Confused about VW GAP Insurance. Help!

greebowarrior

I've just had a call from VW, letting me know my new car will be delivered next week and then they started the upselling.

I let him go through the banter, normally I'd shoot this stuff down straight away, but this GAP insurance sounds good, but is it too good to be true?
£350 covers me for 3 years, and guarantees I get my full £16k back if it gets written off?

I've never owned a brand-new car before, so the cautious part of me is saying i should take it, but the frugal part of me says fob it off.

I uhm-ed and ahh-ed a bit, and he said he can throw in a £299 scotchguarding/paintwork protection thingy too.

My question is, should I go for it? Are these GAP policies/scotchguard worth the cost?

Edit: also, hi everyone, first timer poster, long time lurker

Hintza

Go and check what other offerings are available. Read the small print and remember most insurers will replace in the first year anyway.

motorguy

greebowarrior wrote: »

I've just had a call from VW, letting me know my new car will be delivered next week and then they started the upselling.

I let him go through the banter, normally I'd shoot this stuff down straight away, but this GAP insurance sounds good, but is it too good to be true?
£350 covers me for 3 years, and guarantees I get my full £16k back if it gets written off?

I've never owned a brand-new car before, so the cautious part of me is saying i should take it, but the frugal part of me says fob it off.

I uhm-ed and ahh-ed a bit, and he said he can throw in a £299 scotchguarding/paintwork protection thingy too.

My question is, should I go for it? Are these GAP policies/scotchguard worth the cost?

Edit: also, hi everyone, first timer poster, long time lurker

I'd definitely go for gap insurance, though not through VW (i made that mistake)

check out https://www.click4gap.co.uk - they're one of the market leaders and their price will be a fraction of VW's. (i found out the hard way)

Also, personally, i'd avoid the scotch guard. Its a treatment that can be bought for a fraction of the price online.

boliston

Yep, one of the first rules of buying insurance is that it's not a good idea to buy it from the same person who sold you the product you are insuring!

When I was a student I got a part time job in Curry's electrical store and we could sell a £7.50 5 year insurance plan for a £10 kettle and the worrying thing is that some people actually took the insurance.

vikingaero

As Hintza has said, most insurers will replace a car in the first year if the damage exceeds 50/55/60% of it's value. If you insure through NFU Mutual they will up this to 2 years. If you insure through Hiscox High Value they will effectively give you free gap cover although the premiums can be high.

Scotchguard/Diamondbrite/JewelUltra etc is snake oil. Only worth it if you live in a flat and never wash your car on the basis that something is better than nothing. If you wash your car every week or two and wax it every so often then there's no point. If you really need to protect your car interior then buy an aerosol can of Scotchguard from John Lewis for £7.

continualdiamond

I just went through directgap for gap insurance. Granted my car isn't brand new, its second hand, but still the price was pretty good.

Just done a quick calculation on £16k over 3 years with a claim limit of 15k (don't know what you'd want it to be so just did 15) and the prices are:

Return to invoice - £126
Vehicle replacement - £210
Finance - £100

Bit of different to your £350 you've been quoted.

hollie.weimeraner

I bought GAP insurance from www.ala.co.uk at a fraction of what Toyota offered it.

It's debatable whether it's worth it or not but if you write your car off in the 2nd or 3rd year it's worth it - if you don't it isn't:rotfl:

Personally I think it's more worthwhile on a new car than a 2nd hand car as values fall faster. At 3 years old your car is going to be worth approx 35 - 40% of it's new value so to get back to invoice or replacement after the insurance payout is attractive for about 15 pence a day.

hethmar

Dont have the scotchguarding thingy - hang on a few years and then have it done locally for about half the price.

Re Gap insurance, normally your own insurer covers the difference for the first year.

Inactive

hethmar wrote: »

Re Gap insurance, normally your own insurer covers the difference for the first year.

....and the second year in a few cases, but only if the car is brand new and not a pre-registered car.

jackieblack

vikingaero wrote: »

Scotchguard/Diamondbrite/JewelUltra etc is snake oil. Only worth it if you live in a flat and never wash your car on the basis that something is better than nothing. If you wash your car every week or two and wax it every so often then there's no point. If you really need to protect your car interior then buy an aerosol can of Scotchguard from John Lewis for £7.

What difference does living in a flat make?

boliston

jackieblack wrote: »

What difference does living in a flat make?

The communal parking for most flats is often some way from the flat itself, often down several flights of stairs in an underground area, so less easy to pop out with bucket & hose for a weekly wash compared with a house and the car right outside the door.