GAP Insurance
Leasing is a great way for you experience your perfect car at an affordable price. However, sometimes you may become the victim of theft or an accident that causes your lease car to be written off. This could leave you with a pricey bill to cover that you didn’t expect to be stuck with. This is where GAP Insurance comes in.
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To get a GAP insurance quote through our partners, you will need the P11D value of your lease car (you should find this on the vehicle offer page) and the term length of your contract. Click the button below to get started:
What Exactly Is GAP Insurance?
If you get into a nasty accident and your lease car is declared as a total loss, the finance company will expect you to pay off the remainder of the lease. They will provide you with a final settlement figure that ends your contract which you will need to pay. Your car insurance company will present you with the fair market value of the car to help cover this cost, but in some cases there may be a shortfall.
A GAP Insurance policy offers priceless financial protection when your lease car has been written off or stolen. It will pay the difference between the outstanding finance balance and your car insurance settlement so that you can have that peace of mind throughout your finance lease.
As an example, say you owe £20,000 on your finance agreement but your car at that point in time is only valued at £14,000 by your car insurance provider due to depreciation and use. You would be left with a £6,000 shortfall that you may not be able to come up with. GAP Insurance would then cover that deficit and protect you from any unexpected payments.
We’ve partnered up with DirectGap to offer you GAP Insurance for your lease contract. For some more information about GAP Insurance and DirectGap, check out the video below:
If you have any questions about GAP Insurance or about the policy itself, you can contact DirectGap on 020 8050 4756.
What Does GAP Insurance Cover?
A GAP Insurance policy with DirectGap covers a variety of scenarios:
- Motor Policy Excess: Your motor policy excess is covered up to £250 for a total loss claim.
- Theft Of Vehicle with Keys: If your keys are taken from your home or office and your car stolen, you will be covered. You must still exercise due diligence (take steps to safeguard your keys and vehicle) as you will not be covered for wilful negligence – e.g. leaving the keys in the vehicle while you go to pay for fuel and getting the car stolen.
- If You’re at Fault: If you get into an accident that was caused by yourself, GAP Insurance will still cover you. It will not cover you if you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs or involved in any illegal activity.
- All Drivers On Your Insurance Policy: If you have multiple drivers on your motor insurance policy and any one of them gets into a total loss accident, your GAP Insurance Policy will still be valid.
Example:
Why Should I Take Out GAP With My Lease?
While GAP Insurance is not a legal requirement for you to take out (unlike standard motor cover), it could prove an intelligent financial decision if your vehicle is written off. If you don’t have a GAP policy, you could be left with a large amount of money to pay – this could run into many thousands of pounds.
Having a GAP Insurance policy during your lease gives you peace of mind so you don’t need to worry about your money and you can enjoy your car!
GAP Insurance FAQs
There are two ways you can pay for your policy:
- A Yearly One-Off Payment; or
- 12 Monthly Credit Payments.
The payments are collected by a third party and a small administration fee will apply.
The main exclusions of GAP Insurance when the vehicle becomes a total loss as a result of:
- The driver being under the influence of non-prescription drugs or alcohol.
- Being involved in illegal activity.
- Fraud or an act of wilful negligence (e.g. leaving keys in the ignition whilst the vehicle is unattended).
For the full list of policy exclusions, you can read your policy wording.
A total loss vehicle usually results from accidental damage, your fault or third party fault, fire, theft or vandalism.
Your motor insurer is the only one who can declare the car as a total loss. This means that you have claimed under your motor insurance, the claim has been agreed, your car has been forfeited and a payment made following the incident.
As long as the car has not been stolen because of wilful negligence (e.g. leaving the keys in the car while you pay for fuel), you will still be covered by your GAP insurance policy for vehicle theft.
Having a Gap insurance policy with DirectGap means that you are not only covered in the UK but in member countries of the European Community and any other country for which an International Motor Insurance Certificate is effective.
If you are planning on travelling abroad with your lease car, make sure you know what documents you will need before you go.
For a lease car, the name on the GAP Insurance policy will need to be the same as the name on your contract hire agreement.
As long as they are down as a named driver on your motor insurance, they will be covered by your GAP Insurance policy.