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What can be done if a car insurer doesn’t pay a fair amount for write offs?

Matt Allwright finds out how insurers aren’t paying customers fairly for replacements.

Last year, more than three quarters of a million cars in the UK were written off. Insurers are meant to pay a fair sum that will buy a like-for-like car, in a similar condition and at realistic prices for that area. But as Matt Allwright investigates, some of them aren’t paying customers the full amount, adding to motorists’ stress levels and costing them thousands.

To watch this with subtitles, go to Â鶹ԼÅÄ iPlayer and search for Morning Live from 16/07/24.

In response to the film, Hastings Direct agreed that its initial valuation of Matt Crofts’ car was wrong – saying it was based on incorrect mileage. It says it's investigating this highly unusual case, and has apologised for the error and any inconvenience caused.

Admiral said its valuation of Katy’s daughter’s car was correct, based on an average of the top book valuations from industry guides. The insurer said that it was made clear that Katy had the right to log a complaint, but she did not do so. 

The good news is that, since filming with us, both Matt and Katy have received ‘goodwill’ payments of over two hundred pounds each from their insurers.

Release date:

6 months left to watch

Duration:

7 minutes