Buy Combination Return to Invoice Gap Insurance

What is Return to Invoice Gap Insurance?

Back to Invoice Gap Insurance does exactly as it suggests.

If your vehicle is 'written off' then the policy will top up the vehicles market value settlement from your insurer back to the original invoice price you paid or the amount outstanding on finance which ever is the higher.

Don't forget that our polices don't limit the price you paid instead the price you paid is the price that is protected. ( less you road fund license)

Our gap policies also cover the cost of non-transferable warranties and paint protection as well have paying towards your own motor insurance excess.

Take a look at our introduction on RTI Gap Insurance



So to summarise the protection available with a Return to Invoice Gap policy, if the vehicle is written off by your motor insurer then you will receive the vehicle 'market value' as a settlement at that time. This value may well be significantly lower than the initial price you paid for the vehicle. A Back to Invoice policy will cover between the insurers market value settlement and the original invoice price you paid.

Simply add the motor insurers settlement to the gap insurance settlement and you will get back your original purchase price back in full. Simple and Easy!

Return to Invoice can be used if you have a finance agreement on the vehicle through the motor dealer. This could be any form of Hire Purchase, Lease Purchase or Personal Contract Purchase too, Our Easy Gap policy is 'combined' which means if your finance settlement is higher than the invoice price (this is possible but extremely rare) then the cover will actually protect to the finance settlement, even though this figure is actually higher than the original invoice price.

If you make a claim, and still have a finance settlement outstanding, then you can clear your finance liability and whatever funds are surplus after this are yours to put down on a replacement vehicle.

Return to Invoice can also be used if your pay 'cash' for the vehicle also. By protecting back to the invoice price you ensure your are covering the initial expense of the vehicle.

The Easy Gap Return to Invoice policies can be bought for up to 5 years, and are available on a range of vehicle. Cars, LCV's, Motorbikes, Motor Homes, Taxi's and Driving School vehicles can all be protected.

Also remember, the Easy Gap policy is provided by Aequitas Automotive Ltd, a leading UK specialist broker who provide Gap Insurance to the general public. Aequitas are the only UK company to have 2 separate brands featured in the Which Report on Gap Insurance in 2012 (Aequitas also operate the GapInsurance123 brand in the UK).

The Easy Gap policies are administered by Motorway Direct PLC, who are a specialist in the field. This means that your claims are handled in the UK, and with a written commitment to settle your Gap Insurance claim within 14 days of your motor insurance settlement, provided the necessary documents are produced by the policy holder.

To add to the 'pedigree' of the policy, the terms are underwritten by Ageas Insurance, who are one of the biggest insurers not only in the UK but in Europe too. The insurer has a heritage of over 100 years and underwrite millions of household and motor insurance policies every year. In fact there is every chance that you currently have an insurance policy underwritten by this heavyweight insurer in your household.

When you compare an Easy Gap policy to others in the market how do they measure against these credentials?

How does Return to Invoice Gap Protection work?

To illustrate how Return to Invoice Gap Insurance can work, lets consider the following scenario:

You buy a brand new Vauxhall Astra for £15,000

You put down a deposit of £2,000 and fund the remaining £13,000 through a hire purchase agreement from the dealer.

Two years later the vehicle is stolen and your motor insurer writes the vehicle off as a total loss. The market value of the vehicle is now £8,000, and you still have an outstanding finance settlement of £9,500.

In this example

With and Without RTI Gap Insurance

	With RTI	Without RTI
Purchase Price 2012	£15,000	£15,000
Value 2014	£8,000	£8,000
Finance Settlement	£9,500	£9,500
Settlement Shortfall	-£1,500	-£1,500
Gap Settlement	£7,000	£0
Balance	+£5,500	-£1,500

So to summerise the example above, without Return to Invoice Gap you would be left owing £1500 on a finance settlement for a vehicle you no longer have. If you had taken RTI Gap cover you will have the finance settled and have £5,500 as a deposit for a new vehicle.

So as you can see, by 'topping up' the motor insurers settlement with a back to invoice settlement on the Gap Insurance, you can pay off the outstanding finance and be left with a deposit for a new vehicle.

It really is as Easy as that!

What to expect for Easy Gap Policy features

"Are all Gap Insurance policies the same? If the policies you are comparing all are called 'Return to Invoice' then surely they must all be the same?"

This is a question we are often asked, and you can be forgiven for thinking this may be the case. However, as is often the case, the devil is in the detail and that certainly is the case with an insurance policy.

Return to Invoice is really quite a straightforward level of cover, and nearly always the type of Gap Insurance offered by motor dealers. So what does the Easy Gap policy offer that you may not see elsewhere?

 Policies available for up to 5 years . It is quite rare for a Gap Insurance policy to be available for a full 5 year period. However, through the feedback gained by listening to our customers, there is little doubt that consumers are seeking to keep their cars longer. Vehicles do seem to be more reliable come with longer manufacturer warranties and so it does make sense that owners look for an extended period of ownership.

Of course, if you do want to protect yourself for a long period of time, it could be important that the policy is underwritten by one of the largest Insurers in the UK in Ageas Insurance.

