GAP Insurance: What is the Claim Limit?

Policies underwritten by an A-rated insurer

Our GAP insurance policies are underwritten by Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd - a UK insurer rated A+, A2, AA- and A+ by four of the world's leading insurance rating agencies.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited

Arch UK has 11 locations across the United Kingdom with a customer-focused ethos. Arch has been recognised for a range of awards and accolades which can be seen here.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited is backed by its parent: Arch Capital Group Ltd with more than £21 billion in capital as of 31st December 2023.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited: Financial Strength Ratings:

Standard & Poor's	A+
A.M. Best Company	A+
Fitch	AA-
Moody's	A2

With FIVE unrated, offshore underwriters of GAP insurance having gone bust in the last few years, it's now more important than ever to ensure you choose a policy backed by financial resources sufficient enough to ensure that the policy will be there when you need it most.

Aren't unrated insurers covered by the FSCS?

Yes and companies that offer policies from unrated insurers will make a song and dance about this. However whilst the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will cover you for up to 90% of any claim amount if your car is written off and you need to make a claim before the affairs of the original insurer are wrapped up, what they usually fail to tell you is that if the unrated insurer behind your policy goes bust and no other insurer steps in to "buy" your policy from the liquidators (thereby permitting your cover to continue), steps will be taken to cancel your policy and in such circumstances the FSCS is then only good for refunding you up to 90% of what you originally paid for your policy.

This of course then leaves you without GAP insurance cover and, probably too late to buy GAP insurance cover from any other provider.

Whilst a UK-based A-Rated insurer can attract a little higher premium for the policy, the risks of buying a policy from an unrated, offshore insurer are, in our opinion, simply too great.

Policies underwritten by a UK based insurer

Our GAP insurance policies are underwritten by Arch Insurance (UK) Ltd - a UK insurer rated A+, A2, AA- and A+ by four of the world's leading insurance rating agencies.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited

Arch UK has 11 locations across the United Kingdom with a customer-focused ethos. Arch has been recognised for a range of awards and accolades which can be seen here.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited is backed by its parent: Arch Capital Group Ltd with more than £21 billion in capital as of 31st December 2023.

Arch Insurance (UK) Limited: Financial Strength Ratings:

Standard & Poor's	A+
A.M. Best Company	A+
Fitch	AA-
Moody's	A2

FIVE, offshore underwriters of GAP insurance (two in Gibraltar and two in Denmark) have gone bust since 2016 alone!

But offshore insurers are covered by the FSCS aren't they?

Yes, though not as comprehensively as some companies would have you believe.

If the offshore underwriter of your GAP insurance policy goes bust and you need to make a claim before their affairs are wrapped up, if needed the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will step in to pay up to 90% of your claim value. However if you're not making a claim at the time the insurer's affairs are being wrapped up, the remaining term of your policy will be subject to whether or not another insurer steps in to buy it. If your policy is not sold on to another insurer, the liquidators will seek to cancel the remaining term of your policy in which case, the FSCS would then only be good for refunding you up to 90% of what you originally paid for your policy.

This of course would leave you without GAP insurance cover and, probably too late to buy GAP insurance cover from any other provider.

Whilst a policy from an offshore, unrated insurer might well be slightly cheaper upfront, we believe that the risks are simply too high and as a result, we only ever deal with large, A-rated, UK-based insurers.

NO Market Value Clauses In Our Policies

Buy a Contract Hire, Invoice or Replacement GAP insurance policy incorporating one or more Market Value clause and you're highly likely to receive a reduced payout at the time of claim. The sole purpose of a Market Value clause is to ensure that the GAP insurance policy payout is reduced.

The most common Market Value clause amongst inferior GAP insurance policies is in relation to the motor insurance pay-out at the time of claim. In simple terms, if the motor insurer's payout is less than what the GAP insurer's preferred valuation "guide" says that your car is worth, the GAP insurer will not cover what they will perceive to be an underpayment by your motor insurer.

To add insult to injury though, if you bought a used car, a Market Value clause within an Invoice or Replacement GAP insurance policy may well be called upon to allow the GAP insurer to revalue your vehicle at the time you first bought it. If they find that their guide said your vehicle was worth less than the price you actually paid for the vehicle, the GAP insurer will not cover what they will perceive to have been an overpayment on your part.

One Market Value clause is bad enough. To suffer the application of both could very well result in a substantially lower GAP insurance payout than what you would have received from a policy that had no Market Value clause at all - A policy like the Contract Hire, Invoice and Replacement GAP insurance policies that have available.

We dropped Market Value clauses from our Contract Hire, Invoice and Replacement GAP insurance policies back in early 2013. Sadly there are other providers that haven't followed suit.

The long and short of it is, a Contract Hire, Invoice or Replacement GAP insurance policy which incorporates a Market Value clause should be avoided - at all costs.

Top-Up GAP insurance:

Top-Up GAP insurance policies DO incorporate a form of Market Value clause - to the best of our knowledge a Top-Up GAP insurance policy with no Market Value clause does not yet exist in the market. A Market Value clause exists with such a policy in order to prevent somebody 'profiting' from their vehicle being written off.

To clarify, in the event that your vehicle is written off (through accident, fire or theft etc) Top-Up GAP insurance will aim to top-up your motor insurance pay-out by a further 25% (limited to a maximum payout of £10,000). If however your motor insurance pay-out is more than the "Market Value" of your vehicle at the time of claim (defined as the "Retail Transacted" value published by Glass's Guide), the Top-Up GAP insurance policy will aim to pay out 25% of the Market Value of your vehicle (rather than 25% of the higher amount paid out by the motor insurer).

If you have any questions about any of the above. Please don't hesitate to contact us.

New-for-old cover with your motor insurance?

Despite wide-spread assurances to the contrary, which are negligently propogated by apparent consumer "experts": relying on new-for-old cover from your motor insurer and NOT having GAP insurance covering your brand new vehicle during your first year of ownership is a risky business and, something we caution against:

If you've financed your vehicle (particularly by way of a PCP agreement), there's a good chance you've entirely voided the new-for-old benefit under your motor insurance policy.
If you've leased your vehicle (e.g. personal contract hire), your vehicle wouldn't usually qualify for new-for-old cover from your motor insurer courtesy of the fact that your name doesn't appear on the V5 Registration document.
Your motor insurer may refuse to replace the vehicle new-for-old within the first year (in some cases for the most tedious of reasons) and revert to a Market Value settlement instead.
You can only buy GAP insurance from us within 3-months of taking delivery of the vehicle. Chances are you won't be eligible for Invoice or Replacement GAP insurance if you try to buy cover after a year of owning the vehicle.

Ultimately, going without GAP insurance in the first year could well involve you forfeiting having GAP insurance cover in later years and, given the potential benefit of GAP insurance usually increases with the passing of time, those later years could be when you need GAP insurance most! Why take the risk?

Which is why we have our: "New-for-old Promise":

If your motor insurer replaces your vehicle on a new-for-old basis during the term of your GAP insurance policy, we'll re-issue a whole new GAP insurance policy for your new vehicle, matching the full original duration of cover that you purchased, at no additional cost to you. E.g. if you buy 3-year cover and your motor insurer replaces the vehicle new-for-old when it's 11-months old, we'll re-issue a whole new 3-year GAP insurance policy for your new vehicle.

Note: This "New-for-old Promise" applies to all GAP insurance policies purchased on or since April 25th 2023.

For more information please review the Ts & Cs of our GAP insurance policies here, or generate a quote.

How Does a GAP insurance Claim Limit Work?