GAP Insurance - Which company?

[Bubba Nutkin]

A decent insurance policy will come with one years gap insurance as standard for a new car.

No it won't - read the small print, it will undertake to replace your car with a new one only 'if such as car is readily available'. For the Golf in many cases it will not be readily available and the insurer will revert to market value. Do not  make the mistake of thinking 'new car replacement' in a conventional insurance policy is a substitute for GAP - it isnt.

Mark, my Esure policy says they'll provide an exact replacement.  If that's not available they will give me what I paid, including options and accessories (or list price if that's less, which it won't be of course).  Isn't that the same as RTI cover from a GAP policy?
Bubba.

[Eccie]

My insurance company will replace the car for a new one if it's written off in the first 2 years - it's a real bonus that I hope not to have to use

[Mark V GTD]

Mark, my Esure policy says they'll provide an exact replacement.  If that's not available they will give me what I paid, including options and accessories (or list price if that's less, which it won't be of course).  Isn't that the same as RTI cover from a GAP policy?Bubba.

If thats the case then its a rare policy and worth having! Most are very restrictive in terms of what they will do to replace the car and the wary should check the policy wording very carefully before rejecting a stand alone GAP policy.

[Watts]

Taken out a back to invoice policy today with ALA, £122 seemed good value and peace of mind for 3 years. Hope I don't have to use it though!

[Mark V GTD]

Why did you not go for New car replacement? 'Back to invoice' is a bit of a waste of time really as you are paying for the policy, plus normal insurance and if you had a claim two years down the lien would most likely still need to add money to replace the car...

[Watts]

I did consider that but since I've never bothered before I decided back to invoice was good enough. There is a cooling off period though should I change my mind and want to upgrade. I wouldn't say it was a waste of time though, far from it, it'll ensure all the money I've laid out will be returned to me then I can spend it as I want.

[Mark V GTD]

Maybe 'waste of time' was a bit strong - but in my opinion RTI just does not do the job that GAP was designed to do because the vehicle list price will have risen in the meantime.

Of course it is much better than just relying on normal insurance. I guess my argument is basically that if you going down the GAP route you may as well get the version of it that performs the best.

[Watts]

 I don't entirely disagree with you, I may even have a re-think. Possibly just my frugal side coming to the fore

[physio]

just used  ALA  for my gap  insurance   
I took out invoice plus  £162   for 3 years  max claim £20,000
discount code VP 10  is still active  saves  10% 

[kalimon]

I've just been looking at ALA GAP insurance and not sure what cover to go for.
It asked for car value and I assume this means the cost of the car before any discount you negotiated or am I wrong?
I've looked at vehicle replacement cover and it asks what level of cover you need, it defaults to £17500. Is this enough?
It's all a tad confusing and I don't want to pay for cover that's not necessary.