[sahajesh]

Looking at GAP prices - gapinsurance.co.uk seems to get the most positive reviews here but....

They only offer invoice GAP and not Replacement GAP - apparently they don't do Replacement on cars over £35k??

Is this a new thing - I can't imagine many people here with cars that cost less than 35k. Are these people only getting Invoice GAP or going elsewhere for Replacement-type cover?

[un1eash]

If I were to get GAP again I'd only go for RTI or Finance so I wouldn't be out of pocket if the worse should to happen.

[MashinBenzin]

Try ALA. I was talking to them a couple of weeks ago and replacement GAP was still a product. I had great customer service too, getting a refund backdated to 30 July based just on my word. A really fantastic company to deal with.

[un1eash]

I've used ALA a couple times also, they refund or transfer on a pro rata bases if you sell the car. Discount code MSE25 should get you 20% off also.

[moonshine]

Are you sure the GAP limit is for £35k cars, not a £35k limit of claim? (The two are not the same)

E.g. A 40k car might be worth £12k at yr 4. If it was written off / stolen, the regular insurance policy would pay out the market value of £12k to the claimant on the total loss being declared, leaving a shortfall of £28k to get you back to the invoice price.

This is the purpose of GAP. (I appreciate there are a few different types, e.g RTI / new car etc)

So in this example, the £40k car is over the £35k ceiling, but the GAP payout is less than the policy limit

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by moonshine

Are you sure the GAP limit is for £35k cars, not a £35k limit of claim? (The two are not the same)

E.g. A 40k car might be worth £12k at yr 4. If it was written off / stolen, the regular insurance policy would pay out the market value of £12k to the claimant on the total loss being declared, leaving a shortfall of £28k to get you back to the invoice price.

This is the purpose of GAP. (I appreciate there are a few different types, e.g RTI / new car etc)

So in this example, the £40k car is over the £35k ceiling, but the GAP payout is less than the policy limit

With gap insurance.co.uk, they won't offer Replacement GAP if the car cost more than £35k.

[moonshine]

^ wow. Looks like a big limitation
Look for another supplier.
ALA got favorable comments

[sahajesh]

Thanks all - I'll go with ALA and use the MSE code.

[SkyJawa]

we used Total Loss Gap for the wife's Tiguan. Can't comment on them as not had to claim, but its a policy that is a combo of all the other paying the highest of either return to invoice, cost to replace or amount outstanding on finance.

[KRS_SN]

4 yr back to invoice ALA GAPfor my X5 in aug 20 was £341. I see prices have jumped quite a bit when I tried to get a quote again using same return to invoice numbers.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

4 yr back to invoice ALA GAPfor my X5 in aug 20 was £341. I see prices have jumped quite a bit when I tried to get a quote again using same return to invoice numbers.

That's a very similar price to my replacement GAP in 2019.

I was given an over the phone number for back to invoice on £67k invoice a couple of weeks ago. I didn't note it down, but it was something of the order of £360.

That invoice price was theoretical. Due to the way my invoice was laid out, hefty manufacturer and dealer contributions, it was not worth taking out gap as it effectively invoiced at something like £45k.

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by MashinBenzin

That's a very similar price to my replacement GAP in 2019.

I was given an over the phone number for back to invoice on £67k invoice a couple of weeks ago. I didn't note it down, but it was something of the order of £360.

That invoice price was theoretical. Due to the way my invoice was laid out, hefty manufacturer and dealer contributions, it was not worth taking out gap as it effectively invoiced at something like £45k.

Which is exactly why you go for replacement GAP not RTI.

[un1eash]

RTI includes dealer discounts or it did when we had to claim back in 2008. We had a 2 year old C2 VTS we bought new for £9500 after dealer discount, OTR was something like £12500. When it was written off we got near £12k payout in total from insurance and GAP as they did deduct some fees like first registration etc.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by Pentland

Which is exactly why you go for replacement GAP not RTI.

Yes. Lots on when the new car arrived and forgot to switch the policy over within the time limit. 2019 car was on replacement.

