Is gap isurance wise to take?

[Elio2269]

Hello I've ordered my new yaris cross hybrid  1st of november 2022 and will pick up on the 20th March 2023 (supposedly). Dealer salesman (Steven Eagell) is pressureing me to buy their gap insurance for £400 (3 years). I have found online independent companies and had a quote for the same insurance for £265. Is gap insurance worth taking?

[Jimota]

Bear in mind that most insurance companies will replace your brand new vehicle for the full cost in the event of a write off in the first 12 months.  So, you should really only be looking at GAP insurance after 1 year of ownership.  Additionally, as you have indicated, GAP insurance through the dealership is usually more expensive.  There are pros and cons to GAP insurance but check your own policy to see if you are covered and make an informed decision after that.

[Roy124]

One well recommended is ALA.  As Jim says the gap insurance is only required from year 2.  There are advantages of paying soon after you buy the car with price being higher later. 

When I changed cars ALA allowed me credit for early termination. 

[Roy124]

Emanuelle, the other insurance they will try and sell you is chip and wheel insurance. 

They will also offer a servicing plan and body protection (can't remember the  name) 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

GAP insurance, as stated, can be had for a lot less than the dea!er. You can also get longer policies though 3rd party provision.

A service plan may be worth your while as it fixes the cost of services for the duration of the plan.

Obviously the above depends on your budget, etc.

[Rhymes with Paris]

8 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Emanuelle, the other insurance they will try and sell you is chip and wheel insurance. 

They will also offer a servicing plan and body protection (can't remember the  name) 

 

Supaguard , I think Roy.

As well documented on here, even if applied properly,of marginal protection/value.

Could be all "puff" as our American cousins call it,a way of inflating the price of a new or used car for the benefit of the salesman by way of commission.

 

[Bper]

Having not written a car off is there an average percentage that is only paid out on a claim. For argument sake if you have a £20,000 car and it is written off, obviously the dealer would have a mark up as profit on sale so are payouts based on black book value or some other value.

 

[Primus1]

Yes when I ordered mine they tried to sell me it all, I ended up taking the paint protection, it was the only way they would move on price, they knocked £500 off the price of the car  and £100 off the paint , I don’t normally bother with things like that but, hey ho….

[Elio2269]

28 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Emanuelle, the other insurance they will try and sell you is chip and wheel insurance. 

They will also offer a servicing plan and body protection (can't remember the  name) 

 

Yes this is very true. I agreed on a price of £29,000 for all the packages that i wanted with the car then the sales man said he would prepare the paperwork and came back with paperwork for £32,000. I asked where the other £3000 had suddenly come from to with he explained it was for all the other insurances, gap, painwork etc. I explained that i never asked for all the other insurances and it would be nice to be asked 1st. Having had paintwork insurance on my Evoque i dont have confidence with it after i tried to claim they refused to pay saying the scratch was 1mm too big.

[FROSTYBALLS]

5 minutes ago, Bper said:

Having not written a car off is there an average percentage that is only paid out on a claim. For argument sake if you have a £20,000 car and it is written off, obviously the dealer would have a mark up as profit on sale so are payouts based on black book value or some other value.

As regards car insurance, if a car is written off the payout is market value. Insurers won't pay retail value as that includes the profit margin a dealer would expect to make.

As regards GAP insurance, there are various types of GAP - return to invoice, car replacement, etc. For example, with return to invoice, the write off payout would be the difference between the car insurance payout and the invoice cost of the car when purchased.

[Bper]

4 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

As regards car insurance, if a car is written off the payout is market value. Insurers won't pay retail value as that includes the profit margin a dealer would expect to make.

As regards GAP insurance, there are various types of GAP - return to invoice, car replacement, etc. For example, with return to invoice, the write off payout would be the difference between the car insurance payout and the invoice cost of the car when purchased.

So if you buy a new car do they only payout market value. So what about any depreciation or if the car market takes a plunge through market conditions a while after you have brought the car. Should you consider gap insurance to bridge the gap. 

 

[Roy124]

On chip insurance, in the first 2 months my car was scratched over about 6 inches.  This was well over the chip size.  I was recommended a repairer here and  found onr locally. 

They were able to reduce the scratch by polishing and almost managed.  The cost would have been less than the original £250 quote had it worked. 

