Sponsored: Hello from ALA GAP Insurance!

[BlueWheels]

I spoke to Charlotte at ALA a couple of weeks ago.

She was very polite and efficient, she sorted me out with GAP insurance for a recently acquired car.

With a bit of PH discount it was half the price of what the dealer was trying to push on me.

Thanks ALA

And you`re quite local to me too, which it good!

[ALA Insurance]

Hi BlueWheels

Thank you for the lovely feedback, I've passed your post on to Charlotte you've made her day with a mention on the PH forum!

Glad we could help!

Thanks again and take care,
Katie

[TdiDealer]

Hi,

Im wanting to take out a return to invoice policy but the car i have just bought hasent yet got my private plate on it.

Will there be an admin fee to change the plate on the policy if its within the first 14 days, im just waiting for the v5 to come back before i can do anything.

[ALA Insurance]

Hi TdiDealer

Thanks for your message.

I'm pleased to say that we don't charge any admin fees for changing the policy when you get your private plate put on the car - even if its is more than 14 days down the line

Hope that helps and if you have any other questions please let me know.

Thanks,
Katie

[Liamst]

How do your policies differ from totallossgap.com
From what i can see you both use identical T&C pages but they are half the price of your policies.

[ALA Insurance]

Hi Liamst

Thanks for your message

As a company we don't compare ourselves directly to other online suppliers but there are a few bits of information that might help

We are 5 Star Rated by Defaqto - this is an independent rating and means we have the best products available for our customers. We also have numerous recommendations by expert motoring websites like PistonHeads (among others).

We have a reputation for providing excellent customer services, backed up by our Trustpilot rating of 4.9 out of 5 (all verified customer reviews).

Where our policies are more expensive we do offer a price match but this would need to be a Defaqto 5 Star Rated policy. The ones from Total Loss aren't rated which unfortunately means we are unable to match them specifically.

I am more than happy to look at a price match for you if this works out better than the 12% discount available to PH customers (PISTON12) and please feel free to email me directly ([e-mail]) or call us on 01653 916280.

Thanks again,
Katie

[ALA Insurance]

Hi everyone

Just a quick message to let you know about our increased discount for PH customers.

For February only, click the link below to go through to our quote page and use PH20 to get a fab 20% off

Any questions please get in touch

Thanks,
Katie

[smallredball]

Newbie question: if ALA GAP insurance DOESN'T pay out in a Year 1 claim because I already have fully-comprehensive insurance that DOES pay out fully (or replace with new) ... then why should I bother with buying it in Year 1?

Presumably I can set an alert and just buy it from month 13 of my contract lease? (I.E to cover the GAP now that my fully-comprehensive insurance won't pay out in full.)

Or do I have the wrong end of this stick?

[ALA Insurance]

Hi smallredball!

Thanks for getting in touch.

There are a few options with this one, which I'll run through to hopefully help you and other PHers in a similar situation!

Here we go...

The first option is to purchase the GAP insurance to run alongside your motor insurance i.e. purchase from day one. If your car is a write off in the first 12 months and you motor insurer gives you a brand new like-for-like car, we would re-start your policy on your replacement car at no extra cost. If for any reason they don't pay out the full replacement cost and only give you market value, the ALA GAP policy would cover the difference.

As you might imagine there might be instances where a motor insurer won't or can't replace your car due to their T&Cs and will then revert to a market value payment. If they do this, it could leave you with a shortfall so it's always worth checking if there are any exceptions/exclusions to the "new for old" cover.

Your other option is to purchase cover at the end of the first year. This applies to Back to Invoice + cover only; Vehicle Replacement + must be purchased within 90 days of delivery. The cut off point for BTI+ is 365 days after taking delivery of your car, as long as it is less than 12 months old on the policy start date. This often causes confusion; it isn't the car's "first birthday", but is actually the day before. For example if you bought your car on 1st March 2021 (and it was registered brand new that day) you would have up to 29th February 2022 to purchase a policy.

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions at all please get back in touch.

Thanks,
Katie

[smallredball]

Thanks Katie. Thanks for a very comprehensive reply, that really helps.

I'm waiting on delivery of the lease car now and will check my current car's insurance booklet for the fine detail about what would apply with the new lease car.

[ALA Insurance]

No problem at all.

I'm sorry, I had completely missed where you had mentioned it was a lease

Hopefully that info will still help people reading who have PCP/HP finance or where they pay cash for the car!

With a lease you do still have the option to purchase cover anywhere between day 1 and day 365, so that's the same as before. It would just be Contract Hire + rather than Back to Invoice +

It's worth mentioning that some motor insurer's will only offer "new car replacement" cover for cars where you're the registered keeper and that normally isn't the case with a lease car, so they may only offer market value. Motor insurers don't always understand the intricacies of lease vs purchase so as you've mentioned checking the small print is much better. The is in the detail as always...

I hope this makes sense but if you'd like any clarification please get back in touch or email me on [e-mail].

Thanks,
Katie

[Oitbc]

Nice people on the phone but don’t cover Ferraris or apparently Lamborghini either as their backers refuse. So useless if you have one of those.

[BensZ4MC]

Hi Katie, Do you offer a discount code for March please?

[ALA Insurance]

Hi BensZ4MC

Thanks for getting in touch - we do indeed!

Please use the PH20 code and you'll receive 20% off our GAP policies

We've left the higher discount in place for March as well and please enter it on our quote page rather than right at the end when making payment.

Any other queries, please let me know!

Thanks,
Katie

[vanman1936]

Hi

What are the rules on transferring the policy to a new / used car if you change vehicles.

Thanks

Paul

[ALA Insurance]

Hi vanman1936

Thanks for getting in touch.

If you change your vehicle early we daily pro rata the original policy premium and use that as a credit against a new policy for your replacement vehicle.

If you prefer not to take a new policy or the replacement car isn't eligible for cover we can provide a pro rata refund but in some cases this is subject to a £35.00 underwriters cancellation fee.

I hope this helps but if you do have any further questions please let me know!

Thanks,
Katie

[vodkamartini1]

Good code here for 30% if anyone needs a new policy or looking to renew: MSE25

[ALA Insurance]

Thanks, vodkamartini 1 - hopefully that will come in handy for all the lovely PHers

Just for full disclosure, it is 25% rather than a 30% discount - sadly we can't go that high! If you're using the code please enter it on the quote page itself and any queries please let me know

Many thanks!

Katie