VRI can also be referred to as Vehicle Replacement Gap Insurance, or Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance. It is usually purchased at the same time as a new car in the event that your new car is written off in an accident or is stolen and not recovered. Even if your car is insured with a fully comprehensive policy you can still unfortunately lose money if it is written off or unrecoverable, this is due to depreciation of vehicle value. New cars typically depreciate quicker than used cars, check out our list of the best cars for slow depreciation.
What is Vehicle Replacement Insurance?
Vehicle Replacement Insurance (VRI) supplements your comprehensive motor insurance policy to pay the difference between your motor insurers settlement and the cost of a new replacement vehicle. So it will insure the replacement cost of your vehicle.
Comprehensive insurance providers will usually pay out the current market value of a vehicle (at the time of loss) that has been written off or is unrecoverable, VRI will pay the difference between this payout and the cost of the vehicle when it was purchased.
How vehicle replacement insurance works
For example, you buy a brand-new Vauxhall Corsa for £10,495. 18 months later you have an accident in your Corsa and it is written off. When you make a claim with your insurance company, they give you the current market value of your Corsa 18 months after it was purchased, a £7000 settlement. This would not be enough to buy an equivalent new car. VRI would cover the difference between the payout from your comprehensive insurance (£7000 in this case) and the cost of a replacement vehicle (£10,495).
Benefits of VRI
It means that in the event of an accident you can replace your written off or unrecoverable car with a vehicle of the same value as your original car.
Some policies will provide cover finance owed on the vehicle too. If you have outstanding finance on the car the policy can provide a finance settlement.
A low monthly payment, as little as £8.99 per month.
Arnold Clark VRI
The policy we offer can cover new and used vehicles (up to six years old) for up to four years.
Our policy covers the value of additional Arnold Clark products that were bought with the car, such as any Service Plan from our range, Autocare breakdown warranty and Arnold Clark Protect.
Includes some car-derived vans.
Receive up to £15,000 or £25,000 vehicle replacement insurance payout depending on the purchase price of your car.