In the event they took about 2 hours and used two heaters to cure the paint. Their work is completely invisible. 

I never got a chip on my previous car and the insurance has an excess.  I am not sure I will bother next time. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

11 minutes ago, Bper said:

So if you buy a new car do they only payout market value.

Most insurers now offer to replace a new car if it is written off within a stated period - often 12 months. If they do this, they would source the car through their own channels.

However, the policy details need checking as some define what they count as a new car - eg. some state that you must be the first registered owner. This would mean that pre-registered cars wouldn't be eligible, as the dealer would be the first registered owner.

[anchorman]

I had a car stolen and would have been in real trouble without GAP insurance.  It was with ALA and they paid within a few days of mine being in the hands of dirtbags.  The question was should you have it, the answer is yes.  

[Graham47]

Did you take it as soon as you purchased the car?
Return to invoice ?
How many years ?
It’s a decision I am also thinking about (hopefully) shortly….

[IT Troll]

I opted for GAP insurance with ALA. It was £258 for 4 years. This is their Vehicle Replacement policy which protects you from price increases. New car price is already £2K more than I paid.

Needs to be taken within 90 days of delivery.

[FROSTYBALLS]

We've had GAP insurance on each of the new cars we've bought since 1998 - 13 cars. Never bought the dealer gap insurance.

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, Graham47 said:

Did you take it as soon as you purchased the car?
Return to invoice ?
How many years ?
It’s a decision I am also thinking about (hopefully) shortly….

I did new car cover which is just as well because it was a top spec Mazda CX-5 and the new model had just been launched which was higher spec.  I literally didn’t pay a penny.  If I’d gone back to invoice it would have helped but there would have been a considerable shortfall.   I took it out from new like the dealer would and the car was 14 months old when stolen.  I think from memory the GAP paid about £9k.   They took all of my wife’s jewellery, some of which was handed down and all of my power tools so if you could say there was any good came from it we got a new car for nothing.  That insurance was worth every penny and I’ll never buy another new car without it.  This time I negotiated the dealer one in which is back to invoice so it’s free but I’ll have to pay any shortfall.   

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, IT Troll said:

I opted for GAP insurance with ALA. It was £258 for 4 years. This is their Vehicle Replacement policy which protects you from price increases. New car price is already £2K more than I paid.

Needs to be taken within 90 days of delivery.

I’ve just tried taking 3 years out on my 21 Reg Yaris that I traded in.  I entered 8000 miles and it’s come back with £203 so maybe 90 days is on a PCP?

 

 

[anchorman]

Just done it for my Cross……

[Primus1]

I used to be insured with saga, they would replace your car with a brand new one for up to two years from purchase as long as you were the first registered keeper, I’m with direct line now, I think there’s is the same but I’d have to check,

[TonyHSD]

Is there mileage restrictions on gap policy? If I buy a new car and year after got crash and the car is scraped but has 35000 miles , will I get a new replacement? I know each policy might be different, but what is your personal experience? 
Thank you. 👍

[IT Troll]

11 hours ago, anchorman said:

I entered 8000 miles and it’s come back with £203 so maybe 90 days is on a PCP?

The length of the purchase window and maximum number of years are different depending on the policy taken. It is 90 days and 4 years for the policy which covers the full replacement cost, rather than just what you paid. You don't necessarily have to be the first owner.

Most regular insurance policies will pay the invoiced price for a write off in the first year on a brand new car. But wouldn't cover the £2K price rise the Yaris Cross had. You would hope there will be no further big price jumps, but who knows with the current level of inflation. The GAP policies are multi-year and no doubt factor in this first year of standard cover when calculating the premium. 

If you go via the Martin Lewis MSE website you can snag some extra discount with ALA.

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 minute ago, TonyHSD said:

Is there mileage restrictions on gap policy? If I buy a new car and year after got crash and the car is scraped but has 35000 miles , will I get a new replacement?

Not on the policies we've had. 

As regards a new replacement, it depends what type of gap insurance one has - as stated earlier there are different types of policy (back to invoice, vehicle replacement, etc). If it is a vehicle replacement policy, then yes. 

[IT Troll]

10 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Is there mileage restrictions on gap policy?

The ALA only has a current mileage limit at the point you take out certain policies (80,000 or 100,000). Only really a factor for used cars.