There is no limitations on Purchase Price . Some Return to Invoice policies do have an upper limit on the Invoice price you are charged. This figure could be limited to 100%, 105% or 110% of the Glass' Guide Retail value for the vehicle. This Guide price limitation does not exist with the current Easy Gap policy.

The Policy can be deferred free of charge . If you have replacement cover on your motor insurance for the first year on a new car purchase, you could be paying twice for cover if you have a gap policy running concurrently. Easy Gap is commited to the ethos of 'Treating Customers Fairly', and one example of this is in allowing you to choose to defer your start date for up to 12 months.

This means that you can take a three year return to invoice policy, set the start date for 12 months time (after your own motor insurance replacement cover ceases), and therefore gain the effect of four year cover. Some brands will charge you extra to do this, Easy Gap will not. Some brands will not offer the facility at all, perhaps citing that your insurer may have 'smallprint' that will mean they will not replace the vehicle. We believe that in order to give you the very best opportunity for value for money, you can have this option of you wish.

You can Transfer the remainder of your policy to a replacement vehicle. If you take a policy for 4 or 5 years, you may have every intention of keeping your vehicle that long. However, circumstances do change, and you may wish to change the vehicle before the end of your cover. In that instance, providing the replacement vehicle meets the same criteria as the original one, we can transfer the remainder of your cover.

Here is an improtant point, and one which we will return to later. The ability to transfer our Easy Gap RTI policy is a written term and condition of the policy, it is in black and white. Some brands say the will transfer your policy, even 'free of charge'. However, a quick glance through the policy terms may not reveal any reference to transfer at all. The broker 'undertaking' could mean you having to buy a new policy and a simple discount given to compensate for your 'transferred' proportion.

In our opinion this is simply not a transfer, it is a purchase of a new policy. Of course what would happen if the broker was not still trading at the time you wish to transfer? Would the insurer do this for you if it is not part of the terms and conditions?

Our Easy Gap RTI policy is transferable, there is a £25 administration fee to do so and all the terms and conditions are clear in black and white.

Our policies can be cancelled with a refund. Again this is a feature that should not be taken for granted. All Gap Insurance polcies will have a 'cooling off' period

 Whatever we promote is always an underwritten term seen in 'black and white' in the Policy Terms and Conditions. Now you may expect that this is always the case, but you would be wrong.

There are Gap Insurance brands who promote 'free' this and 'transferable' that. When you take a look at the policy detail these 'features' are no where to be found.

This means that these are not policy features at all, but an undertaking from the broker to you. This in itself may be offered with all good intentions, and indeed the broker may well make good on these promises if you ask them to.

However, the issue comes if the broker is not in a position to process your request, for example if they have been sold or cease to trade, whilst the policy is still in force with the insurer, they are only bound by the policy terms which could exclude the broker promises.

We always urge you to consider the merit of an 'feature' that is not in the policy terms when comparing an Easy Gap policy to any other in the UK.

Who is behind you? The Easy Gap brand is one of the best known Gap Insurance brands in the UK. Featured in Which? in 2012, and one of two specialists brands owned and operated by Aequitas Automotive Ltd in the UK.

The policies are administered by Motorway Direct PLC, who are one of the largest insurance administrators in the UK today. The company provide administration services for a number of well known brands and have a wealth of experienece in the field.

The Policy Terms and Conditions are underwritten by Ageas Insurance. Ageas are one of the biggest insurers in the UK, and underwrite over £1 billion of insurance premiums each year. They are a UK firm and employ thousands of people in this country today.

If you check your motor insurance and household insurance polices you currently hold, there is every chance that you have current insurance underwritten by this giant in the industry.

What is the claim limit on your Gap Insurance policy and why may it be important?

The 'Claim Limit' on your Return to Invoice policy is the maximum amount you can claim on your policy, to bridge the difference between the insurance settlement and the original invoice price paid.

Take a look at our introduction to 'Claim Limit' on your Gap cover.



An example of how the 'Claim Limit' works with Return to Invoice Gap Insurance

Why is choosing a Claim Limit so important with an RTI Gap Insurance policy? Lets consider the following example to illustrate the point.

Lets say you wish to protect the purchase price of a vehicle with a Return to Invoice policy. If the initial purchase price is say £17,000 then the next question would be which claim limit to choose.

We should make clear that there is no perfect answer when it comes to selecting the claim limit. However you will need to consider the potential depreciation of the vehicle for the period of cover your require. This highlights the three major considerations.

Length of cover required - simply the longer the cover you require then the more your vehicle is likley to depreciate.

The purchase price of the vehicle - this is the starting point that you are looking to return to.

The likely depreciation of the vehicle - taking into account the purchase price and length of cover

If you take RTI on a £17,000 vehicle for 3 years, then if the vehicle depreciated 50% in that time, that means it may be worth £8,500 in 3 years.

If you take RTI in the same vehicle for 5 years then it may be worth £5,000 at the end of five years.

Clearly the amount you need to cover for the 'claim limit' may be different, if you wish to protect all the way to the end of the cover. For the 3 year policy a £10,000 limit may be sufficient. The 5 year policy may require a £15,000 limit to adequately cover the difference.

