Car written off advice, please

av addict

Prominent Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
2,317
Reaction score
231
Points
555
Hi guys/girls , unfortunately my Ford focus has been written off by Copart assessment,struck a muntjac on way to work took my bumper, undercarriage and damaged radaitor so it's finished, anyway paid £7450 only had 7 months left to pay ,has been valued at £4450 ,,,I took gap insurance out when purchased car,,,
So question is, this gap insurance does or will it only cover if there is a shortfall of owing money to finance company ,which is only £1300 left or will or do they pay out the extra £3000 that I paid for the car to take it upto £7450 cheers all
 
I’ve never used gap insurance, but I should imagine it’ll depend on your policy. You’ll have to read the small print.
 
Gap insurance will only pay any shortfall between what is owed on the car and the insurance settlement amount.

Example:
You owe £5000 on car. Insurance payout £4000. £1000 you owe to finance people - gap insurance pays that £1000.

You owe £5000 on car. Insurance payout £6000. Gap insurance does nothing. You pocket the £1000 left after paying off the finance.
 
Ok thanks so no need to contact gap insurance policy then ? Cheers
 
There are a number of types of gap insurance, one being ‘return to invoice’ the other being ‘vehicle replacement’ and then ‘agreed value’ gap insurance.

You need to establish which it is and then contact the provider.
 
Gap insurance will only pay any shortfall between what is owed on the car and the insurance settlement amount.

Example:
You owe £5000 on car. Insurance payout £4000. £1000 you owe to finance people - gap insurance pays that £1000.

You owe £5000 on car. Insurance payout £6000. Gap insurance does nothing. You pocket the £1000 left after paying off the finance.
Depends on the policy. As per
There are a number of types of gap insurance, one being ‘return to invoice’ the other being ‘vehicle replacement’ and then ‘agreed value’ gap insurance.

You need to establish which it is and then contact the provider.
My brother had GAP insurance on his A class he wrote off. He paid £16,000, it was valued at £8000 after the accident and the GAP insurance made up the other £8000
 
Also don’t accept any offer from your car insurance company without contacting your gap insurance, I think they negotiate between each other to get the best deal for themselves.
 
As some others have said, it depends on the type of GAP insurance you've taken out. Some will just make up the difference between what is owed and the insurance payout whilst others will take you back to the invoiced amount.
 
As others have said there are different types that come under the GAP "umbrella"

1) Pay outstanding finance gap off - as per @wongataa first example
2) Return to Invoice (RTI) - difference between insurance value and what you paid for the car
3) Provide a comparable car - source a car that is the same and pay for the difference between insurance and the cost of that comparable car
4) A combination of the above, for which the highest "gap" is payable

There are also some limits on policies so they will pay up to £5k, £10k, 25k etc for the difference

The price you pay will be higher for better benefits. Even then I managed to get mine for around £200 for option 2 with I think a 25k claim limit
 
Enough info on here about the different sorts of GAP cover.

As a related aside, if I’m buying the car on finance, I’ll always buy GAP, usually RTI. Given the vagaries of car valuations and insurance settlements, I honestly think it’s one of those ‘upsell’ products which make sense. In my family, I’ve seen the benefit of RTI after a pretty expensive car was written off.

I usually source it myself, online, unless the offer from the dealer is good enough for me not to have to bother.
 
I usually source it myself, online, unless the offer from the dealer is good enough for me not to have to bother.

Yep, my dealer wanted £699 for a comparable one to what I got for £200 by shopping around. They wouldn't discount it as they seem to get into trouble if they do with insurance products.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom