Gap insurance offer, is it compulsory? - SV650.org

10-09-06, 09:11 AM

Just buying a new bike at the mo and have been told I 'have' to have a meeting with the business manager when I pickup to discuss gap insurance as it's a legal requirement for them to offer it. I've never heard that before, sounds like they just want to pin me down to peddle their commission loaded policies. Is it correct?

I've no problem with businesses wanting to sell things or being offered it but I hate being ****ing lied to!

I remember being offered it when I bought the car but that was a long hour or so anyway.

10-09-06, 09:49 AM

i alway tell them to stick it! to me its another way to get squeezed of a few more of your hard ernt pounds. if you do happen to write the bike off and its not worth the amount of the finance owing then thats just hard luck. you could have life insurance for 100,000 or your could have it for 250,000, i am never over insured insurace is a fancy name for shafted!

10-09-06, 09:50 AM

just my opinion, you dont have to listen to me each to their own.

fizzwheel · 10-09-06, 10:00 AM

Gap insurance isnt as far as I'm aware a legal requirement. So IMHO they are talking horsesh*t. However it is IMHO worth thinking about. I took it out when I bought the GSXR. I know that I will defiantely get the full retail value of the bike back if something does happen to it and it gets written off.

Gap insurance isnt the same as the taking out insurance on your loan repayments in case you are'nt able to work etc etc. If you are taking out finance they may insist of things like Comprehensive insurance and also repayment cover.

Personally I'd find it galling if I had bought a bike and then it was written off and I was left paying for a bike that I didnt own anymore.

The sales lady I dealt with didnt make me feel under pressure to take it out and she certainly never said it was a legal requirement.

Personally I'd be cancelling my order and going to another dealer and making it very clear to them why I was cancelling my order. I dont like pressurised sales techniques it makes me inclined to walk straight out of places that employ those techniques.

SoulKiss · 10-09-06, 10:13 AM

I think what Arenalife is saying is that for them to OFFER Gap insurance is a requirement, but is not one for him to take it

Even then not sure how true that is.....

When I bought my SV the other month I was offered

Gap Insurance

Extended Warranty from RAC

Repayment insturance.

I took Gap insurance as the way I understood it, as soon as the ink was dry on the purchase/it left the shop it was worth 17.5% less due to VAT. So take it outside, go onto the road, get taken out by an idiot in a 100% their libility (with witnesses and them signing a confession) and I would be 17.5% down (ok my policy would provide a new bike because of age of bike so not a totally accurate representation)

I took the extended warranty - now thinking I probably didn't need it, but hey it IS transferrable if I sell the bike within 5 years (which I am not really sure I will - wife might be doing her CBT and getting onto the CG125, so in a couple of years she may want my SV650 - depends on whether I am willing to give her up and move on)

I considered the repayments insurance, but at about £800 I balked - I also remembered that I was taking the 0% deal not because itr was the only way I could afford a bike, but becasue it fitted my cash flow better - ie the purchase price is better sitting in my bank account than Suzuki's (the wonders of redundancy in the IT world - leave a job on redundancy one day, start another the next

)

SO I would say go for Gap, consider Warranty, and say No to repayment - chances are if you needed to use the repayment insurance there is a wriggle out of it clause - these policies are notorious for it - they generally only pay up for serious illness or injury or redundacy - and if you get a decent redundancy package, well you can pay the bike off then/stash the cash to cover the repayments and not have paid out for the policy

David

mattSV · 10-09-06, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Gap insurance isnt as far as I'm aware a legal requirement. So IMHO they are talking horsesh*t. However it is IMHO worth thinking about. I took it out when I bought the GSXR. I know that I will defiantely get the full retail value of the bike back if something does happen to it and it gets written off.

Gap insurance isnt the same as the taking out insurance on your loan repayments in case you are'nt able to work etc etc. If you are taking out finance they may insist of things like Comprehensive insurance and also repayment cover.

Personally I'd find it galling if I had bought a bike and then it was written off and I was left paying for a bike that I didnt own anymore.

The sales lady I dealt with didnt make me feel under pressure to take it out and she certainly never said it was a legal requirement.

