Buying a 3 yr old car - Gap insurance is it worth taking out?

Tao81

Gap insurance where if the car was written off the insurance makes up the gap between the value the motor insurance company pays out up to the price that was paid for the car.

Is this a big waste of :money:or worth taking out please?

Thanks

MX5huggy

1st thing to say is if you do shop around for it don't get it from the dealer.

Was your budget about £2000? at that end I would not bother at all.

I think GAP can be good value, but I depends on how you would cope with replacing your car, if you put the £200 -£300 in savings that would be good start towards the next car, no matter if you write it off or just want a new one.

AdrianHi

The GAP insurance you are referring to I don't think is good value. Look for RTI (return to invoice insurance) which could be worthwhile. It's usually best on very young or new cars with steep depreciation early on, 3+ years old and your depreciation costs are a lot lower and fairly consistent for a few years, so not so important IMO.

dacouch

You should be able to get a decent gap policy for circa £140 on the internet, the dealer will try and sell you similar cover for around £300

Tao81

Is there a cooling off period after you take this out, can I tell the to shove it within 7 days of agreeing to it having changed my mind?

AdrianHi

14 day cooling off period for any insurance product.

MX5huggy

Tao why worry about cooling off periods, the whole car buying process for you has it seems been a list of on the fly quick decisions, that you have regretted before the end of the day.

Take a breath, research the various policies then decide if you want one, read all the words of the policy. Then decide if it is good value and buy if you want. Don't talk to any salesman!

This http://www.click4gap.co.uk/index.asp who I found were good value 2 years ago but still did not buy the policy, let you purchase the policy up to 90 days after you have purchased the car.

And remember the GAp policy is not really good value if you write the car off in the early mths because the car won't have lost much value.

Tao81

AdrianHi wrote: »

14 day cooling off period for any insurance product.

Could you be more specific, if possible please?:D Thanks

AdrianHi

Tao81 wrote: »

Could you be more specific, if possible please?:D Thanks

FSA_Handbook wrote:

A consumer has a right to cancel, without penalty and without giving any reason, within: (1) 30 days for a contract of insurance which is, or has elements of, a pure protection contract or payment protection contract; or
(2) 14 days for any other contract of insurance or distance contract.

http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/ICOBS/7/1