Toyota additional insurance

[Vasja Zupan]

Has anyone experience with Al Futtain / Toyota additional insurance - they call it GRP VRP. It's supposed to cover difference between regular insurance and price you paid for the car.

"VRP Insurance is designed to pay the difference between the amount paid under your Comprehensive Motor Insurance Policy in the event of a Total Loss, and the cost of a new replacement vehicle."

They also offer this for preowned cars. Price for 2 years is approximately same as full coverage insurance for one year (therefore 50% per year on top of "normal" insurance). 

Buying a relatively "new" car (recent years) it sounds tempting. Especially if one experiences roll over or some similar stupid thing a Newbie could do

Any experience? Is it worth it?

[ASAD.]

well firstly thinking you will roll over is a bad start before you even start 😉. As long as you dont do something crazy, take care of yourself and your car during the drive you should be fine. You have to of-course factor in the risk when you pay the extra premium for your insurance. What is the probability of you having a total loss in the first place? is it really such a common thing? you will probably end up paying the extra premium but never need it. But it depends on person to person, I know some people who have always had only 3rd party insurance, others would like to have full insurance even for an old car. So i guess if you are that sort of person who wants to have all his risks covered then go for it. 

[Vasja Zupan]

1 hour ago, ASAD. said:

well firstly thinking you will roll over is a bad start before you even start 😉.

Yeah, that is a good point   Honestly I have no idea how often this happens... Just wanted to be on the safe slide and see if that is something people often buy... 

[Rob S]

I've bought all-sorts of different levels of insurance in the past. this sounds similar to "GAP" insurance they sell in UK. It really depends on your financial situation, but my best advise is buy what you feel comfortable with. as example:

If you will drive the car the same way whether you have the higher insurance or not, then it really comes down to more financial cost / risk analysis only. 

If you believe that you will n be extra hesitant due to not purchasing the extra insurance, and driving around with worry, then for me its worth paying for to give you the freedom to enjoy your time in the vehicle! you don't want to spend 150k Dirham on a car and never properly enjoy it! 

Its just as much psychological and it is facts and figures!

Hope this helps! 

[Vasja Zupan]

10 minutes ago, Rob S said:

Its just as much psychological and it is facts and figures!

I agree.

[munkybizness]

Everybody fears a roll-over. Some members here have experienced one, and seen one too. But they are not as common as you are led to believe. In my 36 off-road drives with Carnity so far, I haven't seen one or even been exposed to a situation which may have potentially become one. I've felt challenged but I've never felt afraid. This is not to say, that it can't happen. The marshals and the center-forwards (depending on where you are in the convoy), will always take the most reasonable line. You are also permitted to not attempt anything that you're not comfortable with. We don't shame anyone around here - because this isn't a race and we're not staging the next production of Mad Max   

Secondly, in most cases, a roll-over or any slope-side accident is caused when drivers continue to fight against the most powerful of natural forces - gravity. If you learn to read how your car behaves, its weight, its dynamics, how much or how little throttle you need, what the sand is telling you, and ultimately how all of it combined is reacting to the gravitational force, you will master the art of driving your car at the limit - but safely.

I regularly drive on track at the Autodrome in addition to the off-road drives. And I have insurance covers to protect me and my passengers first. The vehicle is secondary. As expensive as it may be, it's replaceable. But if a comprehensive cover gives you the peace of mind, do go for it. But think of it just as the name suggests - "cover". Don't let the fear of a roll-over prevent you from taking calculated challenges to push how much better you can be. And don't let the learning of all those drives send your confidence into overdrive that you fight gravity, and risk it all.

See you on the sands soon  

[Gaurav]

@Asad, @Rob S, and @munkybizness have explained and covered a lot above better than I can explain in words. Well done in expressing and explaining the real concern so well. Well done guys.

I can only advise that car insurance companies here are a little flexible OR ignorant of market value. What I mean to say is that basic Range Rover starts from 300k and fully loaded can hike to 750k so insurance companies software auto-data (I think) doesn't list or display 20 trims and specs with their book value and only shows key 4-5 trims.

I faced this problem when getting insurance for my Range rover which was Vogue (not regular HSE) and also Supercharged and the insurance company kept sending me the quote for either RR Vogue or RR HSE supercharged and both trim had a much lower value than my car value. When I explained this point to them, they have done some manual adjustments and gave me the insured value that I was looking for.

Bottom line, when you buy the car, try to maximize the value of cover with a single insurance company that can work out cheaper, easier and single point to contact in case of any future claim.

And make sure that the insurance company does give proper off-road cover and not 20 meters or 50 meters off the tarmac cover (fake off-road cover).

[Vasja Zupan]

Thanks @Gaurav This helps a lot.

[Vasja Zupan]

Hi,

received 5 quotes from different insurance companies (all big names locally) and none of them covers proper off road. all have this 50m from road policy...

Any idea where to go? Or do you negotiate that directly with the agency or broker?

[Tom B]

@Vasja Zupan both my 4x4s are insured with orient (part of futtaim group) and they include full off road cover