Gap insurance

lepp88gold

Hi any info please.

Gap cover on my 1st PCP car, wrote my car off in 2021.

Have been in contact with them to find out if I can get anything back due to the fact no one told me I needed to get in touch with them re any claim. 
I assumed normal car insurance took care of everything or the DVLA or anything. 

I had no idea how it worked .
There must be some kind of system where they get informed if a car is written off. 

I just hate the thought of loosing out just because I was new to the whole gap car thing and not 1 person advised me. 
Many thanks 

Keep_pedalling

The system is you tell them just like any other insurance claim. You should still be able to claim though.

DullGreyGuy

lepp88gold said:

Gap cover on my 1st PCP car, wrote my car off in 2021.

Have been in contact with them to find out if I can get anything back due to the fact no one told me I needed to get in touch with them re any claim. 
I assumed normal car insurance took care of everything or the DVLA or anything. 

I had no idea how it worked .
There must be some kind of system where they get informed if a car is written off. 

I just hate the thought of loosing out just because I was new to the whole gap car thing and not 1 person advised me. 

First rule of buying insurance, read the policy book. Your GAP insurance policy book will tell you how to make a claim which will be you informing them there is a total loss. 

No one provides a free system to GAP insurers to tell them the car has been written off. In principle they could choose to pay to check each insured vehicle periodically to see if any have been written off but what's the value in that for them? It's different for annuity providers who buy a list of everyone thats died because they then stop money being paid out until existence is confirmed. 

In principle some insurer could want to offer a "luxury" GAP insurance where they are proactive but this type of insurance is highly commoditised and people won't pay an extra £10 just to get the insurer to make first contact. Given the timescales involved most contact their GAP insurers long before any marker is loaded to MIAFTR

400ixl

The instructions that came with the GAP insurance would have stated that you have to inform them when your insurer declares your car a write off and before you accept the payment offer. This is to allow them to agree the value the insurer is offering is fair and they they are then paying an appropriate uplift.

Noggin500

If you bought your GAP insurance via your motor dealer, then the claim will be handled by a third-party administrator (probably Auto Protect, Car Care Plan, Premia Solutions etc.) on behalf of the insurer. The dealer will have no involvement, but they *should* know the name of the company administering your policy. As suggested above, your policy documentation will provide instructions on how to make a claim.

It may be that you're outside the permitted timescale for a claim outlined in the policy T&Cs; however, the Financial Ombudsman has, in the past, ruled on occasions that if a claim would otherwise have been upheld if it had been made within the permitted timescale, it may still be valid. Not all GAP insurance policy T&Cs include a 'market value' clause (as described by 400ixl above), so it's possible you may still end up with a decent pay-out.

DullGreyGuy

Noggin500 said:
the Financial Ombudsman has, in the past, ruled on occasions that if a claim would otherwise have been upheld if it had been made within the permitted timescale, it may still be valid. 

I'd go further and say that its only if the claim has been prejudiced by the delay that the ombudsman won't uphold it... think the small scratch that could have been touched up but has been left to rust so now the car needs a whole new panel and blending. 

lepp88gold

Thank you so much.
Noggin500. You got it spot on. I got it with the new car via dealer had no idea how it worked.litteraly just printed pages with details of each section, gap tyre and smart...
1st brand new car and had everything throught dealer even same dealer insurance to keep everything in brand so to speak.
So will look in to ombudsmen route in the hope of something to top up the purchase value which obviously I didn't get at the time, insurance just priced at current rate back then.

DullGreyGuy

lepp88gold said:

So will look in to ombudsmen route in the hope of something to top up the purchase value which obviously I didn't get at the time, insurance just priced at current rate back then.

To be able to go to the Ombudsman you must first have made a complaint to the insurance company and either 1) got a final response from them or 2) 8 weeks have passed since the complaint was made, whichever happens first. 

Hopefully you will just get a satisfactory result from the insurer and not need to complain let alone go to the ombudsman. 

VillaFan1874

Morning, and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but I can't access this website on my only laptop (work one and its blocked) so only way if my phone.

I bought a 2nd hand vehicle a few weeks ago that come with 30 days free gap, via Insure That, which expires 29th April.  They have quoted me £266 for 3 years cover whereas go compare etc is saying  cheapest is circa £100 also for 3 years.  These are "return to invoice" prices.  I know there is the fca investigation due but I do want to be covered, but thrown by the difference in prices, any advice would be appreciated 🙂

Bigwheels1111

VillaFan1874 said:

Morning, and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but I can't access this website on my only laptop (work one and its blocked) so only way if my phone.

I bought a 2nd hand vehicle a few weeks ago that come with 30 days free gap, via Insure That, which expires 29th April.  They have quoted me £266 for 3 years cover whereas go compare etc is saying  cheapest is circa £100 also for 3 years.  These are "return to invoice" prices.  I know there is the fca investigation due but I do want to be covered, but thrown by the difference in prices, any advice would be appreciated 🙂

First the fca bit is about how it was sold.
Online was say £200, at the dealer, £500-£1000 for the same policy.
Some complaints as to not being a fair policy etc.
My opinion is I paid around 1% of the car price for like for like replacement on my pre reg car.
When I had a little issue with a big red bus, I thought it might be written off, if it had I would have received enough money to replace it like for like.
ie 3 months old with 8 miles on the clock.
As the new 5008 model was out, it would have cost around 28k over the price of my car.
So would have been well worth it to me. They fixed my car so no claim.
You will be covered, as it’s the selling that’s at issue, not the cover.

VillaFan1874

Bigwheels1111 said:

VillaFan1874 said:

Morning, and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but I can't access this website on my only laptop (work one and its blocked) so only way if my phone.

I bought a 2nd hand vehicle a few weeks ago that come with 30 days free gap, via Insure That, which expires 29th April.  They have quoted me £266 for 3 years cover whereas go compare etc is saying  cheapest is circa £100 also for 3 years.  These are "return to invoice" prices.  I know there is the fca investigation due but I do want to be covered, but thrown by the difference in prices, any advice would be appreciated 🙂

First the fca bit is about how it was sold.
Online was say £200, at the dealer, £500-£1000 for the same policy.
Some complaints as to not being a fair policy etc.
My opinion is I paid around 1% of the car price for like for like replacement on my pre reg car.
When I had a little issue with a big red bus, I thought it might be written off, if it had I would have received enough money to replace it like for like.
ie 3 months old with 8 miles on the clock.
As the new 5008 model was out, it would have cost around 28k over the price of my car.
So would have been well worth it to me. They fixed my car so no claim.
You will be covered, as it’s the selling that’s at issue, not the cover.

Thanks. 

So does the higher quote seem more normal than the lower? And having the replacement clause a better idea than simple return to invoice?