RTI wouldn't have been too bad if the contribution for the old rejected car had counted to the invoice price, but it doesn't.

[GAPInsurance]

Originally Posted by sahajesh

With gap insurance.co.uk, they won't offer Replacement GAP if the car cost more than £35k.

Yes, this is right.

We can no longer provide Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000, nor can we provide Replacement GAP insurance for durations of more than 3-years.

We do though continue to provide Invoice GAP insurance (by some margin this is the most popular / commonly purchased type of GAP insurance) for durations of up to 4-years and for vehicles purchased for up to £150k - potentially even £200k - (although granted we work with a fairly lengthy list of specific vehicles which are entirely excluded from cover).

This is a fairly recent development. It could be considered that continually evolving (and often tightening) eligibility criteria are the downside of doing business with a reputable, A-Rated insurer who very closely monitor their scheme performance and are pro-active in ensuring that they'll still be around to honour claims. For the very same reason, it’s also very much the upside - particularly with the number of unrated GAP insurers who have gone to the wall in the last 4-5 years.

For the time being, some of our competitors are able to offer Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000 (and/or for durations of more than 3-years), but we would always advise checking the quality of underwriting carefully in an effort to ensure that you don't find yourself, for example, in the position of people who had cover with Lamp Insurance and found themselves left entirely without cover when Lamp went to the wall in mid-late 2019.

There are other things to watch out for in terms of Replacement GAP insurance also:

• Some providers will rely heavily on the likes of CarWow or equivalents to acquire substantial discounts when sourcing quotes for an equivalent replacement vehicle at the time of claim. Thereby often significantly reducing the potential for the replacement vehicle price to be any higher than the original invoice price you bought your vehicle for.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from some providers that insist that *they* have to physically replace your vehicle at the time of claim, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from providers which compel you to source your next vehicle via their nominated motor dealer, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies that *do not* state that they'll pay to *the higher of* either the original invoice price paid or, new vehicle replacement price at the time of claim. In the absence of a clear statement that the policy covers to the higher of the two figures, it's feasible that if a new replacement vehicle is available at the time of claim for less than the original invoice price you paid (via the likes of CarWow etc - see above), you'll have paid more upfront for the perceived superior Replacement GAP insurance cover yet, at the time of claim received a lower payout than you would have received with Invoice GAP insurance cover.

In terms of the above, all of our GAP insurance policies have always operated on the basis of a cash pay-out (after finance has been cleared - where applicable) to the policyholder, with them then left entirely free to choose what vehicle to buy next and from where... or not, the funds are paid to them without strings.

It's also worth noting that an Invoice GAP insurance policy alone can easily return you to a position that is superior (in some cases considerably so) than the position you were in when you first bought your vehicle.

As an example... let's say you buy a £50k car with a £10k deposit and finance the remaining £40k. If that car was then written off at a point in time when you owed the finance company say, £30k. An Invoice GAP insurance policy topping your motor insurance payout up to the original £50k would in theory leave you in a position of being able to clear the £30k to the finance company and have £20k left over to either put towards your next vehicle or otherwise dispose of as you saw fit... £10k more than you paid upfront for your vehicle originally!

In short... whilst on face value a Replacement GAP insurance policy may seem technically superior, it's absolutely worth spending the time to understand the small print and overall, don't entirely disregard Invoice GAP insurance in favour of a (usually more expensive) Replacement GAP insurance policy without fully understanding the financial particulars of your vehicle purchase and the potential GAP insurance options available.

HTH

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by GAPInsurance

Yes, this is right.

We can no longer provide Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000, nor can we provide Replacement GAP insurance for durations of more than 3-years.

We do though continue to provide Invoice GAP insurance (by some margin this is the most popular / commonly purchased type of GAP insurance) for durations of up to 4-years and for vehicles purchased for up to £150k - potentially even £200k - (although granted we work with a fairly lengthy list of specific vehicles which are entirely excluded from cover).