So as you can see selecting the correct claim limit is important, and requires consideration of the purchase price and length of cover in order to make an informed decision.

Sometimes there is no easy answer when it comes to which claim limit to choose. If you want to discuss the question further please contact a member of our customer serices team, we are always happy to assist in any way possible.

In years gone by the only option for the purchase of a Gap Insurance policy was through the motor dealer who supplied you the vehicle. This meant that you had no chance to compare and consider your options for Gap, but in recent years the picture has changed. 

There are a number of specialist insurance brokers who now supply Gap Insurance products direct to the vehicle buying public. The Easy Gap brand is well known and established in this field, and has supplied thousands of customers with a variety of products over the last few years. The company that owns and operates Easy Gap, Aequitas Automotive Ltd, also own another leading Gap Insurance brand in GapInsurance123, giving us access to possibly the largest range of Gap Insurance products in the UK today. Both Aequitas brands were highlighted in the Which Gap Insurance report in 2012, and the comparable quote undertaken by Which showed Aequitas brands gave the lowest UK premium quote in over 80% of cases.

The success of our brands is a signal that consumers are happy to look at alternatives to motor dealer products, but what are the reasons for this?



So as you can see there are several reasons why buying Gap Insurance from an online specialist broker can be more benefitial than buying from your motor dealer. These would include:

More choice - Most motor dealers will only provide a 3 year Return to Invoice policy with possibly a fixed claim limit. Easy Gap can offer varied Claim Limits (to enable you to match your requirements) and cover from 1 to 5 years.

Saving on Insurance Premium Tax - Buy a Gap Insurance policy from an online supplier such as Easy Gap, and pay the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax at 6% (this is included in every premium price we quote). Buy a Gap policy from your motor dealer then you will pay Insurance Premium Tax at the increased rate of 20% (the same rate as VAT).

Cut out the middle man - Buying Gap Insurance from a specialist brand like Easy Gap means you are buying a policy without paying commission to your car salesman, business manager or other motor dealer staff. Of course we are in business to make a profit, but you perhaps we can retain less profit in our premiums than the motor dealer may.

Policy Features - We believe, and we encourage all our customers to put us to the test, that Easy Gap policy features are at least as good as any policy provided at a motor dealer in the UK. Our policies can be cancelled at any point, transferred to a new vehicle if you change your vehicle, deferred if you have replacement cover on your own motor insurance and can cover aspects such as the cost of Paint protection. Remember Easy Gap is one of the best known Gap Insurance brands in the UK, the policy is administered by probably the largest specialist PLC in this field, and the policy terms are underwritten by Ageas Insurance, one of the largest motor, household and travel insurers in the UK with over 100 years of heritage. 

How does your dealer policy measure up?

Price - Of course, we understand that many aspects need to be considered when selecting a Gap Insurance policy and one major factor is the price of the policy. For all the reasons outlined above, and more we have not gone into on this page, you will often find that Easy Gap policies are significantly cheaper than those offered by your motor dealer.

We hope you will agree that Easy Gap policies offer a more varied cover, better policy features, a more tax efficient purchase and at a better price than any Return to Invoice policy offered by your motor dealer.

Of course we would always encourage you to compare our policy with other, and if you have any queries on Return to Invoice Gap please contact a member of our team.

How do you make a claim on a Return to Invoice Gap Insurance policy with Easy Gap?

If the worst was to happen, and your vehicle is deemed a total loss by your motor insurer, how do you begin the process of making a claim on your Gap Insurance policy? At Easy Gap we try to make this situation as easy as possible, after all having a vehicle written off is stressful enough.

Take a look at our guide to making a Gap Insurance Claim

To ensure your claim is handled professionally and efficiently, the Easy Gap policy claims process is handled by one of the largest specialist administrators in the UK, Motorway Direct PLC, at their Sheffield headquarters They have a dedicated team trained specifically in processing Gap Insurance claims. Not all polciies will provide such specialist assistance, but as this is provided by your Easy Gap policy we are able to provide a commitment to possibly the fastest settlement periods in the market today (see section 4 below).

The full details of how to make a claim are detailed within the policy document you receive when you purchase your policy. The steps in summary are:

1 Notify the Claims Teams of any possible claim as soon as possible, either on 0844 854 1507 or email gapclaims@motorwaydirect.co.uk

2. The Claims team will take your details and send you a claim form. You must not accept any settlement offer from your Motor Insurer until the Claims Team have validated your Motor Insurers valuation. You can give us authority to discuss this with your insurer on your behalf.

3. Complete the Claims Form and return it with any requested information.

4. Providing all necessary information and supporting documentation where requested, where applicable any settlement will be made directly to you within 14 days of the Motor Insurers settlement. If you still have an outstanding finance settlement the funds can be sent direct to the lender on your behalf.

As mentioned above we do try to make the process of making a claim may not be a prospect anyone looks forward to, but we do try to make it as straightforward as possible, and importantly have it settled quickly. We do understand that losing a vehicle is frustrating enough, but getting back on the road can be even more important.

If you have any questions at all regarding the process please call our Customer Services Team on 0800 195 4926.