GAP Insurance

I'm pretty certain GAP insurance is only needed if you finance the bike. Say you finance a 10K bike and the bike is written off. The insurance company pay out say 8K and you are still left owing the finance company 10K + interest.
If the bike isn't financed then I wouldn't worry.

You can take Gap insurance if you bought the bike outright. It will return you to your starting position. You can choose to buy a bike at the same value as you originally paid, or buy a cheaper bike and pocket the difference. It's your choice, as it is to take the Gap insurance or not.


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I'm pretty certain GAP insurance is only needed if you finance the bike. Say you finance a 10K bike and the bike is written off. The insurance company pay out say 8K and you are still left owing the finance company 10K + interest.
If the bike isn't financed then I wouldn't worry.

I don't finance either my bike or my car but I have GAP insurance on both.
In 2006 I wrote off a bike that was only a few months old, my policy would have replaced the bike with a brand new one, however, I would not have been able to ride the bike for nearly two years, so I had to take a settlement which was a bit below the price I paid, minus the insurance cover excess. However, the GAP insurance took care of the difference between what was paid out and the invoice price (including the excess) which amounted to a few hundred quid. Had the accident happened a year or more later I would have been a couple of thousand, or more, better off.
This was with BMW's GAP which, in those days, was much more reasonably priced. On this occasion the GAP more than paid for itself and I reckon I'm still in credit despite having had GAP on two bikes and a car since.

Others have mentioned EasyGap, this is who I currently use for both car and bike, they're very reasonable, but I have no experience of pay outs with them. A big plus with EasyGap, and similar, is that if your insurance will replace your bike with a new one if written off in the first year, then you can start the GAP insurance one year later, so you only pay for what you need. Some others, such as BMW's, start when you buy the bike even though your insurance may cover you for a new replacement in the event of a total loss in the first year, therefore you pay for a year you don't need.
 
GAP is a rip-off IMHO, there are better options if the deal is on finance & the possible loss worries you.

On our last Car exchange, the replacement 2nd hand vehicle was valued at £25k. The dealer quoted GAP at £410 for 3 years cover. Adrian Flux (aka Bikesure) quoted the alternative, Total Loss Protection at £37 per annum - quite some difference, largely commission one might conclude. The sale of GAP, you will note, is conducted carefully, within a regulated framework, so punters cannot claim mis-selling down the line.

OK T.L.P. is not quite so all inclusive - instead it offers to enhance the insurance valuation, in the event of a write-off, by 25% up to a maximum of £10k in our case.

Just ask you insurer to price up TLP when requesting a quote for the new bike, rather as you might Legal Cover, Roadside Assistance or Key Loss.
 
Total Loss Protection at £37 per annum -
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OK T.L.P. is not quite so all inclusive - instead it offers to enhance the insurance valuation, in the event of a write-off, by 25% up to a maximum of £10k in our case.

That is slightly more than I paid for 3 years GAP on my bike for the same amount of cover, and half of what I paid for 4 years GAP on my car for which I had 2.5 times the cover (i.e. max of 25k), both with EasyGap. However, because I could defer the start of the policy by one year due to both bike and car insurances covering total loss in the first year of ownership from new, I had 4 years and 5 years cover respectively.
If I was doing this again I think I would still choose GAP.
Granted, if you don't have a total loss then it was a waste of money, however all my current GAP policies, and future ones, if I choose to take them out, are still being paid for by the money that got paid out on my 2006 total loss, so in my case I'm still in the black. ;)

Personally, it's 'a peace of mind thing', I'd rather take out the policy, and I'd prefer not to have to claim on it! Very similar to that other hot topic in these forums, Extended Warranty.
 
And how many times have you claimed since taking the policies out ?

Never. But for £80, it's peace of mind, for less than the cost of a night in town. Especially as these bikes keep getting nicked.
 
I'm pretty certain GAP insurance is only needed if you finance the bike. Say you finance a 10K bike and the bike is written off. The insurance company pay out say 8K and you are still left owing the finance company 10K + interest.
If the bike isn't financed then I wouldn't worry.

Why wouldn't you? If you pay £16k, cash, for a bike, then 18 months later it gets written off, you'll still have to find the difference between the insurance payout, and a brand new bike.
 
Why wouldn't you? If you pay £16k, cash, for a bike, then 18 months later it gets written off, you'll still have to find the difference between the insurance payout, and a brand new bike.
The point of the insurance is to be able to afford like for like. You don't NEED a new bike. But if on finance you do need to be able to pay off the finance.
Nothing wrong with taking out GAP insurance but it's just additional insurance and it's not needed unless you're on finance or you don't want a like for like bike. Hope that makes sense! It did in my head!
 
Why wouldn't you? If you pay £16k, cash, for a bike, then 18 months later it gets written off, you'll still have to find the difference between the insurance payout, and a brand new bike.

£80 does seem quite a good deal but I'm not sure I'd take it up . Does it get more expensive every year?
 
I believe is a lump sum that you pay for 3 years.


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The point of the insurance is to be able to afford like for like. You don't NEED a new bike. But if on finance you do need to be able to pay off the finance.
Nothing wrong with taking out GAP insurance but it's just additional insurance and it's not needed unless you're on finance or you don't want a like for like bike. Hope that makes sense! It did in my head!

No, it doesn't make sense! I save up for my bikes. If it gets written off in 18 months time, why would I dip back into my savings, when for the sake of £80, I'll won't have to?
 
I'm shocked . I suppose not many people claim on it

It's easy at first glance to compare the premium to that of the actual bike insurance policy but that has to potentially pay out for not only the bike but also huge third party damage or injury claims. A car or bike insurance policy is also pretty cheap when you think it could pay out potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds whereas the gap payout is most likely to be only in the region of £500 to £5000 hence the low premium.

I've never taken out Gap buy like Nutty says its probably very good value at £80 ... Hell thats about the same price as a bit of R&G crash protection.
:thumb
 
It's easy at first glanve to compare the premium to that of the actual bike insurance policy but that has to potentially pay out for not only the bike but also huge third party damage or injury claims. A car or bike insurance policy is also pretty cheap when you think it could pay out potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds whereas the gap payout is most likely to be only in the region of £500 to £5000 hence the low premium.

I've never taken out Gap buy like Nutty says its probably very good value at £80 ... He'll thats about the same price as a bit of R&G crash protection.
:thumb

I looked at it when I bought a car but didn't think it a good idea . £27 a year , yeah I think I'll take a look if it comes up . As I say if you get the bike nicked then it's good . If you crash the bike then hopefully you'll be around to claim
 
Love to know where you can get gap insurance for £80 for 3 years for a 15K bike. Most quotes I've looked at (including easy gap) are £90 pa for Total Loss Protection gap, and around £110 pa for Vehicle Replacement gap. This is without any fitted extras.

Something worth noting is that you may as well wait just before the 6 mth deadline occurs for buying a new bike and taking out GAP, since most (if not all) bike insurances will pay out in full for the first 6 months. (Oddly, it's the first 12 mths with cars).
 


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