This is a fairly recent development. It could be considered that continually evolving (and often tightening) eligibility criteria are the downside of doing business with a reputable, A-Rated insurer who very closely monitor their scheme performance and are pro-active in ensuring that they'll still be around to honour claims. For the very same reason, it’s also very much the upside - particularly with the number of unrated GAP insurers who have gone to the wall in the last 4-5 years.

For the time being, some of our competitors are able to offer Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000 (and/or for durations of more than 3-years), but we would always advise checking the quality of underwriting carefully in an effort to ensure that you don't find yourself, for example, in the position of people who had cover with Lamp Insurance and found themselves left entirely without cover when Lamp went to the wall in mid-late 2019.

There are other things to watch out for in terms of Replacement GAP insurance also:

• Some providers will rely heavily on the likes of CarWow or equivalents to acquire substantial discounts when sourcing quotes for an equivalent replacement vehicle at the time of claim. Thereby often significantly reducing the potential for the replacement vehicle price to be any higher than the original invoice price you bought your vehicle for.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from some providers that insist that *they* have to physically replace your vehicle at the time of claim, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from providers which compel you to source your next vehicle via their nominated motor dealer, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies that *do not* state that they'll pay to *the higher of* either the original invoice price paid or, new vehicle replacement price at the time of claim. In the absence of a clear statement that the policy covers to the higher of the two figures, it's feasible that if a new replacement vehicle is available at the time of claim for less than the original invoice price you paid (via the likes of CarWow etc - see above), you'll have paid more upfront for the perceived superior Replacement GAP insurance cover yet, at the time of claim received a lower payout than you would have received with Invoice GAP insurance cover.

In terms of the above, all of our GAP insurance policies have always operated on the basis of a cash pay-out (after finance has been cleared - where applicable) to the policyholder, with them then left entirely free to choose what vehicle to buy next and from where... or not, the funds are paid to them without strings.

It's also worth noting that an Invoice GAP insurance policy alone can easily return you to a position that is superior (in some cases considerably so) than the position you were in when you first bought your vehicle.

As an example... let's say you buy a £50k car with a £10k deposit and finance the remaining £40k. If that car was then written off at a point in time when you owed the finance company say, £30k. An Invoice GAP insurance policy topping your motor insurance payout up to the original £50k would in theory leave you in a position of being able to clear the £30k to the finance company and have £20k left over to either put towards your next vehicle or otherwise dispose of as you saw fit... £10k more than you paid upfront for your vehicle originally!

In short... whilst on face value a Replacement GAP insurance policy may seem technically superior, it's absolutely worth spending the time to understand the small print and overall, don't entirely disregard Invoice GAP insurance in favour of a (usually more expensive) Replacement GAP insurance policy without fully understanding the financial particulars of your vehicle purchase and the potential GAP insurance options available.

HTH

That's an excellent summary, the most amount of detail I've seen anywhere.

My question is what would happen if the car was purchased with a nice discount (invoice a lot less than replacement) - I can see invoice there being worse?

Of course being limited to the choice of dealer *may* be an issue but if you really do want the same spec car again and you will get it, the ultimate cost of doing so via a broker (higher cost compared to a friendly dealer) may not matter at all.

Lots to think about and thanks for taking the time to reply and provide info

[DB118D]

I'm looking at ALA for the wife's new Polo, but getting myself tied in knots over what cover is best

List price of the car is £17,195

I paid (invoice value) £15,336 less £3200 in deposits made up of from me (PX & cash) and dealer (contribution), so financed £12k there or thereabouts

Do I need (no idea what the difference between 1 & 2 is!)

1. Return To Invoice
2. Back To Invoice
3. Replacement Vehicle

All priced at £211 before discounts

[Pentland]

Originally Posted by DB118D

I'm looking at ALA for the wife's new Polo, but getting myself tied in knots over what cover is best

List price of the car is £17,195

I paid (invoice value) £15,336 less £3200 in deposits made up of from me (PX & cash) and dealer (contribution), so financed £12k there or thereabouts

Do I need (no idea what the difference between 1 & 2 is!)

