Gap Insurance

Compare Car Gap Insurance Quotes 

Many people don't even think about getting gap cover for their car when they buy it. 

Are you looking for gap insurance to cover your car or bike? 

If you are unlucky enough to have an accident in your car, van or motorbike and it is written off as a result, you could be left in a sticky financial situation. 

 Protect your asset and your income and opt for cheap gap insurance to give you peace of mind 

What would you do if you owed £5,000 on your car and had it written off at a value of £3,000? You would have a debt of £2,000 to carry on paying not to mention the need to find another car. Needless to say a lot of people would struggle to find the cash they would need to solve this problem. 

This is why gap insurance UK can be worthwhile. Not only can it give you peace of mind in case the worst happens, but it can also pay out to cover the difference so you don't have to foot the bill yourself. 

Quotezone aims to make the process of finding GAP insurance policies as simple as possible with our directory of UK-based GAP insurance specialists. 

Gap insurance guide 

When a person buys a brand new car it could likely be a significant investment. It is also usually expected that as soon as a new car is driven away the value depreciates by a large amount. In real terms a brand new vehicle could lose between 40%-60% of the original value in the first 3 years of ownership. If a new vehicle is stolen, damaged or written off then the owner could be set to lose a big chunk of money as typically insurance companies only pay the value at the time of the incident and not the original purchase price. As such a ‘gap’ is perhaps created and that is where GAP (Guaranteed Asset Protection) insurance receives the name. 

What is gap insurance? 

As previously explained gap insurance tends to be what an insurance company would pay to bridge the gap in financial loss if a vehicle was stolen or written off. This tends to mean that gap insurance covers the difference between the current market value and the price paid for the vehicle at new. Buying a brand new vehicle could be a big step for some people and therefore knowing if something happened to the newly acquired asset that there would be cover in place to reflect the investment could be very encouraging. 

Different types of gap insurance 

As with many types of insurance there could be different kinds of gap insurance to consider. The potential policyholder may want to study the features and benefits of each kind before purchase in order to ensure it covers their needs. 

Finance Gap insurance  

Typically does what it says on the tin – if a vehicle is written off by an insurance company this cover could help to pay off the original vehicle finance or loan by paying out on the financial difference. 

Return to Invoice' Gap insurance  

This kind of policy could top up the payout from an insurance company to the purchase price amount. This could assist people with borrowing costs and alleviate any worries about buying a new vehicle. 

Vehicle Replacement Gap insurance  

For gap insurance in this instance then the insurer may payout the difference in the gap between the payout and the cost of buying a brand new car.
Return to Value Gap insurance – this may be preferable for second hand vehicle owners or for those that may have owned a vehicle for some time. This gap insurance UK cover could pay out the gap between the first purchase price and the insurance settlement amount. 

Is gap insurance necessary? 

Due to the large depreciation value new car owners could find themselves severely out of pocket if their brand new vehicle is damaged beyond repair or if the vehicle is stolen and never recovered. As such they could be left struggling to pay off car finance or a vehicle loan and they may not have the cash to purchase a new vehicle. Whilst UK GAP insurance isn’t usually compulsory to a vehicle purchase it could play an important role if the worst was to happen. 

Buying a new car? Get an insurance estimate for your new set of wheels with our car insurance calculator tool.  

How to purchase gap insurance? 

One of the easiest ways to compare gap insurance may be to look online. This could be much more convenient and mean that a person is able to look at all the different providers and compare cheap GAP insurance and all other options available. Using a comparison service could mean saving time and money when shopping for GAP insurance and mean that the new car owner is able to spend more time enjoying their vehicle. 

How do I pay for gap insurance? 

Paying for GAP insurance may be over a longer term than is typical for insurance policies. A gap insurance policy may typically run for 3 years (36 months) as this tends to be the biggest depreciation timescale. This could mean that a person could have a policy in place for 3 years and they pay a monthly premium or they may choose to pay up front. 

At the end of 3 years then a person may want to take out another cheap GAP insurance policy and as long as the vehicle is under 7 years old this might still be possible. 

In order to successfully take out GAP insurance it could be necessary to be a minimum of 18 years old and also be the named driver on the vehicle.