Personally I'd be cancelling my order and going to another dealer and making it very clear to them why I was cancelling my order. I dont like pressurised sales techniques it makes me inclined to walk straight out of places that employ those techniques.

Arenalife wrote

Quote:

Just buying a new bike at the mo and have been told I 'have' to have a meeting with the business manager when I pickup to discuss gap insurance as it's a legal requirement for them to offer it

Taking it is not compulsory, however under insurance Duty Of Care obligations, the dealer should/must offer it - Duty Of Care means that they are obliged to advise you that a risk exists if the bike is written off and the valuation is less than you still owe on finance. If you are happy with that risk then you do not have to take it.

The business manager will normally be targetted for % sales with Gap insurance/finance etc, so it will be in his interest for you to take it

Red ones · 10-09-06, 10:15 AM

I find the phrase "I am self insuring" usually works for the people who are trying to sell insurance that is not legally required.

fizzwheel · 10-09-06, 10:37 AM

10-09-06, 10:55 AM

When I bought my bike I had the GAP explained to me and thought it was a good idea so said yes please.
When I got home I read the small print.
Things that changed my mind were:
If you part ex'd a bike for your new bike then you only get current marklet value back.
I had an ER5 and got £1700 part ex. The book said it was only worth £1200 so I would be £500 at a loss already.
If you have any "non Maufacturer" add ons then the GAP is invalid. So, if you put a nice loud Scorpion, for example, on then you are not covered by GAP. And how many people leave the standard can on ?????
If your bike was stolen or damaged then again, GAP only covers the difference at market value. So, if your bike was nicked and the insuresrs paid out £2500 but the book price is £2250 then you are down by £250 again.
The salesman selling me the GAP said that I would get all the money back and that in his experience they were never too fussy about exact costs and GAP normally paid whatever the difference between Insurance value and receipt value.
Now, it's up to you but I did not fancy waiting for the day my bike was nicked to find out if GAP would be worth it or not.

10-09-06, 07:52 PM

The gap insurance policy I was offered was laughable. I would never use it (unless it was literally £2 or so), but this one was spectacularly bad. It was a flat rate no matter how much the value of the bike you bought was (bike's max value at £15K). As I pointed out to them, on a £4K bike, that the most the insurers would be able to get away with taking the michael on would be at most £500, it seemed unfair that I would be subsidising the next bloke who goes in and buys a £15K MV where the gap would be more like £2-3K.

10-09-06, 09:11 AM	#1
arenalife Guest Posts: n/a	Gap insurance offer, is it compulsory? Just buying a new bike at the mo and have been told I 'have' to have a meeting with the business manager when I pickup to discuss gap insurance as it's a legal requirement for them to offer it. I've never heard that before, sounds like they just want to pin me down to peddle their commission loaded policies. Is it correct? I've no problem with businesses wanting to sell things or being offered it but I hate being ****ing lied to! I remember being offered it when I bought the car but that was a long hour or so anyway.

10-09-06, 10:00 AM	#4
fizzwheel Super Moderator Mega Poster Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Somerset Posts: 3,614	Gap insurance isnt as far as I'm aware a legal requirement. So IMHO they are talking horsesh*t. However it is IMHO worth thinking about. I took it out when I bought the GSXR. I know that I will defiantely get the full retail value of the bike back if something does happen to it and it gets written off. Gap insurance isnt the same as the taking out insurance on your loan repayments in case you are'nt able to work etc etc. If you are taking out finance they may insist of things like Comprehensive insurance and also repayment cover. Personally I'd find it galling if I had bought a bike and then it was written off and I was left paying for a bike that I didnt own anymore. The sales lady I dealt with didnt make me feel under pressure to take it out and she certainly never said it was a legal requirement. Personally I'd be cancelling my order and going to another dealer and making it very clear to them why I was cancelling my order. I dont like pressurised sales techniques it makes me inclined to walk straight out of places that employ those techniques. __________________ Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. K5 GSXR 750 Anniversary Edition