1. Return To Invoice
2. Back To Invoice
3. Replacement Vehicle

All priced at £211 before discounts

See post 12.

[DB118D]

Originally Posted by Pentland

See post 12.

Ideal. I'd spent so long reading the various benefits etc, I'd confused myself!

[trangofarm]

My return to invoice policy with ALA runs out in 2 weeks time and I was able to get an agreed value policy to follow on - as I've bought the car out of the BMW PCP with a personal loan. I didn't know you could even do this. ALA are a great company to deal with.

[Car-guy]

Originally Posted by GAPInsurance

Yes, this is right.

We can no longer provide Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000, nor can we provide Replacement GAP insurance for durations of more than 3-years.

We do though continue to provide Invoice GAP insurance (by some margin this is the most popular / commonly purchased type of GAP insurance) for durations of up to 4-years and for vehicles purchased for up to £150k - potentially even £200k - (although granted we work with a fairly lengthy list of specific vehicles which are entirely excluded from cover).

This is a fairly recent development. It could be considered that continually evolving (and often tightening) eligibility criteria are the downside of doing business with a reputable, A-Rated insurer who very closely monitor their scheme performance and are pro-active in ensuring that they'll still be around to honour claims. For the very same reason, it’s also very much the upside - particularly with the number of unrated GAP insurers who have gone to the wall in the last 4-5 years.

For the time being, some of our competitors are able to offer Replacement GAP insurance for vehicles bought for more than £35,000 (and/or for durations of more than 3-years), but we would always advise checking the quality of underwriting carefully in an effort to ensure that you don't find yourself, for example, in the position of people who had cover with car Insurance and found themselves left entirely without cover when Lamp went to the wall in mid-late 2019.

There are other things to watch out for in terms of Replacement GAP insurance also:

• Some providers will rely heavily on the likes of CarWow or equivalents to acquire substantial discounts when sourcing quotes for an equivalent replacement vehicle at the time of claim. Thereby often significantly reducing the potential for the replacement vehicle price to be any higher than the original invoice price you bought your vehicle for.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from some providers that insist that *they* have to physically replace your vehicle at the time of claim, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies from providers which compel you to source your next vehicle via their nominated motor dealer, otherwise they'll only pay your claim on an Invoice GAP insurance basis.
  
• We've seen Replacement GAP insurance policies that *do not* state that they'll pay to *the higher of* either the original invoice price paid or, new vehicle replacement price at the time of claim. In the absence of a clear statement that the policy covers to the higher of the two figures, it's feasible that if a new replacement vehicle is available at the time of claim for less than the original invoice price you paid (via the likes of CarWow etc - see above), you'll have paid more upfront for the perceived superior Replacement GAP insurance cover yet, at the time of claim received a lower payout than you would have received with Invoice GAP insurance cover.

In terms of the above, all of our GAP insurance policies have always operated on the basis of a cash pay-out (after finance has been cleared - where applicable) to the policyholder, with them then left entirely free to choose what vehicle to buy next and from where... or not, the funds are paid to them without strings.

It's also worth noting that an Invoice GAP insurance policy alone can easily return you to a position that is superior (in some cases considerably so) than the position you were in when you first bought your vehicle.

As an example... let's say you buy a £50k car with a £10k deposit and finance the remaining £40k. If that car was then written off at a point in time when you owed the finance company say, £30k. An Invoice GAP insurance policy topping your motor insurance payout up to the original £50k would in theory leave you in a position of being able to clear the £30k to the finance company and have £20k left over to either put towards your next vehicle or otherwise dispose of as you saw fit... £10k more than you paid upfront for your vehicle originally!

In short... whilst on face value a Replacement GAP insurance policy may seem technically superior, it's absolutely worth spending the time to understand the small print and overall, don't entirely disregard Invoice GAP insurance in favour of a (usually more expensive) Replacement GAP insurance policy without fully understanding the financial particulars of your vehicle purchase and the potential GAP insurance options available.

HTH

Thanks for that info it was really help full for me