Return To Invoice Gap Insurance

Return to Invoice Gap Insurance offers priceless peace of mind in the event of your vehicle being stolen or written off in an accident. Should your car be declared a total loss, this policy covers the difference between the settlement you receive from your motor insurer and the price you paid to buy your vehicle in the first place.

The value of your car at the time of being written off will be different to when you first bought it. Your motor insurance company will offer you a settlement in line with its current worth, rather than its value when you made the purchase.

If you purchased your vehicle under a finance agreement (except where the policy is transferred) and the outstanding balance at the point of total loss is greater than the original purchase price, RTI Gap Insurance can help you. It will pay the difference between the current market value of the vehicle and the finance balance still due to be paid.

Cover will include up to a maximum of £1,000 motor insurance excess.

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Let’s say that you paid £20,000 for your car. However, at the point where it was declared a total loss, its value had depreciated over time to £12,000. That is the sum that you will receive from your motor insurance company, leaving you £8,000 short of your original investment – a substantial amount by most people’s standards. But by taking out a Back to Invoice Gap Insurance policy with Direct Gap, you’ll have ensured your finances remain protected, as we’ll cover the £8,000 deficit.

Alternatively, let’s say that you bought your car for £10,000 under a finance agreement, and the details of that deal meant you were going to be paying back a total of £12,000 once interest payments have been taken into account. Now let’s say that the value of your vehicle when it was declared a total loss was £7,000. That leaves you with a £5,000 shortfall to make up, which will be covered by your RTI Gap Insurance.

You are not obligated to take out Return to Invoice Gap Insurance – it’s not a legal requirement like standard motor insurance. But as you can see from the examples above, it could prove a sensible financial decision if the worst were to happen to your car.

If your vehicle was stolen or written off and you had no cover in the form of an RTI policy, you could be left significantly out of pocket, or with a large amount left to pay on your finance agreement.

As with any policy, it’s always worth carefully reading through the terms and conditions of your motor insurance documents. If your car is new, some insurers may offer you a replacement vehicle within the first 12 months of ownership. In that situation, you could opt to defer the start of your RTI Gap Insurance policy until your vehicle is one year old.

Return to Invoice Gap Insurance can prove especially worthwhile if you’ve bought a brand new car that may lose value quickly over time. Studies show that cars can depreciate by as much as 60% within the first three years, which could leave you significantly out of pocket if your vehicle were to be declared a total loss.

If that were to happen, your motor insurer’s settlement will be paid in line with the car’s value at that time, rather than in relation to its purchase price. That difference could run into many thousands of pounds, leaving you to pay off a vehicle that you can no longer drive.

Nobody wants to be put in that position, and with our RTI Gap Insurance quotes starting from just £89, we believe it’s a small price to pay for that financial protection and all-important peace of mind.

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Yes, Return to Invoice Gap Insuranceis available to those who purchase their cars by way of a finance agreement. If your vehicle is written off and the outstanding balance is greater than the initial purchase price, your policy will cover that difference and release you from the finance contract. This excludes negative equity carried forward from any previous finance agreement and arrears on the contract.

Yes, you can defer the start date for up to a maximum of 12 months but the cover must be taken within 180 days of purchasing the vehicle. The policy start date must not exceed the anniversary of the vehicle’s first registration. It is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate cover provided by your motor insurer during the first 12 months.

Yes, you can make one transfer during the period of insurance. If you sell your vehicle, provided that no claim has been made under the policy, you may transfer the remaining cover to the replacement vehicle, subject to our agreement. No fee will apply for this transfer.

A new schedule will be issued confirming the replacement vehicle details. Where the new vehicle is deemed to be of a higher value, an additional premium may be required. Cover will not include any refinancing.

In the event of bereavement, the remaining benefits of the RTI Gap Insurance may be transferred to the policyholder's spouse or partner.

Yes, Back to Invoice Gap Insurance will still cover you even if the incident that caused your vehicle to be declared a total loss was your fault. However, exclusions apply if the driver is under the influence of alcohol or non-prescription drugs or involved in illegal activity, fraud or an act of wilful negligence. Please carefully read through the terms and conditions of your policy wording for a full listing.

Taking out Return to Invoice Gap Insurance is not an obligation, but it could prove to be a shrewd financial decision in the event of your vehicle being declared a total loss. That’s because the settlement you receive from your motor insurance company will be in line with the car’s value at that time and therefore you would only regain a proportion of the original purchase price.

