Gap insurance - yes or no?

[Puggy]

Hi all,

I have recently bought my RTWC. I purchased it used - It is a 14 reg - 6 months old now. The original invoice price was circa £18k, I paid £14,700 plus some extras LED lights, new tyres, Sat Nav, cylinder and pannier protection bring the total up to £16,607.

Many of my friends have taken out "gap insurance" to cover the gap between what the insurance company would pay and the invoice value. The BMW dealer offered to me: £5000 - 2 years for £199, 3 years for £299 and 4 years for £399.

What is the collective's view on this? A worthwhile concept or are the T&Cs so watertight that you would never be able to claim in reality?
Are there better value deals available?

Best wishes

Puggy

 

[Greg Masters]

Hi all,

I have recently bought my RTWC. I purchased it used - It is a 14 reg - 6 months old now. The original invoice price was circa £18k, I paid £14,700 plus some extras LED lights, new tyres, Sat Nav, cylinder and pannier protection bring the total up to £16,607.

Many of my friends have taken out "gap insurance" to cover the gap between what the insurance company would pay and the invoice value. The BMW dealer offered to me: £5000 - 2 years for £199, 3 years for £299 and 4 years for £399.

What is the collective's view on this? A worthwhile concept or are the T&Cs so watertight that you would never be able to claim in reality?
Are there better value deals available?

Best wishes

Puggy

So it's £100 a year to cover £5k. It really depends on whether you think there's worse than a 2% chance of your bike being written off in any year.

FWIW, whilst £5k might cover the gap now, it certainly won't after 4 years ......

 

[Wapping]

Start by looking at your own motor policy first.

Mine, at least for my car, indemnified me for a new vehicle IF I wrote it off in the first year of ownership. That included the possibility that the price of a new car might have gone up over the intervening period due to, for example, an increase in VAT.

I have only ever bought it once. That was for my HP2 Sport, itself a limited production vehicle. Its bodywork is all carbon fibre and was, even when in manufacture, in quite short supply; belly-pans alone had a four month waiting list. I worked out that it would not take much to write the vehicle off, not least as I (the insured person) would argue with my insurer that it was not reasonable for me to wait for maybe four months for body parts to arrive. I have not bought it for any other vehicle, not least as they are easy to source should I be unfortunate enough to write one off. In my world, a 1200 WC falls into the 'easy to replace' catagory. The HP2 Sport is now insured under an 'agreed value' policy, 'guaranteeing' me a payment sum should the worse happen. You do not need an 'agreed value' policy for what is an 'off the shelf' 1200 WC.

One last consideration. If you have bought your awesome steed on finance, you will still owe the finance house the full value of your loan. Unlike your bike, it is not depreciated on write-off. Having a policy to meet the difference (return to purchase price, as it's called) might work for you. You'll be less out of pocket but still not entirely, depending on the terms of the loan and the date of write-off.

Best tip as ever? Don't write your bike off!

 

[JKW]

If you do decide that you need gap insurance then look a bit further afield because car and bike dealers' pricing on these products is usually way above what you can get from a specialist insurer or broker. As a guide have a look at www.ala.co.uk - I have one of their policies (soon to be 2!) and they were recommended by colleagues in the industry; never had to claim which is the proof of the pudding, of course!

 

[maz12]

Thanks JKW
IVE JUST GOT GAP INS FOR MY NEW RT VALUED AT 16800... £190 FOR THREE YEARS. That's for a max of 10k