10-09-06, 10:13 AM	#5
SoulKiss Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny Croydonia Posts: 6,124	I think what Arenalife is saying is that for them to OFFER Gap insurance is a requirement, but is not one for him to take it Even then not sure how true that is..... When I bought my SV the other month I was offered Gap Insurance Extended Warranty from RAC Repayment insturance. I took Gap insurance as the way I understood it, as soon as the ink was dry on the purchase/it left the shop it was worth 17.5% less due to VAT. So take it outside, go onto the road, get taken out by an idiot in a 100% their libility (with witnesses and them signing a confession) and I would be 17.5% down (ok my policy would provide a new bike because of age of bike so not a totally accurate representation) I took the extended warranty - now thinking I probably didn't need it, but hey it IS transferrable if I sell the bike within 5 years (which I am not really sure I will - wife might be doing her CBT and getting onto the CG125, so in a couple of years she may want my SV650 - depends on whether I am willing to give her up and move on) I considered the repayments insurance, but at about £800 I balked - I also remembered that I was taking the 0% deal not because itr was the only way I could afford a bike, but becasue it fitted my cash flow better - ie the purchase price is better sitting in my bank account than Suzuki's (the wonders of redundancy in the IT world - leave a job on redundancy one day, start another the next ) SO I would say go for Gap, consider Warranty, and say No to repayment - chances are if you needed to use the repayment insurance there is a wriggle out of it clause - these policies are notorious for it - they generally only pay up for serious illness or injury or redundacy - and if you get a decent redundancy package, well you can pay the bike off then/stash the cash to cover the repayments and not have paid out for the policy David __________________ Sent from my PC NOT using any Tapatalk type rubbish!! █╬╬╬╬(•)i¯i▀▀▀▀▀█Ξ███████████████████████████████)

10-09-06, 10:37 AM	#8
fizzwheel Super Moderator Mega Poster Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Somerset Posts: 3,614	__________________ Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. K5 GSXR 750 Anniversary Edition

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10-09-06, 09:49 AM	#2
kwak zzr Guest Posts: n/a	i alway tell them to stick it! to me its another way to get squeezed of a few more of your hard ernt pounds. if you do happen to write the bike off and its not worth the amount of the finance owing then thats just hard luck. you could have life insurance for 100,000 or your could have it for 250,000, i am never over insured insurace is a fancy name for shafted!

10-09-06, 09:50 AM	#3
kwak zzr Guest Posts: n/a	just my opinion, you dont have to listen to me each to their own.

10-09-06, 10:15 AM	#7
Red ones Member Mega Poster Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 1,422	I find the phrase "I am self insuring" usually works for the people who are trying to sell insurance that is not legally required.

10-09-06, 10:55 AM	#9
FG1 Guest Posts: n/a	When I bought my bike I had the GAP explained to me and thought it was a good idea so said yes please. When I got home I read the small print. Things that changed my mind were: If you part ex'd a bike for your new bike then you only get current marklet value back. I had an ER5 and got £1700 part ex. The book said it was only worth £1200 so I would be £500 at a loss already. If you have any "non Maufacturer" add ons then the GAP is invalid. So, if you put a nice loud Scorpion, for example, on then you are not covered by GAP. And how many people leave the standard can on ????? If your bike was stolen or damaged then again, GAP only covers the difference at market value. So, if your bike was nicked and the insuresrs paid out £2500 but the book price is £2250 then you are down by £250 again. The salesman selling me the GAP said that I would get all the money back and that in his experience they were never too fussy about exact costs and GAP normally paid whatever the difference between Insurance value and receipt value. Now, it's up to you but I did not fancy waiting for the day my bike was nicked to find out if GAP would be worth it or not.

10-09-06, 07:52 PM	#10
Ceri JC Guest Posts: n/a	The gap insurance policy I was offered was laughable. I would never use it (unless it was literally £2 or so), but this one was spectacularly bad. It was a flat rate no matter how much the value of the bike you bought was (bike's max value at £15K). As I pointed out to them, on a £4K bike, that the most the insurers would be able to get away with taking the michael on would be at most £500, it seemed unfair that I would be subsidising the next bloke who goes in and buys a £15K MV where the gap would be more like £2-3K.