Our RTI Gap Insurance quotes start from just £89 and it means you’ll be covered for up to the initial value of the vehicle, so it may be worth considering as an additional option to your standard car insurance.

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Only your insurer can declare the vehicle a total loss. In most cases, this will result from accidental damage, your fault or third-party fault, fire, theft or vandalism.

Total loss means that you have claimed under your motor insurance, your claim has been agreed, your vehicle has been forfeited (title of the vehicle transferred to the motor insurer) and a payment made following the incident.

You can claim on your RTI Gap Insurance once your vehicle has been declared a total loss by your motor insurer. The process will then follow these steps:

1. Call the claims line on 01422 756100.
2. Fill out the claims form.
3. The relevant paperwork will be checked.
4. Your money will be issued to you by bank transfer.

For further information, check out our guide to claiming on your Gap Insurance policy.

We want to make your life as easy as possible. That’s why getting an RTI Gap Insurance quote is perfectly straightforward. All you have to do is enter your vehicle’s cost and the length of policy you’d like to take out. Once that’s done, you’ll have your estimate almost instantly. If you hit ‘Buy Now’, you’ll see exactly what is covered by your policy.

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Yes, if you wish to cancel your policy then you may do so. To be entitled to a full refund you usually have to cancel within 14 days, but here at Direct Gap, we offer a 30-day grace period. After those 30 days are up, you'll be refunded on a pro-rata basis, excluding any arrangement fees that may be applicable.

Our Return to Invoice Gap Insurance can be purchased as long as you have owned the vehicle for less than 180 days.

The policy should always be in the name of the owner/hirer or registered keeper of the vehicle.

Yes, up to £1,000 in the event of a total loss claim.

Yes, you are covered when keys are stolen from your home or office which results in vehicle theft. However, you must exercise due diligence and take appropriate steps to safeguard both the keys and the vehicle.

No insurer, including your motor insurer, will provide cover for wilful negligence – such as when the vehicle is stolen as a result of you leaving the keys in the vehicle while you pay for fuel.

The main exclusions on an RTI Gap Insurance policy are when the vehicle becomes a total loss as a result of:

• The driver being under the influence of non-prescription drugs or alcohol
• Illegal activity
• Fraud or an act of wilful negligence

Please see your policy wording for a full list of exclusions.

The purchase price is the price of your vehicle, as confirmed in the sales invoice which includes factory-fitted accessories and dealer-fitted options up to £1,500 and paintwork protection systems up to £250.

You should exclude all deposit allowances, discounts, rebates, concessions, cashbacks, incentives and contributions. Also exclude new vehicle registration fees, road fund licence fee, number plates, warranty costs, insurance premiums, fuel and other extras, arrears or negative equity.

The claim limit is the difference between your motor insurer’s settlement at the point of total loss and the original purchase price OR the amount needed to settle the finance shortfall, whichever is greater.

On vehicles costing up to £75,000, Return to Invoice policies also have an overall claim limit of the original purchase price of your vehicle. On vehicles costing over £75,000, a £75,000 claim limit is in place.

Yes, Return to Invoice Gap Insurance will include all drivers provided that they are covered on your comprehensive motor insurance policy to drive the vehicle as a named driver.

As well as the UK, your Return to Invoice Gap Insurance covers you in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and member countries of the European Community and any other country for which an International Motor Insurance Certificate (Green Card) is effective on your vehicle at the point of total loss up to 120 days in any one trip.

You can pay for your Back to Invoice Gap Insurance in one of two ways. You can do so through a single payment with the use of a credit/debit card or we can arrange for instalments over 12 months. Please note that the payments are collected by a third-party agency and a small administration fee applies.

It can either be a single, one-off payment with the use of a credit/debit card without any card charges, or alternatively we can arrange for credit payments over 12 months. Please note that the payments are collected by a third-party agency and a small administration fee applies.

We are an internet-based provider and as such we have lower overheads than motor dealers. As a result of the high volume of Gap Insurance that we sell annually, we can provide quality policies at the keenest prices.

You can be confident that our prices are lower than those quoted by dealers and many other websites. Paying less than you have been quoted elsewhere in no way means that you are buying an inferior product, it just means that they are making more profit from your purchase!

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Policy documents together with confirmation of payment are sent by email as soon as you make the payment.

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This page was last updated on 12^th July 2021.

We can provide cover on vehicles up to 8 years old.