GAP Insurance would possibly not cover you, it depends whether you were negligent in relation to the security of the keys. For example, if you left the vehicle unattended with the keys in the ignition and the vehicle was stolen, the chances are you would have difficulty pursuing a claim on your Motor Insurance.

On the otherhand, if your house was burgled and your vehicle keys were used by the burglars to steal your vehicle, it is very likely that your Motor Insurance company would payout.

Contrary to the misleading claims published by some suppliers, the overriding rule is that if your vehicle has been stolen through the use of the keys and your Motor Insurance company are paying out (E.g. your claim is legitimate), then it would be extremely difficult for *any* GAP Insurance provider to reject the claim on the grounds that the keys were used. To this effect, providing there is no negligence on your part, every GAP Insurance policy, regardless as to from whom you purchase it, will cover you in such circumstances.

For complete peace of mind, check with your own Motor Insurance provider, how they would deal with a claim as a result of the vehicle being stolen through the use of the keys for it.

If your vehicle is written off, your Motor Insurance company will pay you what they believe the vehicle is worth at the time of claim, NOT what you originally bought it for and certainly not - in the case of a vehicle you bought brand new - enough to allow you to replace the vehicle with a brand new equivalent.

This is where either an Invoice or Replacement GAP Insurance policy comes in, paying the difference between your motor insurance payout and the amount you originally bought the vehicle for, or the cost of replacing it with the brand new model respectively.

Some GAP Insurance providers will permit you to pay monthly, but for most you need to pay in one lump sum upfront.

The territorial limits of most policies are something like what's laid out below, however you should check the terms of any policy carefully.:

England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Vehicle is also covered in the European Union, Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Andorra for a maximum of 90 days in any 12 months of cover, providing the cover provided by Your Motor Insurer is an equivalent level of cover as You would have enjoyed in the United Kingdom (UK).

In a nutshell, Invoice GAP Insurance is generally concerned with the amount stated on your New/Used Car Invoice as the price you actually bought the vehicle for. Although it's worth noting that our "Invoice GAP Insurance" policy will, in the event that your Finance Agreement settlement figure is greater than the original purchase paid for the vehicle, pay up to either the original vehicle purchase price, or the Finance Agreement Settlement Figure - whichever is the greater.

Replacement GAP Insurance on the otherhand, is concerned with the manufacturer's list price of the new version of your vehicle at the time of claim.

For the sake of example, lets assume you buy a vehicle for £10,000 cash, and two years later the vehicle is written off and your motor insurance company offer you £6,000 as the write-off value of your vehicle. This of course leaves you with a £4,000 gap between your insurance payout and the original purchase price of £10,000.

This £4,000 "gap" would be covered by Invoice GAP Insurance.

Continuing the example, lets assume that the manufacturer's full list price of the vehicle has now increased to £12,000.

This additional £2,000 - a total "gap" of £6,000 - would be covered by Replacement GAP.

Standard Invoice GAP Insurance, in the event of your vehicle being written off, pays the difference between your motor insurance payout and the original price that you bought the vehicle for.

In some cases though, if the vehicle was funded by way of a long Hire Purchase Agreement involving a particularly high interest rate and little or no deposit being paid upfront, there could be a period of time during which the settlement figure on the finance agreement would be greater than the original purchase price paid for the vehicle.

If this happened to you, even after a standard Invoice GAP Insurance policy had paid out, you'd have to find additional funds to make up the difference between the original invoice price of the vehicle and the settlement figure on the finance agreement.

This is where Invoice GAP Insurance comes in. In the event of a valid claim, it pays the difference between the motor insurance payout and either; the original vehicle purchase price OR the finance agreement settlement figure - whichever is the greater!

Online providers enjoy considerably lower overheads than a Motor Dealer which subsequently means they're able to provide the policies to you for a substantially lower price than a Motor Dealer can.

But that's not all. Most Motor Dealer policies are "off-the-shelf" policies with few - often "no" - options to tailor the policy according to your own requirements. Online providers will offer you the ability to choose the policy term you require along with the claim limit that's most applicable to you.

For brand new vehicles, many Motor Insurance policies will indeed replace your vehicle on a New-For-Old basis if the vehicle is written off during the first 12 months of ownership.

To some extent this negates the requirement for GAP Insurance during the same term, however at the end of that 12 month period, your Motor Insurance policy New-For-Old scheme would come to an end and you would not be able to take out either an Invoice or Replacement GAP Insurance policy, which must be purchased within 105 days of the date of purchasing the vehicle or (in the case of Replacement GAP) the date the vehicle was first registered - whichever is the earlier.

Relying therefore on only your Motor Insurance policy New-For-Old scheme might provide you with cover for that 12 month period, but what about the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th year as the vehicle has depreciated even further and it's your own finances at stake?

This is why you need GAP Insurance even if you have New-For-Old cover as part of your Motor Insurance policy.

If you have New-For-Old cover as part of your motor insurance policy for the first 12 months, you can now defer the start date of some Invoice or Replacement GAP Insurance policies to be the day after your vehicle is 12 months old.

In real terms this means that, whilst you still have to buy the policy within say, 105 days of you buying the vehicle (or, in the case of Replacement GAP Insurance, the date of first registration), unlike all other GAP Insurance policies available online which start immediately even though there's almost no chance of you claiming on it during that first 12 months period, these new "deferred" policies can be configured to start when your New-For-Old cover expires.

For example, you purchase a brand new vehicle, first registered on 01/03/2009. Your motor insurance company covers you on a New-For-Old basis for the next 12 months... you can now specify that some Invoice or Replacement GAP Insurance policies should start on 02/03/2010.

What's more, some companies don't charge for the option to defer, this means that a three year GAP Insurance policy deferred by 12 months, indirectly, and at no extra cost, covers up to 4 years of your vehicle value depreciating!

Alternatively it means that you could save even more money on the cost of your GAP Insurance policy, because if you're sure that you only want say, three years of cover in total, you could buy a lower cost 2 year policy, defer it by 12 months, and indirectly still cover up to 3 years of your vehicle value depreciating.

In general, someone else can drive your vehicle without affecting the validity of your GAP Insurance policy providing the individual is both covered by way of a Comprehensive UK Motor Insurance policy and also has your permission to drive the vehicle.

In most cases, unfortunately not. If you sell or transfer ownership of the vehicle during the policy term you will forfeit the remaining term of the policy and you will not normally receive a refund of any unused portion of the policy. There are come exceptions though

Depending on the purchase price of your vehicle you'll can usually find a number of different claim limits available ranging from £5,000 to £50,000 - depending on the insurer

Online providers enjoy considerably lower overheads than a Motor Dealer which subsequently means they're able to provide the policies to you for a substantially lower price than a Motor Dealer can.