123. Four years and deferred so essentially 5 years cover.

Edited 20 October, 201411 yr by ben4012

Our gap with Ala has the deferred cover for 1st year. Just ask I'm sure most do a similar thing as 1st year replacement is common.

Also don't rush into it, you can take out gap anytime within first 3 months.

I have never taken up the "offer" of gap insurance from three different dealers at time of purchase. In each case when I declined the dealers have said "think about it for a few days and I can probably get it discounted by 25%"!

 

Fred