Just done a PCP, Get GAP?

Meaker · 11 Mar 2019 at 16:14

I think her policy paid about 3600 ish in GAP

HangTime · 12 Mar 2019 at 08:23

kinger8938 said:
It sounds like a no brainer

I don't consider it a no brainer, more of a brainer as you need to do an assessment on whether you think it is worth the money being charged (if it will be driven by an accident-prone driver then makes it more appealing) and indeed whether you 'need' to get a bigger payout.

Ideally someone would come up with a rule of thumb calculator based on depreciation levels so you could say if the total cost of the insurance is less than x% of the depreciation amount then it is worth considering. More appealing on something like a Fiat or Peugeot that has high depreciation.

Haggisman · 12 Mar 2019 at 14:00

atpbx said:
Just use AXA, you will get gap insurance for like £90.

Theres also the argument that if you need GAP insurance you cant really afford the car, as your deposit must be absolutely minimal.

Just because you can afford something doesn't mean you'd be happy losing it, the only difference is if you put down a big deposit then you lose the shortfall from that instead of having to find exactly the same amount of shortfall in the event the car is written off.

I'm fact arguably if you can get favourable interest rates, it makes more sense to pay minimal deposit and put the rest of the money in a savings account

Raymond Lin · 12 Mar 2019 at 17:50

atpbx said:
Just use AXA, you will get gap insurance for like £90.

Theres also the argument that if you need GAP insurance you cant really afford the car, as your deposit must be absolutely minimal.

Not sure the second point holds any water at all since I bought GAP and I paid for my car in full in cash. (Ok I stick a tiny bit on credit card for protection)

Joeyuk · 12 Mar 2019 at 19:16

Get it. I didn’t take it out when I brought my new fiesta. It was stolen 18 months later and lost near £5000 on what the insurance paid me.

kinger8938 · 12 Mar 2019 at 21:13

Joeyuk said:
Get it. I didn’t take it out when I brought my new fiesta. It was stolen 18 months later and lost near £5000 on what the insurance paid me.

That's terrible, sorry to hear that. Vehicle theft is something I never even consider, but it's clearly devastating.

Meaker · 12 Mar 2019 at 21:45

The thing is YOU can be a perfect driver and some idiot can still hit you or the car gets stolen due to no fault of your own.

DereksDontRun · 12 Mar 2019 at 21:47

i would agree to get it - my M135i was stolen on fri (2 in 1 burglary), 3 years into 4 year pcp. I'm awaiting any decisions from insurance, so i don't know exact numbers. I'm expecting to still be in negative equity, so my insurance payout will be less than my settlement. So my gap insurance should cover that and bring it back to my purchase price (afaik).

So, without gap then I would presumably owe a k or so to write off the pcp, but with the gap I think I should get some cash for a replacement car. for my £200 gap insurance cost... so, erm, well worth it...

kinger8938 · 12 Mar 2019 at 22:41

DereksDontRun said:
i would agree to get it - my M135i was stolen on fri (2 in 1 burglary), 3 years into 4 year pcp. I'm awaiting any decisions from insurance, so i don't know exact numbers. I'm expecting to still be in negative equity, so my insurance payout will be less than my settlement. So my gap insurance should cover that and bring it back to my purchase price (afaik).

So, without gap then I would presumably owe a k or so to write off the pcp, but with the gap I think I should get some cash for a replacement car. for my £200 gap insurance cost... so, erm, well worth it...

Again, that's awful sorry to hear this :/ I hope your cover comes through for you but still, no one should ever be put in your situation. All the best mate.

I think I'll get it then, it at first seemed to me on the surface like one of those things dealers try to sell to make an extra buck and it may have all been a bit of a con but the more I've looked into it, it's clearly legit and something that needs to be considered for various reasons.

My ALA Quote to cover me for 3 years is £165 if I pay in one go or like £185 if I do it monthly for 10 months

shadow_boxer · 13 Mar 2019 at 00:05

Raymond Lin said:
I put GAP on my 5 year old car, but it wasn't expensive, it was less than £100 for 3 years.

Genuine question. What's the purpose of GAP on second hand car that's owned outright? I'm just in the process of getting a new car. Dealership offered it me but I declined it.

kinger8938 · 13 Mar 2019 at 00:08

shadow_boxer said:
Genuine question. What's the purpose of GAP on second hand car that's owned outright? I'm just in the process of getting a new car. Dealership offered it me but I declined it.

I guess it works the same in that you buy the car for however much. Then over time it loses value and the normal insurance only pays out at market value at the time of the claim, meaning the gap insurance covers the difference between what you paid and what it's worth at the time of a claim?

Raymond Lin · 13 Mar 2019 at 00:19

shadow_boxer said:
Genuine question. What's the purpose of GAP on second hand car that's owned outright? I'm just in the process of getting a new car. Dealership offered it me but I declined it.

So I get back what I paid for it?

I bought it from ALA too.

DereksDontRun · 13 Mar 2019 at 08:44

kinger8938 said:
Again, that's awful sorry to hear this :/ I hope your cover comes through for you but still, no one should ever be put in your situation. All the best mate.

I think I'll get it then, it at first seemed to me on the surface like one of those things dealers try to sell to make an extra buck and it may have all been a bit of a con but the more I've looked into it, it's clearly legit and something that needs to be considered for various reasons.

My ALA Quote to cover me for 3 years is £165 if I pay in one go or like £185 if I do it monthly for 10 months

I can't deny, it was a shock and a "little" frustrating... 1st kid due in 3-4weeks, so our heads are all thinking about that, and this happens... then we find one of our kitchen knives discarded upstairs in the house - so this guy smashed the patio door, grabbed a kitchen knife (presumably in case someone was still in the house) and then ransacked the place after keys and trinkets... Now we're left feeling unsafe and concerned in our own home, just when we're stressed enough anyway... I like my cars and loved the M135i - my replacement gap is billed to get me back in the same car again, but now I'm unsure I want anything as "desirable" on the drive... so, now I need to compromise my car choice, for the potential security of my family. all a bit crap...

anyway, back on topic...

I've never felt like gap insurance itself is a bad thing - but like the finance schemes, the ones the dealers offer (and push) generally aren't the best deals. So they get a bad reputation as people pay over the odds for them.

kinger8938 · 13 Mar 2019 at 09:26

DereksDontRun said:
I can't deny, it was a shock and a "little" frustrating... 1st kid due in 3-4weeks, so our heads are all thinking about that, and this happens... then we find one of our kitchen knives discarded upstairs in the house - so this guy smashed the patio door, grabbed a kitchen knife (presumably in case someone was still in the house) and then ransacked the place after keys and trinkets... Now we're left feeling unsafe and concerned in our own home, just when we're stressed enough anyway... I like my cars and loved the M135i - my replacement gap is billed to get me back in the same car again, but now I'm unsure I want anything as "desirable" on the drive... so, now I need to compromise my car choice, for the potential security of my family. all a bit crap...

anyway, back on topic...

I've never felt like gap insurance itself is a bad thing - but like the finance schemes, the ones the dealers offer (and push) generally aren't the best deals. So they get a bad reputation as people pay over the odds for them.

I honestly don't know what I would do in that situation, especially if family safety became a concern.

I hope things get better for you in that regard and congratulations on the baba! Got number 2 on route myself.

Yeah the PCP deal from Ford seemed ok compared to a few places I checked. Then I tried Lloyds and got a much better rate through my current account. Worth looking. That was 30 minutes before I was about to go and sign Ford's deal

Liquidfox · 14 Mar 2019 at 14:42

For £165 you'd be silly not to take out GAP.

Vigoro · 14 Mar 2019 at 14:58

Raymond Lin said:
So I get back what I paid for it?

I bought it from ALA too.

If you got a return to invoice plan then yes, you should do. Had to use mine before Christmas and they paid the difference between the insurers payout and the invoice value of the car at purchase, minus initial road find license.

pepp77 · 14 Mar 2019 at 15:18

I paid £22k (well cash plus p-ex) for my M135i - I took out a 3 year GAP cover for it for about £90 - made perfect sense to me because it meant that if the car got stolen or written off in the first 3 years of me owning it (i bought it at 16 months old) I would get the difference between the value of the car at the time I paid for it and the insurance payout from the GAP provider.

Have about 3 months left before my 3 years are up - time to have it stolen me thinks

(joking obviously)

kinger8938 · 14 Mar 2019 at 17:54

Liquidfox said:
For £165 you'd be silly not to take out GAP.

I'll do it

they have emailed every day since I got the quote so that's getting annoying

Is it best to go with the recommended level of cover? They suggest 10k. Car was 16k and doing it over 3 years. I guess it covers all bases. They don't ask many questions tbh, make of the car, how much it cost and how long you want it for

shadow_boxer · 14 Mar 2019 at 22:27

Raymond Lin said:
So I get back what I paid for it?

I bought it from ALA too.

Cheers. Will probably take it out too just for peace of mind. I guess it just offers a bit more protection if the insurance payout isn't a truly fair market price.

Raymond Lin · 14 Mar 2019 at 22:44

shadow_boxer said:
Cheers. Will probably take it out too just for peace of mind. I guess it just offers a bit more protection if the insurance payout isn't a truly fair market price.

Insurance seldom pay market price, the difference can be in the thousands so for the sake of like £100 one off payment for 3 years it removes any worries. I think it is good value.