Your standard vehicle insurance will pay out in the event of a write-off, but insurers never give you what you actually paid for the vehicle. Depreciation — that is, the vehicle losing value — begins more or less immediately as soon as you drive your first mile, and it only continues after that. Insurers will only ever give you the current market value of the vehicle; that is inevitably far less than you expect. If you bought on finance, you could end up owing more than you get back. GAP insurance could help to cover the difference between what you receive from your regular insurer and what you still owe on your finance agreement.