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Does GAP Insurance cover negative equity?

This is a common question potential GAP Insurance buyers will ask. The answer is simple............it depends where the negative equity comes from. 

What is negative equity? Does GAP Insurance cover negative equity?

Put simply, negative equity is where the amount owed on a finance agreement is higher than the value of the financed item.

 

You can have negative equity on a house, a car, and many other items you may look to take finance on. 

As we are talking about GAP Insurance with cars, let's look at example (A). 

Example A

  1. You buy a car for £20,000

  2. You finance £19,000 over 5 years at 5% interest per annum

  3. 30 months into your agreement the vehicle is stolen. Your motor insurer writes off the vehicle and pays out the market value at £9000.

  4. Your finance settlement is £10,735

  5. You have negative equity of £1,735 (£10,735-£9,000). You will have to pay this to the finance company to settle off your loan. 

Although the example above regards where the vehicle is written off, the same situation can arise if you look to change the vehicle and buy a new one. 

Given the same numbers, if you part exchanged the vehicle after 30 months then you could be in the same situation. You would effectively owe £1,735 more than the vehicle is valued at (the part exchange value). 

In this situation, you can either pay off the negative equity yourself, or you can look to add it to the finance of the new vehicle. 

So let's illustrate that by way of another example (B).

Example B

  1. You buy a new car for £22,000

  2. You part exchange your old vehicle valued at £9,000. You still owe £10,735 in the finance agreement for your old vehicle. 

  3. The £1,735 negative equity is added to the purchase price of the new vehicle, so you take out credit of £23,735 over 5 years at 5% per annum. 

  4. 30 months in the vehicle is written off. The motor insurers settle the market value to you at £10,000. 

  5. Your finance settlement is £13,410

  6. You have negative equity of £3,410 (£13,410-£10,000). You will have to pay this to clear the balance on your loan. 

So does GAP Insurance cover these examples of negative equity?

The answer to this for example A is yes. The negative equity has been created by the loan for the vehicle on cover. This can be covered by the GAP policy taken against the same vehicle. 

The answer is example B is a little more complicated. GAP Insurance cannot normally cover negative equity carried over from a previous finance agreement. In the case of example B, £1,735 of the amount borrowed against the vehicle is from a previous vehicle, one that is not covered by this GAP policy. 

However, depending on what type of GAP Insurance you have, all may not be lost. 

If you had a Return to Invoice GAP for example B, then this can cover between the motor insurers settlement (£10,000) and the amount you paid for the vehicle (note this is £22,000, not the £23,735 you borrowed).

This would mean that between your motor insurer and the GAP Insurance you have the £22,000 back in full. If you owe £13,410 then you can pay this off and this leaves £8,590 for you to use as a deposit for a new car. 

This figure would have been higher if you had not carried over the negative equity of £1,735 from your old vehicle. 

For more information see our COMPLETE GAP INSURANCE GUIDE (click here)

Another option, particularly if you have bought a finance shortfall GAP, then some providers offer you an option to add 'negative equity cover'. This means that the GAP policy can cover a set amount of negative equity carried over from an old finance agreement. 

As finance shortfall GAP is less popular these days, you may struggle to find a provider who will do this. 

So in summary. GAP Insurance can cover negative equity created by the loan taken out against the vehicle on cover. GAP cover (normally) will not cover negative equity created by adding a shortfall from a part exchanged vehicle.