Mind the GAP - how I lost my car but learned a (valuable) lesson
Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 11:00 Shout out to our sometimes maligned insurance industry.
I may have hinted, on Christmas Eve, that there was an issue with my car but I didn’t go into detail because it was, well, Christmas.
I can now reveal that on the evening of December 23 our village flooded and my car was one of the casualties.
I won’t bore you with the full story (suffice to say it involved two tow-trucks, one on Christmas Day, the other on New Year’s Eve) but, in brief:
Flood water got into the lower part of the car - where all the electrics are - and after taking it away and inspecting the damage the insurance company decided it was a write off.
The irony is that it was my first SUV and I bought it because I thought it would cope better with the surface water we often get in our village when the brook overflows after heavy or persistent rain.
Full-scale flooding (the High Street under several feet of water, for example) has only happened twice, possibly three times, in the 22 years we have lived here, but there are a couple of access points that are prone to more frequent flooding, making the village inaccessible to smaller vehicles.
Anyway, the loss of the car is slightly annoying because it was only two years old and it was the first vehicle I have ever owned from new. I even got to choose the number plate!
Previous cars, in contrast, were second hand or demonstrators with a few thousand miles on the clock.
Nevertheless I do wonder if it wasn’t jinxed from the start because shortly after buying it the car broke down just off the M4 near Heathrow.
The problem began on the M25 when I got a message advising me that something was amiss but confirming that it was OK to continue driving, albeit at a reduced speed.
By the time I joined the M4 thick black smoke was billowing from the exhaust and an urgent message was telling me to pull over and turn off the engine IMMEDIATELY.
Fortunately I was near an exit so I was able to turn off and park next to one of those hotels that service the airport. Seven hours later a breakdown vehicle finally arrived and the car was towed away for repair.
New parts had to be ordered from Germany (under warranty) but after that I enjoyed trouble free motoring, clocking up 31,000 miles (it would have been a lot more without Covid) and I fully intended keeping the vehicle for several more years.
Instead I am now looking for a replacement and the good news is that I won’t be out of pocket.
First, the insurance company made an offer that slightly exceeded what I expected to get.
Second, I took the precaution, when buying the vehicle, of paying an additional £450 for GAP insurance which I’ve never done before because in more than 40 years of driving I have never written off a car although I did have one stolen, never to be seen again.
GAP insurance, I should explain, makes up the difference between the estimated market value of the car when it's written off (or stolen), and the price you originally paid for it.
I am happy to report that both insurance companies paid out promptly and without quibble and I was impressed because I feared there might be weeks of negotiation and/or delays caused by staff shortages as a result of Covid.
Instead it was hassle free and everyone I spoke to was extremely helpful.
In fact, compared to many other people here and in surrounding villages, I was lucky. The family at the bottom of our road, for example, lost two, possibly three, vehicles.
Others had their homes flooded, which is far, far worse. Heartbreaking, in fact, although people are remarkably stoic about it.
Also, when I realised my car was at risk, I did something very stupid but got away with it.
Unable to drive back to our house because of standing water at the two access points mentioned above, I had parked it in what I thought was a ‘safe’ space, unaware of the deluge to come.
Three hours later, alerted by flood warnings, I attempted - alone and in the dark - to wade through the water at the bottom of our road in the hope of reaching (and moving) the car before the rapidly rising tide got there first.
It was only when the freezing water was up to my thighs and I was struggling to stay on my feet that I came to my senses and thought, “What are you doing? No vehicle is worth this.”
I should add that the year before we moved here a builder lost his life when he attempted to drive through the nearby ford following heavy rain. It was after dark and the car was swept downstream.
They found it, with the man’s body still inside, the following day. He was working, I think, on the small development of houses where we now live.
Following that incident wooden gates were erected that close the ford to cars whenever the water rises above a certain height but the speed with which it happens still takes people – even local residents – by surprise.
In short, while I’m sorry to lose the car it’s hardly the end of the world. And thanks to my insurance companies it’s been a mostly pain free experience.
I’ve also learned a valuable lesson. Never underestimate the weather!
My stricken car being towed away near Heathrow in March 2019
Reader Comments (2)
We don't have weather like this in South Australia.
Ironically, Cambridgeshire is actually one of the driest parts of the country. And today, while large chunks of the country are enjoying some snow, we’ve got nothing. Very disappointing.
Update: Spoke too soon. It’s snowing now.