I’ve always found that the best way to keep track of everything you’re supposed to remember is to make a list, check it twice, and then post it somewhere you can’t lose it. Hey, no one ever said Santa didn’t have the right idea! With all the “ifs,” “ands,” and “maybes” that go along with finding auto insurance quotes, you’d probably benefit from a list. Just don’t forget to make sure gap insurance is included!

(Gasp!) Nobody told you about deficit insurance? I thought that might be the case. Unfortunately, there are thousands of drivers on the friendly highways who really need gap insurance but have no idea it even exists. No one bothered to plug that hole in their education when they finished driver’s education, and it went downhill from there.

It’s not hard to figure out where at least a percentage of these poor unfortunate souls will end up. Cars depreciate after you buy them, and they don’t even have the courtesy to post a note letting you know before they do. If by chance you take out a loan to buy a very nice carthen you are in an accident before your loan payments can exceed the depreciation of your car, you will end up with a car that is worth less than what you owe.

Now, the average driver assumes that their insurance company will take care of paying for their car after it is destroyed by impact. That’s why he pays extra every month for collision and comprehensive coverage, right? It is not the case. In reality, insurance companies have very strict policies about how much they are willing to pay each time they total the car, and almost all of those policies revolve around only paying for the value of the car at that time rather than what it was worth when you went looking for auto insurance quotes all those months ago.

That means you can be left paying for a car you can’t drive, struggling to raise the dough for another down payment, and facing rejection or ridiculously high interest rates every time when you search for another loan. It is a bad scenario in every way.

Gap insurance does exactly what it says it does. He closes the gap. If you have gap coverage on your insurance policy, your insurer will dive into that to cover the difference between your car’s value and what you owe, leaving you free of the accident and on your way to new car ownership.

So don’t forget to add gap insurance to the list when shopping for auto insurance quotes if you have a lien on your car. Someday, that modest and seemingly unnecessary little clause in your coverage may step in to save the day.