stolen car - will gap pay loan?what happens after recovery?

by Guest » Mon Jan 28, 2013 10:58 am
Guest

I had opted for a car finance and bought GAP for extra protection along with regular liability, comprehensive and collision coverage and all. It has hardly been a year since I bought the car, and it got stolen a week back. How long do I need to continue payments? Will gap pay off the loan? What if it's recovered ? how will it affect my insurer?

Total Comments: 4

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 01:47 pm Post Subject:

You need to contact your GAP carrier and file a claim. They won't pay until they have confirmation as to what your carrier will pay. They will probably need to collect this information. At the time that they have _all_ of the info they need, they should not take longer then 30 days to issue payment. You really need to speak to them about the time frame.

Legally you need to continue to pay on the loan until it's paid off. But you may want to notify the lien holder about the theft, let them know you have GAP and see what they say.

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:35 pm Post Subject:

As tcope has said, you should not stop making your loan payments. Your GAP coverage will coordinate with your auto coverage and if there is an "overpayment" to your lender, the lender must refund the money to you.

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 01:05 pm Post Subject:

sorry, I didn't understand the "overpayment" part. The GAP will have to pay less if I continue with the payments, and I don't think any insurer is going to overpay.

And what will happen to the car, if ever it's recovered? Can I claim it back, if it's in workable condition?

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 07:15 pm Post Subject:

And what will happen to the car, if ever it's recovered? Can I claim it back, if it's in workable condition?


When you accept a check from the insurance company, the car is theirs, not yours. If you don't accept the check, holding out hope that the vehicle will be recovered, then the vehicle remains yours, as do all the monthly payments until then.

Stolen cars not recovered within two weeks are generally never recovered. I did have a coworker, years ago, whose vehicle was stolen, actually recovered within seven days (for being illegally parked), but sat in an impound lot for six weeks while no one checked to see if it was a stolen (conveniently racking up daily storage fees which the insurance company paid). That was highly unusual compared to the majority of stolen vehicles.

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