GAP Insurance Are They Trying it On?

TonySoprano

I have what is termed VRI GAP Insurance Basically it issupposed to settle the difference between your insurance pay-out and the costof a brand new like for like vehicle at today’s prices

My GAP company have obtained a quote where the dealer isoffering £850 discount on the new price the same dealer gave me £350 discountwhen I purchased the vehicle new 3 years ago therefore effectively gaining a £500 advantage

Incidentally the dealer was where the GAP insurance was originallypurchased and is a main franchised dealer (not a back street mickey mouse outfit)

Do you think they are in bed with each other (for want of abetter expression) and are working it so that they payment from the GAP companyis reduced?

Is this legal? I mean would this deal be offered to astandard punter if they walked into the showroom to buy the car?

Also I believe I have a case for mis selling I was told thiswas the best kind of GAP you could have but I believe there is GAP where theywill return to invoice meaning they will meet what you originally paid which inthis case would be more as it would be with the original dealer discount.

I’m pretty peed off but unless someone can advise I guessthere is little I can do about this other than accept their offer?

WTFH

Sorry, can you explain the problem?
Is the amount being offered enough for you to get the new car or not?

It doesn't matter how much discount you managed to negotiate (or not) three years ago, the question is - does the gap insurance do what it is supposed to - that is, allow you to replace the car?

molerat

It is the same with any insurance, they usually will get a better deal than you can for a replacement item.

DUTR

TonySoprano wrote: »

I have what is termed VRI GAP Insurance Basically it issupposed to settle the difference between your insurance pay-out and the costof a brand new like for like vehicle at today’s prices

My GAP company have obtained a quote where the dealer isoffering £850 discount on the new price the same dealer gave me £350 discountwhen I purchased the vehicle new 3 years ago therefore effectively gaining a £500 advantage

Incidentally the dealer was where the GAP insurance was originallypurchased and is a main franchised dealer (not a back street mickey mouse outfit)

Do you think they are in bed with each other (for want of abetter expression) and are working it so that they payment from the GAP companyis reduced?

Is this legal? I mean would this deal be offered to astandard punter if they walked into the showroom to buy the car?

Also I believe I have a case for mis selling I was told thiswas the best kind of GAP you could have but I believe there is GAP where theywill return to invoice meaning they will meet what you originally paid which inthis case would be more as it would be with the original dealer discount.

I’m pretty peed off but unless someone can advise I guessthere is little I can do about this other than accept their offer?

As per post #2, you get replaced with the same car spec or equivalent.

AdrianC

What car? Is it the same model, or has it been replaced/facelifted in that three years? It may well be that the model is now quite long in the tooth, perhaps with a replacement soon, so I'd expect bigger discounts. Maybe competitors have made inroads into sales, so discounts are more readily available.

But, at the end of the day, it's not a BIG difference. And it's utterly irrelevant. The end result is that you get a new car if yours is written off. No more, no less. If the insurance really DID just return to the invoice value YOU paid three years ago, you'd be hacked off at any price increases in the meantime meaning you couldn't replace like-with-like.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

GAP insurance is dealing with a slightly different problem from ordinary insurance. With ordinary insurance you may get a new car in the first year (depends on policy) and you should get the replacement value of your car, though there might be a difference when it comes to actually finding a car of the right condition. and of course you are free to spend more.

GAP is recognising that payments of loans are a straight line whereas depreciation is heavily loaded to the first year so if you write a car off in year one, you get the replacement value but this is not enough to pay off the lease value as the car is worth less than the original value less the payments made so far.

Like all of these insurances, PPI and so on, you have to be very clear on what you are actually insuring. When I looked at it, as far as I could tell, I seemed to be being offered insurance to cover about £3000 for the cost of £350 which seemed very poor value compared with about £350 we pay to cover a £25000 loss on the standard car insurance.

So you have a choice:

1) Buy a dealer product at potentially inflated values
2) Search the market for cover,
3) Take a small risk that you might write the car off and need to find the money to cover the leasing deal.

The reality is that very few people write cars off, even when involved in accidents, (most write-offs are old cars remember, beyond economic repair rather than smashed into little bits).

I consider it another to add into the pool of repair guarantees that I don't pay (having just had my Hotpoint washing machine expire at 5 years and 2 months fairly smug on not paying for that one) and lottery tickets I don't buy, I'm several thousand up, so the gap is already covered.

If you think you've been mislead then I'd ask who dealt with you - the normal salesman or did they wheel in the specially qualified finance bloke? The sale of these policies is covered by the FCA and they have to be extremely careful to be complaint or they will be dealing with the regulators. Poor value for money isn't necessarily grounds for complaint, but if it was implied that you had to take the insurance or had to take their insurance then you might be misled.

BJV

Sorry think you are wrong.


Statically newer cars are designed to stop you before you have an accident but when you are involved in one the added safety features such as air bags etc are very expensive to replace.


1. Dealership prices will always be higher - not their fault differences in IPT and supplier rates.
2. There are some very good and some less so good policies on line.
3. An estimated 5-6 hundred thousand vehicles are written off either stolen to order or beyond repair each year.


This means that it is your choice if you want to take the 4,5,6 % chance that it will be you who has their vehicle written off and are happy to pay any finance or replace your vehicle at your own cost, fine gap insurance is not for you.


If you prefer for a couple of pounds not to have to then search for gap insurance.


Which money did a very good report on gap Insurance. http://www.which.co.uk/money/insurance/guides/gap-insurance/


Just make sure that you understand the terms and who gets paid. Lots of them now pay you instead of a dealership.