Mini shortfall?

[carla_pink]

Hello,

Has anyone took out the mini shortfall (the extra insurance where if you write off your mini they pay the difference as to what the insurers do so that you could go and get another new min same spec).

Is it worth doing?

Also can't afford it this year so does anyone know if you can take it in the 2nd year, because if you write off the car in the first year the insurers pay out in full anyway.

[Martin L]

For the cost, which is cheap it's worth doing
As you say you only get the benefit year 2 and 3, but you can also buy policies externally so you can compare prices.

Try negotiating the price of the shortfall insurance
These are where dealers make their most money so margins are far more flexible. I managed to get a 50% discount on my last MINIs

[jon vital]

Had this offered to me today, £439 for 3 years. Is it worth it? Is it too expensive?

[WhiteNoiseMaker]

Priory Mini @ Newcastle offered me GAP Insurance for £250 for 3 years on an MCS costing £18,255. If you shop around you'll find cheaper.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Bear in mind that the insurance company normally pays out in full for the first period. After the initial period, the high resale value of the car means that a write off is much less likely than with many other cars and (even if it is written off) the difference in cost is never likely to be that great. In addition, if the worst happens, you should still be able to buy an equivalent age and condition used MINI with the insurance pay out as people will have always done.

The other issue is that people usually change their new car for another long before the insurance period is over and they are most likely to gain any benefit from it! Usually these policies are not transferable to a subsequent owner, so they offer no increase in resale value by way of compensation. There have been several threads here started by people who are shocked to learn that they can't transfer any benefit from their GAP insurance now that they have decided to upgrade to an even nicer MINI after 18 months or so.

My advice? Think carefully before spending the money...

Tigger.